"The next generation might not have a Professor Merton. I’m grateful I did" -Mitchell C

Dear Professor Merton,

It’s been a couple of years since I last saw you. A lot has changed and at the same time much hasn’t. I write this at a moment in time where I’m facing the biggest struggles I have ever had in my personal life. Professionally I’m doing well. While I face challenges I thought were years down the road, my work has excelled. I have you to thank for that.

Whenever work gets challenging, I think back to that time where you and I spent 24 hours straight working on a BIA Appeal Brief. Of course when I walked into school that day, pulling an all nighter was not on my bingo card.

From 9AM on a Monday to 9AM on a Tuesday, you and I worked tirelessly on fixing a brief that we both assumed was finished. Of course back then, my writing was abysmal and most of my time was spent rewriting multiple pages.

My fondest memory of law school was that day, the back and forth of ideas to taking breaks and discussing life. We even scared the security guard when he did his 3AM walkthrough of the building, expecting it to be empty. To Barbara asking me how I got to school so early on a Tuesday just for me to shock her by telling her I had not left school since the day before.

Of course your day continued after I left, while I drove back to Long Island (not my brightest idea). That day taught me a lot about myself.

Now I see your retirement is coming up, while I’m glad you’ll finally be able to take a break, I fear the legal profession is losing one of its most valuable educators.

I know one thing is for certain, I would not be an attorney without your guidance from the moment we met.

You helped me navigate my home life, my school life, and my insecurities as a law school student.

I think about how the next generation might not have a Professor Merton. I’m grateful I did. Albea and I to this day discuss our time in the clinic.

I want to congratulate you on the career you’ve had, the people you have helped, the attorneys you have built, the legacy you leave but if all my words are forgotten, this last sentence I hope is not.

Out of all the memories I’m grateful for, the one thing I’m most grateful for, is that I can proudly say, you made me the lawyer I am today.

I hope I can leave half the legacy you leave behind. I hope that by the time my career is over, I will have been an attorney you can be proud of.

Sincerely,
Mitchell C