17 YEARS OF WILLIE THE BEE MAN

In 2007, a client approached me about an anti-competition dispute against Willie Sklaroff , also knows as "Willie the Bee Man". At the time, I did not know who Willie the Bee Man was, and little did I know that this was going to be the beginning of a very special relationship. Due to the intellectual property nature of the dispute, the case was handled by intellectual property (associate at the time, but now Partner) Peter Koziol .

The dispute with my client ultimately settled. "Willie" came to my office a few times after the settlement to deal with certain post-settlement issues. The entire time, I never met Willie and I did not even know what he looked like. But, I did hear his very distinct booming voice from the lobby.

Several years later, I was playing adult softball with some friends in North Miami Beach High School's baseball fields and I heard a voice that sounded familiar, but I just could not place it.

Suddenly, when the game was over and I went back to my car in the parking lot, I saw a black and yellow Lexus with Willie the Bee Man written all over it. So, I went over to Willie and said "are you William Sklaroff?" And he said "yes". I said, "I am Eric Assouline, Esq. , you had a case against law firm Assouline & Berlowe, P.A. and you came to my office many times." That was some "a-ha" moment!

Well, needless to say, we both let bygones be bygones, and did not hold any grudges from the prior case. Instead, Willie and I became friends both on and off the softball field.

One day, Willie told me he needed some legal help and even though I had previously been adverse to him he very much respected the way that we handled the case and Willie wanted me to help him. And, of course I did. And I continued to help Willie with many legal issues over the many years.

Every time he came to my office, Willie dropped off some of his famous Willie the Bee Man pens. We use them all the time. They are great in classic black ink of course.

Well, all good things must come to an end. Last week, Willie hired me for the last time as he sold his business to start his retirement, which was well deserved for the always hard working Willie.

I was very flattered when Willie, an adverse party, hired me to help him with his legal work. But I felt even more privileged to get to know such a great all around person. Thank you Willie and enjoy your well deserved retirement my friend.