Osler's Razor

I have devoted Wednesdays on the Razor to profiling my classmates in the Yale Law class of 1990.  It's been a blast!

Jeff Bartos was one of my favorite people in the class back when we were in school. He married a classmate who was in my small group-- Sushma Soni, to be profiled soon-- who was also fantastic and fascinating. So, if nothing else, they both had good taste.

He came to Yale Law straight off of undergrad at Columbia, one of a group of people already familiar with the (to me) mysterious world of New York. In his application essay, Jeff wrote that he wanted to practice labor law-- and guess what? He does, on the side of labor unions. [Sidenote: usually when lawyers tell you they work in "environmental law" and they have a nice suit, it means they represent polluters, and when people tell you they work in "labor law," they work on the side of employers. Not Jeff.]

Straight out of law school he went to work for Georgetown Law's clinics, and then shortly switched over to doing work for firms with a labor-side practice. He mostly represents unions in the rail and airline industries, which have their own set of labor laws. I'm sure he does not make as much as those who work on the side of employers, but if there is one thing I have learned in doing these profiles it is that money-making does not equal fulfillment and accomplishment.

It's pretty great when someone has a through-line like that tying together their lifetime of work. I think unions are good for our country, and I'm glad they have people like Jeff in their corner.