Widow Lashes Out at Law Firm in Obituary
Our condolences to Brenda Evanick and the Evanick family on the passing of R. Bruce Evanick, who was a shareholder in the New Orleans law firm of Abbott, Simses & Kuchler. Here are some excerpts from his obituary, which ran in the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
EVANICK Robert Bruce Evanick (always known as Bruce to those who loved him - and those who employed him and exploited his work ethic) -- died Tuesday afternoon, December 4th, 2007. A massive heart attack killed him - despite the heroic efforts of many physicians, surgeons and nurses - in a waiting area at Ochsner Hospital. He was not an inpatient there. He was there to provide company and comfort to Brenda, his wife, whom he loved and supported, in all ways, for 32 years. Her heart is broken.He died a horrendous death, on the floor of the waiting room, at Brenda's feet. To her, he was the most kind, most gentle, and most generous person she has ever known. His death should be a warning to all those who believe that they are being used by insensitive employers. He deserved better, both in life and death. Bruce had been seduced into a sedentary and high stress life style after he moved to New Orleans, by the promise of "big money" from a corporate defense law firm. Essentially, his succumbing to that seduction and his devotion to duty caused his death.
Read more, after the jump.
Although Evanick was designated a shareholder in the firm, perhaps some shareholders are more equal than others. The obituary speaks of shareholders that he worked for rather than with:
Of the many shareholders in the firm for which he labored, only one took the personal initiative to call Brenda to offer her personal condolences.
Correction: As some of you note, as a grammatical matter, "for which he labored" modifies "the firm" rather than "the many shareholders." Point well-taken. (But when you read the obituary in its entirety, it's pretty clear that -- at least in Brenda's mind -- her late husband worked for rather than with these folks.)
In the firm's defense, perhaps so few people called because of a misunderstanding:
Several colleagues believe that Brenda and Bruce were divorced. This is not true. They lived apart for several years but were in friendly communication, especially enjoying Sunday breakfasts together. His devoted secretary rushed to the hospital, along with the office manager, to comfort and assist Brenda.
The obituary goes on, at great length, about Bruce Evanick's various hobbies and interests. Then it returns to discussing his former firm:
Bruce's death leaves a huge void in the world. It is truly a sin and a shame that only one of his fellow shareholders were moved to personally console his widow. He loved her to his last breath and would have been deeply saddened by their cold attitude. Bruce is survived by two siblings from whom he was estranged.The firm will be holding a Memorial Service in their office sometime on Monday, December 10, 2007. It is not known if they would welcome people from outside the firm and the firms prestigious client list. Brenda will not attend.
Given the strength of the sentiments expressed in the obituary, it concludes with a disclaimer:
Bruce Evanick's obituary was composed, written, and submitted by Brenda Evanick. All thoughts, opinions and declarations in it are ENTIRELY hers and do not reflect input from any other persons, LIVING OR DEAD, other than those presented as quotations.
And that's all she wrote.
Obituary: Robert Bruce Evanick [New Orleans Times-Picayune]
(70) 
I don't want to be that guy in ten years.
let me the the FIRST to say, this is terrible of her to be so petty.
Wow. Crazytown.
A sweet jacket and tie combo in that picture.
The lesson: An obituary is a great place to air an agenda.
A big law partner working himelf to death? That *is* big news. I thought that's what associates were for.
An obviously pissed off wife.
If he words are to have any impact, a lot of folks will bail out of BIGLAW drudgery and the golden handcuffs.
I kind of love this and love the fact that it made it into NO's major newspaper. Can't imagine the Times ever doing that.
He died while visiting HER in the hospital? That's pretty tragic...
Of course, the only way anyone can suffer a heart attack is through being worked to death.
Looking at the firm's website, it looks like a typical defense mill, not Biglaw, hence the reason he was a partner who allegedly worked himself to death. (Is there any Biglaw in New Orleans to begin with?)
Guys in my high school worked themselves to death for insurance defense mills and had their wives write nasty obituaries about it all the time, it was no big deal.
10:34
Or maybe she's just grieving and needs to vent.
That's a tragedy and my condolences to the family, but honestly, don't blame the law firm. The guy made his career choices of his own free will, like we all do. He wasn't "seduced" into working hard.
And it's not like he had it so bad. People who have to work 2 blue collar jobs just to put food on the table and pay the bills are under a lot more stress than partners at a law firm. If you think that your law firm job is too stressful, step back, take a look at the rest of the country, and get some perspective on your life! And also try jogging on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day - goes a long way toward living longer.
