Indefatigable. A force of nature. Forever a gentleman.

Stories about Rod Perkins sound somewhat like they've been pulled from a Tom Wolfe novel. He is drawn too colorfully, energetically and fantastically to be the stuff of real life. And yet, he was such a man. It is stories of this ilk that were shared around the firm after Rod passed away in March, at the age of 92. From these remembrances, a common theme emerged: Rod Perkins was the best of Debevoise.

Rod joined Debevoise in 1949, bringing the firm’s lawyer count to 33, became a partner in 1957, and retired in 2001. During those 52 years, Rod contributed enormously to the firm, to the broader profession and to the public. Rod brought enormous talent, energy, curiosity and commitment to all that he took on—spearheading the firm's Russia practice at the age of 70, serving as President of the American Law Institute for over a decade, sailing six Newport Bermuda races. And yet generations of Debevoise lawyers remember Rod most fondly and above all for his relentless optimism and generous outreach to younger lawyers, many of whom are partners, friends, and clients of the firm to this day.

A Tribute to Rod Perkins

Debevoise partner Michael Gillespie spoke on behalf of the firm at the Service in Celebration of Life held on April 29, 2019.

I am here today on behalf of the literally thousands of lawyers, clients and friends touched by Rod’s life and work at his beloved Debevoise & Plimpton.  When word went out to the firm of Rod’s passing, it sparked really an unprecedented flood of emails within the firm sharing remembrances across the decades.  Many of you are here today and that is just a small sample, as am I.

Most of what most of us know about Rod is evident within a few moments of meeting him,  and my interview in his Debevoise office back in 1985 was no exception.  A combination of intensity and kindness that is at once imposing and utterly inviting — disarming directness, zero artifice.  And the whole figure framed by stacks of documents rising up from his desk, whose surface was speckled with the Ticonderoga yellow of number two pencils in various stages of fervent use.   Was this guy for real?  Turns out he was, and in ways I would see more and more clearly as the decades went by.

In the mid-1990s, I was Rod’s foot-soldier in his epic project to open a Debevoise office in Moscow.  As Rod saw it, Russia was a brand new and very old nation whose reemergence as a player on the world stage would bring forth all manner of challenges, opportunities and risks.  The rule of law would matter, would be at stake.  Our clients would need to be guided through the thicket of ethical and legal issues posed by the new private economy and its varied actors.  And of course, he was right.

So when Rod was 70, he and Joan pulled up stakes from their comfortable New York life and replanted themselves in Glasnost Moscow.  At an age when most partners retire to sunnier climes, Rod found himself settling into a long-term lease of an apartment previously occupied by a Soviet hockey player.   No gated expat community for Rod. 

As I reflect now on Rod and his life, maybe that is what it comes down to — there were no gates for Rod.   Just community, connection to others, and an abiding belief that the law matters — not merely as a way to do well in life but in furtherance of the good.  I hope we can keep that Rod in our heart for years to come.  We could use it.

Mike Gillespie

Snapshots from Near and Far

Rod was a model of dedication to public service, not only in the legal profession, but also in government. From 1953 to 1956, while in his late 20's, Rod served as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, Education & Welfare by appointment of President Eisenhower. Then in 1959, he served the newly elected Governor of New York, Nelson A. Rockefeller, as Counsel.

Photos
LEFT:  Rod with his family and Nelson Rockefeller in 1959.
CENTER:  Rod with President Eisenhower and Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Overta Culp Hobby in 1954.
RIGHT:  Rod, while acting secretary of HEW, with Vice President Richard Nixon at a Cabinet meeting during the White House conference in Geneva in 1955.

Rod was committed to many things. Retirement was not one of them. Although due to retire in 1998, Rod instead relocated to Russia in December 1997, to serve as the first resident partner of the Moscow office, which he led for the next three-and-a-half years, helping to build what today remains one of the leading law practices in Russia. 

Photos
LEFT:  Former international counsel Holly Nielsen, Joan Perkins, Rod Perkins and Dmitri Nikiforov, who would become head of the Moscow office .  
CENTER:  Rod and members of the Moscow office at Rod's farewell party.
RIGHT:  Rod posing with his farewell gift—a caricature of Rod and members of the Moscow office.

Remembrances

Rod's list of achievements is long and his impact expansive. Rather than presenting that list to you, we share a selection of anecdotes—many of which have become firm lore—that paint a picture of the man Rod was. Although, as one retired partner reminds us, "of all the praise of Rod's virtues, and all the anecdotes revealing them, the truth is that none of them can ever be deemed apocryphal. In fact, they do not measure up to the man himself."

