Lydia Kess
For over thirty years I was a partner in a major Manhattan law firm. In the countless business conferences I attended, I witnessed occasional examples of deficient ethical standards, many examples of appropriate dignified behavior, and a very few cases of really inspiring conduct. The instance that had the greatest impact on me, and I believe on my colleagues (none of whom were Jewish) as well, involved the well-known Orthodox Jewish real-estate magnate Paul Reichman. Mr. Reichman was conferring with a group of my partners regarding a possible joint venture to construct a new office building intended to house our main office. After a discussion of various financial aspects of the proposed venture, Mr Reichman made a statement that startled us all. He announced that he wanted to apprise us of the fact that it was possible that he might, in his capacity as General Partner, take actions which would result in a loss to the venture and to us as partners therein. Everyone was puzzled, but fu
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