Brenda sounds like a cook. Or maybe a ninja?
It's too bad that she could be so petty and let her grief cause her to lash out like that. It wasn't the firm's fault that they guy died, and it was always his choice to work or not work as much as he wanted to.
his sedentary lifestyle is hardly the firm's fault. hit the treadmill.
everyone in NO is in terrible shape and has clogged arteries and high blood pressure.
"Although Evanick was designated a shareholder in the firm, perhaps some shareholders are more equal than others. The obituary speaks of shareholders that he worked for rather than with:"
Actually it says pretty clearly that he worked for the *firm*, not for any individual shareholder.
probably more of a kook than a cook, but if she was a cook, i bet she made a lot of fatty, fried foods.
That's what decades of nitrous, crawdads, beer and boobs, i.e. Mardi Gras will get you . . . .A PLACE IN FRICKIN HEAVEN!!! WOOO HOOOO. . ..
He had enough free time to go visit her in the hospital. I don't know what she's complaining about.
oh come on. they didn't live together and only saw each other once a week. why would you call her to offer condolences?
Here's the thread I want to see:
What is Biglaw? How do you define it?
You funny people could address Qs like 10:46's about whether Biglaw even exists in NOLA. Or my question: if you work for Jones Day in Cleveland, are you Biglaw? If you work for Skadden in Wilmington? If you work anywhere in Chicago?
Come on Lat (or ATL posters)--tell me what you think Biglaw really means!!
Don't blame the guy or the firm; I think the wife was a little looney.
Check out the whole obit at the link Lat provided. The excerpt above doesn't tell half the picture. The obit reads like a hagiography. To wit, here is but a sample:
"Bruce was brilliantly intelligent, with an impressive knowledge of the law and many other disciplines. Bruce's encyclopedic knowledge of sterling silver -- including the most rare and sought after makers and patterns - put him far above the average collectors. He also knew textiles intimately, including old and new quilts, embroideries from ancient to modern, laces, silks, and all forms of the highest quality handwork in fabric and thread.
"His appreciation of textiles included loving the custom made shirts that Brenda designed and constructed for him. Bruce loved handmade rugs the best of all of the textiles. He was a connoisseur of the finest of hand woven rugs, both Asian and Middle Eastern. He appreciated exquisite fabrics from around the world and from every era.
"From his parents who were antique dealers he learned at an early age to discern the best in art and antiques of every sort. He knew porcelains, paintings, fine photography, jewelry, glassware, watches, bronzes and a myriad of other forms of the finest of decorative arts. His homes reflected his love of the beautiful and unique.
"His residence in Algiers Point was a house he selected because he said "I want to buy a house that is so beautiful that people will point at it". He achieved this, as he achieved so many of his personal goals.
"He loved and thoroughly enjoyed and knew gourmet food, superb Scotch and made the world's best chocolate chip cookies. He loved and was amazingly successful at seeking out treasures in yard sales and auctions. He shared those treasures unselfishly with Brenda and friends and colleagues.
"Bruce was awesomely knowledgeable in the law since it was the foremost of his passions. Close behind that fund of academic knowledge came his deep and profound knowledge of many sciences."
Wonder if one of his fellow partners is the executor of the will. I'm sure that won't be awkward at all.
Reading is Fundamental: I think you missed Lat's point completely. Nice moniker, though.
He had time for Sunday breakfast.
Apparently, he wasn't working all the time.
I wonder how he paid for that expensive silver, handmade rugs, beautiful house, gourmet food, and superb Scotch. And how he found time to enjoy them all with that work ethic and devotion to duty.
10:58(1) - Skadden is surely Biglaw, but the Skadden Wilmington office does largely local counsel work, which consists of reformatting and signing pleadings and going to court with the big guns from NYC or wherever.
You can find plenty of Biglaw here, but it's mainly in the local firms - Morris Nichols, Potter Anderson, Young Conaway, Morris James.
10:58(1)
"If you work anywhere in Chicago?"
Is this a joke?
Anybody doubt that the estrangement from the 2 siblings was due to him marrying (and perhaps becoming) . . . let's see, how to put this respectfully . . . a bit of an eccentric?
That said, we all have different ways of grieving--I think the obituary is more a reflexive expression of the anger that comes with grief than a reasoned attack on the firm or the legal profession in general.
"He also knew textiles intimately, including old and new quilts, embroideries from ancient to modern, laces, silks, and all forms of the highest quality handwork in fabric and thread."
Heh, he knew textiles intimately. Guess an old sock wasn't good enough.
