Joseph Flom, RIP

JOSEPH FLOM: Our sincere condolences to Jason Flom, whose remarkable father passed away last night following heart surgery on Dec. 26. He was 87. Flom’s expertise in corporate mergers and acquisitions reshaped America's business landscape during the 1980s and helped turn his tiny New York firm into one of the nation's largest practices. Said Eric J. Friedman, executive partner of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, in a statement: "It is an understatement to say Joe was an individual without equal. He was a most trusted adviser, beloved and respected partner and mentor, faithful friend and formidable adversary," Flom was born in Baltimore, grew up poor in Brooklyn and, after serving in the Army during World War II, argued his way into Harvard Law School without an undergraduate degree. He said he was motivated by hunger to study law, which he expected would lead to politics and a life of relative privilege. "When you don't have enough to eat," he told a reporter in 2008, "you never forget that." Upon graduation in 1948, he used his scrappy demeanor to become one of the most powerful and feared corporate lawyers of his generation. More in the Washington Post. (2/23a)