Fifty years on, few lawyers can recall the precise day when their legal careers began. But I can. It was June 12, 1967, the date when the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in U.S. v. Arnold, Schwinn & Co., holding that nonprice vertical restrictions on dealer freedom were illegal per se based largely on the ancient common law rule forbidding “restraints on alienation.” On that day, I received my first legal research assignment from a then - senior associate at the firm of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, M. Laurence Popofsky. Though neither of us knew it at the time, it was — to quote Humphrey Bogart — “the beginning of a beautiful friendship” that lasted until Larry passed away last month at the age of 81.

Originally published in Law360, New York - June 5, 2017.