I was saddened to learn last night that Ollie Hawkins died. I first met Ollie way back when at Frost, Rhodes & DeVito when I was clerking there as a third-year law student at Seton Hall. For about a minute and a half the firm was known as Frost, Rhodes, DeVito & Hawkins. Fortunately for Ollie right about the time he finished unpacking, his Spidey senses tingled and he got the hell out of there.
During the brief amount of time we worked there together, I did absolutely no work for Ollie. None. Yet, it did not stop him from taking a keen interest in my career and mentoring me. Without Ollie, I would not have been introduced to John Libretti for whom I went to work as a young lawyer and from whom I have learned invaluable lessons for close to thirty years.
But for Ollie I never would have had the opportunity to interview at Weiner Lesniak in late 1997. My first day at Weiner Lesniak was January 5, 1998. I made partner there in March 2004 and among my law partners was my mentor and friend, Ollie.
He left Weiner Lesniak long before I did but even when we no longer worked together we kept in touch. Every once in a while, we would get together at Darby Road in Scotch Plains. We would catch up on each other’s lives, retell old stories we both knew by heart, and laugh ourselves silly.
Throughout my career I have tried hard to always pay it forward. I have held myself out to help young lawyers whenever I can, including matching them with job opportunities. Whatever success I have attained in my professional life would never have happened had Ollie Hawkins done all that - and more - for me.
My heart breaks for Ollie’s wife, Doris, his family, those he loved and those he loved most of all. I am forever indebted to him. I shall remember him forever and shall miss him for at least that long. Thank you, Ollie, for absolutely everything.
Safe journey home, my friend.
-AK
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