After a wonderful beginning to the first week of work, the Summer Associates attended the firm’s annual dinner party on Saturday. The party was at The Cruz Building in Coconut Grove, a unique venue inspired by New Orleans architecture (some of the fixtures were even salvaged from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina). 

Upon entering the space, I was struck by the beautiful stained-glass windows, marble staircases, and antique chandeliers. As noted by John Sumberg in his opening remarks, Jessica Buchsbaum did an incredible job choosing the venue.

Although it had only been a week at the office, it was nice to find so many familiar and welcoming faces during cocktail hour. Soon after, everyone dispersed to their respective assigned tables for dinner.

I was lucky enough to be placed at Table 8 with a delightful and entertaining group that included Albert Dotson, Ed Kalish, Mildred Gomez, their respective spouses, and Bryan Hawks and Shalia Sakona. We discussed a range of topics, from that night’s Miami Heat game to Justin Bieber, and also received inspiring advice about how to have a fulfilling legal career from Mr. Dotson.  Towards the end of dinner, we discovered it was Mr. Dotson’s birthday as well, joking about the surprise birthday party awaiting him downstairs. To our surprise and Mr. Dotson’s, when we proceeded downstairs for dessert, he was greeted with a large, red velvet cake with his name on it, wishing him a Happy Birthday.

With filled bellies and happy hearts, the Summer Associates headed over to the nearby Coral Reef Yacht Club to watch the game 7 of Heat vs. Celtics Playoffs. Suzanne Amaducci-Adams was kind enough to secure a room to watch the final match-up for anyone from Bilzin Sumberg who was interested in attending. We had a great time chatting and watching the Heat beat the Celtics back to Boston. It was the perfect way to top off an already memorable evening!