Not surprisingly anyone who knows Robert Lipman’s mother knows that his decision to go to
law school and become a lawyer was seeded early on in his life during his rare moments when he may have won an argument with her. Admittedly in the back of every Jewish mother’s dream for her child, in this case, Robert Lipman, is to become a doctor or an attorney.
Interestingly, admission into law school turned out to be quite a saga and no easy feat. Having impulsively deciding to become an Atlanta police officer upon graduation from the University of Virginia, and having been placed on the waiting list for admission, the dream of becoming an attorney was pretty much set aside. I vividly remember one of the biggest surprises in my young life occurred when my mother received a phone call from Mercer law school indicating someone did not show up for the first day of classes. To say my mother was ecstatic was an understatement, and having planned a trip to Europe, I did not even closely share the same emotion. Frankly, becoming an attorney was no longer on the table for Robert Lipman, in my mind.
However, I could not disappoint my parents and showed up having no benefit of orientation, a place to live, and somewhat scared of my future. They say the first year of law school scares
you to death, the second year works you to death, and the third year bores you to death. Robert Lipman’s humble beginnings starting law school and becoming a lawyer had a very inauspicious law school beginning. I am very proud to say that having never finished higher than the top quarter of my class in high school or college, finishing number two in my class the first year and making Law Review indicated to me maybe my mother was right (as usual).