This week, I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Lou Rose, a visionary in the early days of the Internet. Lou Rose was one of the first lawyers to create a website and went on to a successful career in advertising and consumer law. His tenure as managing partner of law firm Kelly Dry is capped at six years.
I once wrote an article about the first law firm to launch a website. I gave special credit to his Venable, who started the site in 1994. But Lou was one of the first lawyers to start a website.
As I wrote in 1996, in 1994, Lew, then a partner at Arent Fox, “joined about a dozen lawyers who had previously expanded to the Web to launch an advertising law Internet site. ”. It was the first site, or one of the first sites, aimed at helping visitors understand the field of law.
I continued by writing: “At first, he said nothing to the company. Then in February 1995, PC Computing entered the Top 100 Web Sites for the first time, ranking him at number 16. The only law firm in the business. Mr. Rose showed the review to the managing partner, who asked him to present to the partnership. Soon, Rose was asked to help the firm develop its own site. became.”
As Arent Fox developed its own site, Mr. Lu helped develop a feature called Arent Fox InfoNet, which allows site visitors to participate in discussions with the firm’s attorneys about legal topics. It can still be found on the Internet Archive and you can see Lew’s posts on advertising forums.
Mr. Lu joined Kelly Dry in 2001 as head of the advertising law practice. He became managing partner of his DC office in 2013, firmwide managing partner in 2015, and retired in 2019.
In 2022, Lou and his wife Jackie will donate $1 million to their alma mater, the University at Buffalo School of Law, to provide students with practical training in accessing justice issues such as civil rights, domestic violence, and criminal justice. supported the school’s clinical program. justice, etc.
Regarding Lou, Kelly Drai said on the website:
“Mr. Lu was an extraordinary person who guided the firm with foresight and compassion during his many years as managing partner. His impact on people was remarkable. He was a friend and mentor to many who sought his advice and guidance.”
They say he was a larger-than-life person, and I’m convinced of that. I was fortunate enough to know him both professionally and personally. Lou’s brother is one of my closest friends.
He was only 66 years old and by all accounts had just begun a new phase of his post-retirement life, driven by his love of music, travel and fine cuisine. His loss is heartbreaking for many.