Anyone remember Sopranos Season 1, when Mikey Palmice told his wife to go F herself, but after he got shot she told the press that his last words to her were "I love you"? I wonder if this is kind of like that.
Wilmingtonian,
"You can find plenty of Biglaw (sic) here, but it's mainly in the local firms - Morris Nichols, Potter Anderson, Young Conaway, Morris James."
That's pretty funny. It's also pretty funny that you think the people at Skadden "reformat and sign pleadings" ... do you really believe that, or are you just trying to make yourself feel better for working at one of the second-tier Wilmington offices?
Yeah it was practising law that killed him, not the beignets or the fried everything else.
BTW, guys in my high school used to have poor diets, not exercise and drop dead of heart attacks all the time, and then their family would blame their jobs, it was no big deal.
Let's just hope she doesn't put the obit on his tombstone.
York, Pennsylvania!
11:04 -- yeah, ed welch is just local counsel
Thanks for the wake-up call that LIFE IS NOT A BILLABLE HOUR!
11:02,
How did I miss Lat's point? Lat seems to suggest that the statement "Of the many shareholders in the firm for which he labored, only one took the personal initiative to call Brenda to offer her personal condolences" implies that Bruce was working "*for* rather than *with*" certain other shareholders, but I don't think it carries that implication at all. It seems to me that the passage implies that he worked "for" the firm itself, not that he was subordinate to any other shareholders.
10:53: yes, I meant a kook, not a cook. That is definitely my bad.
11:28-
You're right; "for which he labored" modifies "the firm," not "the many shareholders."
11:28-
You're right; "for which he labored" modifies "the firm," not "the many shareholders."
I'm not saying she's not eccentric, or not overly emotional because she's grieving, but for only two partners to call to offer their condolences on her husband's death? That is pretty poor form, and I don't think there's anything wrong with her being displeased with that--even to the point of airing it in public. This isn't BigLaw - the other partners aren't people you just pass in the halls or the elevator. These are people that you've chosen to make your career with.
As for 10:49's argument that blue collar workers working 2 jobs have it worse, I disagree. While not putting down people who have that unenviable lot in life, it can be just as stressful to have supposedly "made it" but to find that your position in life is pretty tenuous. Even at a small firm in New Orleans, I'm sure there was pressure to bill and to produce. Even in BigLaw, as deequitization sweeps through firms, don't tell me that's not as much pressure.
11:04(1), I think you miss the point that this is written like a hagiography, and the man was not rich. He had a 'nice' house in a New Orleans suburb, enjoyed a drink at home (what a luxury), and probably had some worn-out old antiques. He was at an insurance defense mill in New Orleans -- even as partner, he probably didn't make more than $135k a year or so. Good for anybody who's not a lawyer, maybe, but probably little comfort for the hours he was working. (Though granted, I agree he probably didn't work as hard as people in real BigLaw in New York. It's my experience people in New Orleans don't know what shitty hours really are).
Basically, it's true he chose his life. But I'm sure he had kids and a mortgage and bills and all that comes with life, and he thought to himself, if i step back and i don't bill and i don't work 60-70 hours a week, what will I do when they deequitize me and I end up losing my job? I think it's pretty sad that his business partners probably saw this in him, and did nothing to stop it.
Oh noes! My husband worked himself to death. And, its all the fault of the Evil Big Firm. Afterall, Big Law is just like slavery. My dear, dear husband had no choice in the matter. Woe is me.
What a fucking loon.
Presumably had a life insurance policy, and dropped dead from overwork -- my wife would be thanking the firm!
skadden wilmington is a TTT shop. 11:20 ought to know better.
besides, skadden NY has the awesome times square offices.
10:44-
There are very few people in New Orleans that pass on without having an obituary in the Times Picayune. That city has a strange relationship with the dead. Perhaps its the fact that nobody is buried below ground and the same reason they have Jazz funerals.
Other language in the obituary suggests that in Brenda's view, her late husband worked FOR his evil colleagues. E.g.:
"always known as Bruce to those who loved him - and those who employed him and exploited his work ethic"
"Those who employed him" might be construed as referring to his clients. But since his clients are never mentioned in the obit, and his evil partners are, it seems that - at least in Brenda's mind - he worked FOR those mean SOBs.
Firm lawyers are such assholes, I can't wait to make enough money to get the hell out of here in a couple of years.
11:46, unless you are working for a specific goal (paying off school debt, getting down payment for a home, etc.), you will never make "enough" money to leave. I'm five years in, and have just woken up to this, and am trying my hardest to get the f out, even if it means a big pay cut to--gasp--highish five figures.
