UJA - Eric Grossman

You know, the first thing I have on the top of the page here is it just says Bob. If you had told me at any point in my career that I would be at an event and Bob would be introducing me, I should really just retire today, right now. That said, it's done because it can only go downhill from here. For me, and I know just from the cocktail hour, the number of people in the room who have had the privilege of being mentored by Bob, both at Davis Polk and in the US Attorney's Office outside Davis Polk, he is for my generation of lawyers, my generation of litigators, the greatest, simply the GOAT. The Tom Brady—it pains me to say that because he's a New Englander, but the Tom Brady of New York litigators. So thank you, Bob, very much.

It's a wonderful honor to be here to receive an award that's in honor of Stephen Banner. I had a chance to spend some time with Stephen's wife Ellen last week, and I know she's here with some of her family. Stephen had a simply extraordinary career, that fantastic mix of a great lawyer, a great businessman later in his career, but of course a consistent devotion to philanthropy, particularly here at UJA over his career. I'm honored to have a piece of hardware with his name on it in my office. So thank you so much, Ellen, for all that you've done. I appreciate that.

I want to thank all of my partners that are here tonight. The partners fall into a couple of different categories. I'll try and be quick. First category are my Davis Polk partners, and I know they're here in force. It all started for me there, and as I said with Bob, but there were others I worked with—legends of the bar—as a very young lawyer at Davis Polk. Bob mentioned Gary Lynch. Gary's here tonight. Gary, first of all, the finest business lawyer I ever worked with. I started work with him when I was a second-week associate at Davis Polk. I was lucky enough—luck matters in your career—I was put in an office three doors down from Gary, and one day I went to the bathroom, and as I came back, Gary was there with a stack of folders like this. He knew what to do with them. He saw me, handed me the folders, next thing you know I was working for Gary. Worked for him for 20 years after that, and Gary recruited me to Morgan Stanley. But there are others. Two of them, Jack Cooney and Jimmy Bankart, can't be here with us today because they were taken from us way too soon. Sharon Katz, Jeffrey Small, and of course Don Bernstein, who you heard from earlier. I could go on. And then of course my contemporaries, those who grew up in the trenches with me at Davis Polk, lots of whom are here too. I can't name them all, but I love the Davis Polk getting to come up here afterwards. Alums, every once in a while I could get a picture with all you guys, it would mean a lot to me. So if you could do that, that'd be super.

When you have jobs like mine, you realize the jobs that I've had at Morgan Stanley, that there's a whole other group of partners out there, and that's your partners in the New York legal community. And there are many, of course, who are here tonight. Three of them—Brad Karp, Susan Merrill, and Jonathan Popes—were kind enough to help sponsor tonight's event, and they of course have helped me grow in my career since I left Davis Polk. I'm grateful to all three of them. And Brad Botwin, who also co-sponsored the event, is here tonight, my fellow Fordham alum. He's really there. It started with Brad. He's the guy who at Fordham Law School recruited me to join Davis Polk. Brad's here, and I'm grateful for his support over the—I guess that was 1992 to 27 years that I've been privileged to know him.

Then of course there are my partners at the place that I now work, Morgan Stanley. I joined there in 2006. I was interviewed by one person, Tom Knights. I remember that time. I got the job. You were at that moment one person. Gary said, 'You got to talk to Tom.' I talked to Tom. Tom closed the deal. And over the years, as Tom has come and gone and done his Tom things, many of which you heard about, our relationship has had all of the hallmarks of what makes Morgan Stanley one of the world's great firms: support for each other, collegiality, a shared desire to do the right thing, and a few laughs along the way, usually at each other's expense. Happily for me, that relationship of trust, support, partnership, and true friendship extends across a huge swath of Morgan Stanley, many of whom, like me, started their careers at Davis Polk. So many are here tonight, both within what I think is—I say immodestly—the greatest legal and compliance division on Wall Street, and also many of my partners who lead our market-leading businesses here. I'm grateful for that.

I did want to single out one person from that group. He's been both my right and left hand for 13 years and was instrumental in the success of tonight's event: James Murray. He's right there. You forgot the ash? Is that the ash on his forehead? You can spot him. And my assistant Shelley, who steers me through the day. Shelley's here somewhere.

Next, of course, are my partners in philanthropy and civic participation. Bob talked about my work at AFC. Needless to say, I urge all of you to find a charitable cause that appeals to you, that brings that passion out of you. For me, that's been AFC. We help our clients at AFC, who are largely and almost entirely kids with special needs below the poverty line. We help them get a chance at a better life. The law requires that they get an education just like any other kid, and we fight to make sure that they get that. The law requires that kids with physical disabilities have access to schools, and we've been fighting to get that for them. And the law requires that if they need tutors or therapists or private education, that they get that, and we've been fighting for them. Many of you in this room have helped support AFC over the years, and I urge you to continue to do so. Our annual benefit is coming up in a couple of months. Please join us for that as well. But if it's not AFC, maybe it's UJA, this wonderful organization. UJA touches the lives of so many people in need, as evidenced by the video that you saw. When I was a kid, I lived in Squirrel Hill, which is the neighborhood in Pittsburgh where the Tree of Life synagogue was. I lived there for four years when I was quite young. I think all of us, everybody, whether you live in Squirrel Hill or not, we were shocked and appalled by what happened there not that long ago. The lives of 11 devoted people. UJA was there and continues to be there. It's worth noting they set up the Pittsburgh Solidarity Fund. They've collected donations to fund psychological services, to support families, to pay medical bills for those involved in the tragedy in Pittsburgh. They've been working with Jewish day schools in Pittsburgh to help kids deal with the tragedy, and they've also devoted time and money around the nation to help other Jewish organizations secure their spaces, providing security assessments and to help them get federal and state funding in order to protect themselves. That's just one of the many aspects of the great work that UJA does. I'm honored to receive the award from them.

I also urge all of you—and I know many of you need no urging, as Tom said so eloquently—to participate in our political process. Dwight D. Eisenhower said, 'Politics should be the part-time profession of every citizen.' And I believe that now more than ever. We just can't stand by and watch. Our kids' futures are on the line. Whatever your political persuasion, Tom and I don't agree on lots of things, but we agree on this: now is the time to demand more from those who are meant to serve all of the people of this great nation.

Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank my family for supporting me in everything, or nearly everything, I've literally ever done. My wife Lauren, who sadly couldn't be here tonight because she—I screwed up, it's on me, planned trip I didn't know about. I apologize. My two sons, Myles and Billy, both in college. This is the week right before break, so they're in finals hell right now. They are just fantastic. They're both in college, as Bob said. We'll be all skiing together, so it'll be good next week. I'm lucky enough to have two family members here: my aunt Hope Manas is here, my mom's sister, and I'm really happy you could come tonight. And my very dear cousin and brand-new Wilkie Farr partner, Justin Brown, is here at my table today. Also, I want to thank my mom and my dad, my brother Seth and his family. But last but certainly not least, and Tom mentioned them, the two people who really saved my life as a kid: my maternal grandparents, Ruth and Seymour. They were simply the two best people I have ever met, and they were husband and wife. So thank you all very much for this honor. I really appreciate it. It means so much to me that you came out tonight. Thank you so much. Have a good night.

If the Davis Polk gang could come up, that'd be great. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight and have a lovely evening.