James B. Rosenblum – 50th Reunion Essay

James B. Rosenblum

18 Hemlock Drive, Box 4047

Greenwich, CT 06831

jbr@jbresq.com

203-536-3770

Spouse(s): Mary (1997)

Child(ren): Nina (2000) Victoria(1998)

Education: Yale BA, ’69; Cornell JD ’72

Career: Civil Litigation, Rosenblum Newfield, 25 years; Formerly Partner of Wilson Elser (10 years).

Avocations: Tennis

College: Jonathan Edwards

A Unique Time in History

Education at Yale in the ’60s was a time when inspiring ideas were put forth by giants. The heroes were inspirations. People like President Kennedy and Martin Luther King and William Sloane Coffin held up glorious ideals of social justice that promised a better, fairer, more humane future. It was also a time of the space missions as well as civil rights. The demons of the time—Vietnam and Watergate—seemed conquerable. Kennedy’s plea for civic responsibility and commitment seemed not just idealistic but also realistic.

And yet, the scandals of the time have been re-incarnated in different forms. Former Watergate prosecutors point to what is now “worse than Watergate.” Who would have expected Iraq after Vietnam? Levitsky and Ziblatt lament about How Democracies Die. Orwell’s vision seems more prescient than Thoreau’s and Emerson’s.

Technology has lived up to and exceeded its promise and has created a new digital world and a new way to work and live. Online learning is ubiquitous. On the other hand, while you can “get information,” it’s not the same as being there, in the classroom, with professors like Edmund Morgan, et al. And there were no “crashes,” “viruses,” or a barrage of emails.

The Meaning of Yale and What I Have Done Since Then

As others have noted, four years dedicated to an undergraduate education was an incredible luxury. Spending them at Yale—in an historic, memorable, and luxurious setting—is a privilege for which I am eternally grateful. Learning new subjects presented by fantastic teachers, surrounded by remarkably talented students, has had a lifelong impact. The students were illustrious then. I’m in awe of the accomplishments so many of them have achieved. I have also taken advantage of fabulous continuing education programs at Yale (a 2017 course on cyber-security and the law) or sponsored by Yale (health care reform) and lectures and social events at the Yale Club of New York and the Yale Alumni Association of Greenwich (I am currently on the board).

Having spent a lot of time in court, preparing for court, or dealing with judges and juries, I am surrounded by conflict, debate, strife, and often a lot of pain, even when the system works well and certainly when it doesn’t. A lot of my work has been helping clients emotionally through incredibly difficult experiences. Even when they win, clients feel they’ve been through purgatory. Yale provided a foundation for helping me help them. Insofar as litigation involves dealing with laymen with diverse backgrounds, Yale probably helped more than law school. I’ve also served on the Greenwich Boards of Health and Social Services, and on the American Bar Association’s Medicine and Law Committee and the Coordinating Group on Bioethics. The brightest light in my life is a beautiful daughter who produces magnificent artistic and literary creations. Meanwhile, I would love to take Laurie Santos’s Psychology and the Good Life course, but I’ve had a lot of “on-the-job” training.