Osler's Razor

I have been profiling my classmates in the Yale Law class of 1990 on (most) Wednesdays-- it's been a blast to track them all down!

Whit Cobb came to Yale Law from Duke, and I got to know him pretty well since he was my roommate first year, the only year I lived in the dorm.  It actually was a beautiful dorm room, with a fireplace, fascinating leaded glass windows, and two separate bedrooms.

From the start, it seemed like Whit was way ahead of me. He immediately connected with some of the schools of thought whirling around the school and was a great conversationalist. We lived next door to Rich Sullivan and Vernon Grigg-- it was not a dull corner of the school.

What stood out to me about Whit from our law school years was his law journal note, which you can read here.  When I read it back then, I was thunderstruck-- it was clear and strong and true. In fact, I think it affected my own work going forward in very real ways (something that will be obvious if you read it). It was such an accomplishment for someone of our limited experience.

After law school, Whit clerked for Judge Thomas Clark of the 11th Circuit, and then served in the Army for four years. From there, he became a partner at Jenner & Block before being named as Deputy General Counsel of the Defense Department, where he served from 2001-2004. Since then, he has worked first as Vice President and Deputy Counsel for BAE Systems and now as General Counsel at PAE.

It's funny to think about the different directions the four of us on that little hallway have taken: Whit is in business, Rich is a federal judge, Vernon is running Up with People, and I'm doing whatever it is this stuff is called. I'd like to think that YLS prepared us all well for very different pursuits.