Biglaw Partner Takes To Begging Associates To Come To The Office

He'd really like you to come by the office.

onJuly 14, 2021 at 11:17 AMJuly 15, 2021 at 1:22 PM

From: Palmer, Charles F. <charles.palmer@troutman.com>
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2021 8:58 AM
To: ATL All <ATLAll@troutman.com>
Subject: Tench C. Coxe/Memorial Day/Back to Office

Dear All,

Let me begin by passing along sad news regarding Tench Coxe. Tench passed away on April 16. He was 95 years old. Tench was one of the stalwarts of our firm for decades and had been in poor health the last few years. After retiring he had moved to France with his wife Frankie and lived in a beautiful castle for many years. Tench went to Yale for undergrad and had his studies interrupted for military service. He went to North Carolina for law school and upon graduation started with what was then known as Troutman, Sams, Schroder & Lockerman. Tench did a substantial amount of work for the Georgia Power Company. However, another of his clients was Robert Edward Turner, II, who was a billboard company owner. When Mr. Turner took his own life, the company fell to his son, better known as Ted Turner. Tench became the confidante and trusted legal advisor on Ted’s mercurial and epic voyage creating Turner Broadcasting and CNN, buying the Atlanta Hawks and Braves, and becoming one of the most famous people in the world.

Sponsored

Is The Future Of Law Distributed? Lessons From The Tech Adoption Curve

The rise of remote work has dramatically reshaped the relationship between Lawyers and Law Firms, see how Scale LLP has taken the steps to get…

From The Team at Scale LLP

Tench was absolutely brilliant while also being one of the nicest people in our firm. He enjoyed talking and working with the younger lawyers in the firm and giving them opportunities to handle important matters. I encourage everyone to visit the 34^th floor this week and walk along the interior hallway near Steve Lewis’s office to see Tench’s picture. The artist accurately captured the twinkle in Tench’s eye. You’ll also see two Braves tickets protruding from Tench’s pocket. Tench loved the Braves and attended many games in the owner’s box or upstairs with the team president. The next time you attend a Braves game and sit in the firm’s dugout seats, I hope you will think of Tench, even if you never met him, and realize how much he meant to our firm and to the development of the Turner media empire based in Atlanta. He will be missed.

Today is Memorial Day when we honor those who were lost in our nation’s wars. My grandfather was the father figure in my life and a hero to me. He was on a LST in World War II preparing for D-Day when a German U-boat sank his ship. The captain and over 200 servicemen perished. My grandfather told me about diving off the ship as it went down and holding his breath as long as he could while swimming under burning fuel on the water. As the senior surviving officer, he wrote to the families of all the sailors who passed away. Even though I was a young boy when he told me the story, I could tell how much that affected him. Let us always remember those who gave their lives for our country and pray for the day when our nation’s military is no longer in harm’s way.

I hope that many of you are returning or considering returning to the office. We have 550 people in Atlanta, and we are now seeing perhaps 150 of you on any given day of late. We are having lawyer lunches on Tuesdays, summer associate breakfasts on Wednesdays, and happy hours on Thursdays. We are giving away prizes such as Braves tickets, gift cards, etc. But you have to be present to win! Everyone has now had the opportunity to be vaccinated if desired, and we hope you will start coming in if you have not done so already. We do not want to be a “virtual” law firm. Collegiality and training are important for both our younger and older lawyers and for our staff. Please don’t be a stranger. More and more of your colleagues are coming in, and I hope to see all of you soon.

Thanks for what you do. Have a good Memorial Day.