"I have memorable experiences working with Rod. One in particular happened in 1986 when Rod agreed to step in and help another partner with a Private Equity Fund. It was the early days of Private Equity, so there was no “market.” Everything was custom drafted. I sit in his office with another associate and we work until around 3:00 a.m. Next day Rod is working with us but has to go to a dinner. Later that evening he returns in his tux and we draft again until 3:00 a.m.  The next morning he goes to Washington for an 8:00 a.m. ALI meeting he was chairing. Back to the office and another 3:00 a.m. session. The man had incredible stamina. At one point on the third night Rod yawned once. The other associate and I looked at each other as if to say ‘he’s human!’  That he was, and in many ways reflected the best of humankind."   

"[Rod's] office itself was a thing to behold, overflowing with cabinets and on-floor stacks of client files, corporate document binders, briefs, publications he was reading, and ALI drafts, papers and other public service documents. Yet, as others have noted, amid this apparent clutter, he had little difficulty locating the precise document we needed. Rather endearingly, though, he was often unable to locate a pen or pencil (remember this was the 1970’s) with which to make notes. Remarkably, despite the whirlwind, he always made me feel that our cases and my comments were of the utmost importance. I am sure everyone else who visited with him had the same experience. That is a special achievement even for a person as gifted as Rod."   

"I am reminded of the story, much repeated when I was an associate, of the young lawyer who arrived to the firm very early on a warm Sunday morning to gather some papers before heading out of the City for a day at the beach.  Confident that he was early enough to demonstrate his diligence without any risk that Rod would answer, he called Rod to leave a voicemail about some arcane issue on a deal on which they were both working.  Rod answered on the first ring.  The associate and Rod spent the rest of the morning, shoulder to shoulder, wrestling the issue to ground.   

"I, too, as a first year associate heard the story Sunday morning voicemail—but as I recall it,  after the associate left the voicemail he returned to his office, only to have Rod burst through his door apologizing, ‘Sorry I missed your call, I was in the men’s room!’"   

"Football ran in Rod’s veins.  I always loved the story I heard when I came to D&P about the associate who had been summoned into Rod’s office the afternoon before Thanksgiving.  The associate’s knees were trembling since he thought he was about to lose his Thanksgiving weekend with a huge corporate assignment.  Rod leaned over his desk and looked the associate in the eye and said, ‘I have an important touch football game tomorrow and I understand you have some great plays.  Could you diagram them for me?’"  

"My memories of Rod will remain vivid.  All of us who worked with him must remember his distinctive handwriting.  When I was a young associate in the New York office, Rod and I were flying out of LaGuardia to Boston for a meeting at John Hancock.  I was literally running in my heels to keep up with him as we made for the gate, while he just kept talking to me even though I was several yards behind him.  Shortly after I became a partner, Rod was in DC for a conference and wanted to congratulate me in person.  When he saw me, he gave me a big hug and bottle of Scotch to take back to the DC office!  The last time I saw Rod was a few years ago at the Harvard Club in New York.  I was waiting in the lounge for a friend.  Rod spied me and said, ‘Is that Marcia?’  I am sure we had not seen each other for many years by then.  I was completely overwhelmed when he strode right over and introduced Susan.  But that was Rod, forever a gentleman."   

"I was [once] working on an LBO with Harold Healy. There was a contentious corporate governance issue that Harold told me he would handle with Rod. The two of them exchanged heavy markups of the relevant documents several times, and Rod quizzed Harold about things as closely as he would have quizzed a first-year associate.  Harold was completely appreciative of all the grilling.  Somewhere in the course of that deal, I signed out of the office at about 5:00 in the morning.  I looked a couple lines above my signature and saw that Rod had signed out only a half-hour before I did. Finally, about 20 years after that, I ran into Rod at a concert.  He said that he was looking forward to going to a tennis camp in Florida.  He was going to go with his daughter.  He said, ‘She’s a lawyer in DC, and she’s a real workaholic.  I want to try to get her out of the office.’  I thought: Gee, I wonder where she got that from."   

"As a 6th year associate I was involved in a large transaction that camped out for weeks in the conference room across from Rod’s office. Rod noticed a young attorney who Rod had not yet met, so Rod hauled the young man into his office and discussed the associate’s law and undergraduate schools (Yale and Columbia) and his views on public service. The young man was Allan Sperling—Allen was so intimidated that he didn’t have the nerve to tell Rod that he was at Cleary, not Debevoise, and was just visiting our conference room."