By Laura Kalish
It is hard to believe that Kalish Law Office has been a fixture in The Woodlands for 35 years. So, on our 35th anniversary, I’m going to take a break from our usual informational blog posts and do a bit of reminiscing.
Bob started the practice in 1984. There were relatively few law firms in The Woodlands at that time. Most of the attorneys knew each other by name and by face.
Throughout the last thirty five years, the location of the firm has changed a few times, but has been within the same 2 mile radius. Our last move was recent, April 1, 2019. We moved to a building that is new to us, but right next door to our former building that we left around 12 years ago. So, every morning now when I turn down Grogan’s Park Drive, I have a feeling of nostalgia.
We have had a lot of wonderful clients over the years and Bob and I often reminisce about some clients that have made a particular impression on us. Occasionally we still have visits, calls or emails from clients that were here as far back as the 1980s. Some are connected with us on social media, and still live locally or have moved out of state. And, there are those who we wonder about- How are they doing, where are they, how did their situation turn out. Because of the nature of our work, people tend to come to us at very intense times in their lives, when they are going through a major change whether good or bad (divorce, death of a loved one, adoption, formation of a business). This means that we can be a constant, even daily feature in our client’s lives for a while, but then suddenly we are out of each other’s lives quickly and forever. For many, that is normal, good and necessary in order to move on. No doubt there are many former clients who would be surprised to know that we still think of them at times and send a good thought.
One of the best parts of being lawyers has been our adoption practice over the years. Bob, Sio and myself have always been very involved with adoptions of all types- and we love them. One of the highlights of our practice has been receiving pictures of these families over the years (some of the “little kids” now have kids of their own!)
We have met a lot of wonderful people when they became employees and interns. We are in touch with a good number of them, and it is always nice to hear about their scholastic and professional accomplishments and about their families.
I wish we had had the ability to take photos and videos as easily in the past as we do now. There are a lot of happy events that we honored to have been a part of, at our firm, in the community, and with our clients.
The practice of law has changed since 1984, and so has the courthouse. E-mail, servers, the cloud, e-filing and virtual meetings were not a part of our lives. The Montgomery County courthouse was a lot different. For instance the entire probate department consisted of two people, and the clerk’s office was a lot smaller too. The staff pretty much knew all the attorneys by name. It was a time that was blessedly free of technical difficulties, but also a time when taking time away from the office presented a challenge. I recall a lot of driving from home to the office to retrieve a forgotten file or a phone number.
To sum it all up: We have been fortunate. The practice of law is very rewarding, sometimes stressful, always busy and never dull.
Want to wish Bob Kalish and Kalish Law Office a Happy 35th? Connect with us on Social Media or email us at contact@kalishlawtexas.com. With your permission, we will share your story/photos/memories!