See Lat's correction - he confesses error on the grammar point.
Guys at my high school used to rag on branch offices of Biglaw firms all the time, it was no big deal.
by the way, the guy's wife is clearly a raving lunatic. Poor bastard probably died because he wanted to.
Who wants to live longer if you're just going to be slaving away in an office doing bulls--t paperwork (or at least until they move you straight into the retirement home when the firm decides you're too old and not profitable enough anymore)?
If you don't love your life in biglaw (and I don't know many who do, with the exception of rainmaker types who get the money without the paper-pushing), get out now, it's not going to get better, and your chances of finding happiness in something else will not improve with time either.
Even the partners who actually like their jobs rarely see their own kids, at least at my firm, and the associates for the most part absolutely despise most of the partners they work for.
Some life.
Please, living apart for several years? Estranged from his siblings? Only one shareholder consoled her from the firm? Sounds like Brenda and Bruce were assholes - not the other way around. Oh, and RIP Bruce.
11:35- Your point would be much stronger if the obituary itself stated that many of his colleagues thought that they were divorced.
First, I think all you folks are f-ing despicable who are calling a grieving widow a loon, etc., for expressing her sentiments in this fashion. You reflect the kind of socially-out-of-touch, money-hungry vermin that infect the legal profession these days. And second, this seems like a very reasonable basis for a workers' compensation claim for widow's benefits (the obit makes a very nice opening salvo in that litigation, which I am sure will follow).
12:18, That's a justification? That they took so little effort to get to know the man that they thought he was divorced? Seems like the kinda thing that would come out over a few beers over work. But I guess all they cared about was whether he put money in their pocket. I guess that's okay, they were just his business partners, but it doesn't sound like much a life to me.
*after work.
12:27 - I'm a plaintiff's lawyer, as pro-injured worker as you can get, and I still think the woman's a loon.
Frat Stud - the "guys in my highschool" joke really isn't funny anymore. It's probably time to let this one go.
"take advantage of his work ethic"
That's really heavy.
Chicago Biglaw, let me guess - Kirkland?
Can I hire this woman to write my O-bitch-uary?
A responsible newspaper doesn't let its pages be used for score settling in this way. The disclaimer at the end doesn't salvage it at all.
Great day for New Orleans lawyers, though: http://www.wdsu.com/news/14831642/detail.html
11:53 - Oh I know, and I do. :-)
-Loans nearly gone
-Condo purchased
-Reasonable nest-egg
With sound budgeting these can be achieved in a few years.
There are three types of people at my firm:
1) people who have never married and never will because their jobs are their entire life. They will die miserable and alone.
2) people who are divorced because their jobs are their entire life. They will die miserable and alone.
3) people who are married, never see their spouses or kids (often hate both), and have their kids raised by paid strangers (au pairs and nannies) because their jobs are their entire life. They will die miserable and surrounded by strangers called family.
I understand working firm hours in the beginning to get yourself financially established - but once you've crossed a certain financial threshold (even if it's a much higher one than mine, say becoming a multimillionaire partner), why on Earth would you sacrifice family for more - entirely unnecessary - money?
Because you're a bastard. And the problem is that such bastards are the ones who rise through the ranks to become the partners making associate lives miserable - because they think it's an acceptable norm.
12:18:
You nailed it. Sounds like this guy - and his wife - weren't very good at keeping relationships healthy.
She bought a rant, but no peace.
He had a hobby that he apparently devoted significant time and attention to; it doesn't sound like he was that over-worked. I know that sounds petty, but one of the reasons I got out of BigLaw was because I realized that it was taking all of my time and attention and I was no longer doing or interested in any outside activities. The pleasures that I was working to be able to afford in the first place weren't pleasurable anymore, because I was too busy and tired to enjoy anything. It doesn't sound like he was in that category.
Please berate me if you disagree, but my take is: after years of hiding out in the office to avoid having to go home, Bruce couldn't take this (possibly mentally ill) woman any longer and moved out. He was a decent guy, felt badly for her and didn't divorce her (possibly to keep her on his health insurance?), and continued to spend time with her. She uses the obituary to prove to the world how much more she loved him than his "estranged" siblings, and those awful colleagues who didn't bother to call her because they knew exactly what the score was.
At least she wrote him up as dying at her feet, rather than in the bed of the devoted secretary... isnt that supposed to be a Biglaw perk...?
He made his pile of money off the backs of associates, just like many of you silver-spoons will do in the future. See you in hell...