Sam Zell & the Tribune deal

Interesting post on Sam Zell‘s legal background and the recent Tribune deal announcement on the WSJ law blog. They quote some other WSJ article on Zell’s background that struck several chords with me personally and professionally:

When he was a student at the University of Michigan School of Law, Mr. Zell spent part of his time managing apartment buildings, so he had contacts in real estate. But he had every intention of carving out a career in law. After graduation, he joined [Yates Holleb and Michelson] in Chicago. The starting salary was $116 a week, but an ambitious young lawyer could supplement that by bringing new business to the firm.

“I spent my first week drafting a contract,” Mr. Zell recalls. “It was deadly.” That weekend, he got in touch with some of his real-estate contacts, and “the following Monday I brought in my first deal, an apartment project in Toledo, Ohio. The partners liked it so much they all invested.” Thanks to deals like that one, Mr. Zell earned $100,000 his first year out of law school — $93,000 in commissions and $7,000 in pay — more than any of the firm’s senior partners. Never again would he formally practice law.