Read the tribute honoring the life and achievements of Michael E. Meyer, whose recent passing is deeply felt within the L.A. legal community. As LACBA’s 2017-2018 President, Meyer’s leadership and commitment left a profound mark.

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By Ronald F. Brot

In 2015, the Los Angeles County Bar Association was roiling with discontentment. Founded in 1878 and led through the years by titans of the local legal community, the Association had become unresponsive to the practice sections who were its core, submerged in fiscal danger and cloaked in apparent secrecy. In 2016, a group of reformists, or perhaps loyal revolutionists, challenged the Association’s leadership in the first contested election in a quarter century. The candidate chosen to lead the reform movement was a transactional lawyer named Michael Meyer, then managing partner at DLA Piper in downtown Los Angeles. He won the race for the position of President-Elect by a landslide vote.

I had not known Michael before. As a Trustee, I watched him take the helm of the Bar with soft spoken determination and humility.

As I wrote in January 2018 when Michael was honored as a Person of the Year by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise:

We of the Los Angeles County Bar Association are fortunate to have Michael Meyer as our President for 2017-2018. Having suffered through a loyalist rebellion, a challenged election, and even litigation, our Association needed a leader who would promote healing while remaining true to the pledge to implement fiscal responsibility, restore respect for our Sections, and establish transparency in all of our affairs. Michael has done just that. He has embraced the challenges of his position by leading from within. His leadership style is soft-spoken, honest, and humble. The Officers and Trustees marvel at his unfailing ability to encourage dissent, while always guiding us toward consensus. If ever there was a perfect choice for new leadership, it was Michael.

 

The work of the Association requires a commitment to participate in more meetings than one could imagine. Curious it is, however, that Michael often tells us how much he detests meetings. Yet there he sits, with a Chicago smile on his face, embracing his role as the leader of the new Association.

Michael guided the Association in a manner true to the promise of respect for its members, financial responsibility, and total transparency. He set a course which helped find a new Executive Director who remains as CEO even today. The Bar Association became fully transparent, and adopted a more prudent financial plan that enabled it to satisfy all of its liabilities. Today it is debt free.

Due to litigation over the election, Michael’s installation as President was delayed until January 2018. By that time I had worked closely with Michael on Bar matters and developed a growing friendship. Michael treated everyone with kindness and respect. He left everyone with the feeling that you were special, at least to him. So it was with me.

Michael’s inaugural speech at his installation demonstrated his humanity and his commitment to civility. He spoke of finding a mistake by another lawyer and of calling it to that lawyer’s attention rather than seeking a momentary advantage. He was always willing to help anyone who needed it, exemplifying his genuine generosity of spirit.

After Michael’s Installation at the Los Angeles Bonaventure Hotel, I saw Michael and his family as we waited for our vehicles. As I said goodbye, he invited Linda and me to join him and his family for dinner with Senator George Mitchell. I thanked him but said this was a time for him to be with his family. He responded: “You are family. Join us.” As so we did.

Michael refused to allow his health issues to limit his activity. He regularly visited Dodger Stadium where he could be found with a glass of wine in one hand and an order of tater tots in the other.

In May of 2018, Michael hosted an event we attended for a LAFC soccer game at what was formerly Banc of California Stadium. After the game we were invited to go onto the field to attempt to score a goal. There was Michael, wearing a white sports cap and white jacket, on the soccer field taking his turn at kicking a soccer ball into the net for a goal.

Michael had always wanted to visit Cuba. As a result, LACBA sponsored its first travel package, a trip to Cuba from November 30 to December 5, 2018. Michael and Cathie, Linda and I, and a busload of others traveled to Havana for this amazing tour.

Before flying to Cuba we spent the night in Miami where the four of us had dinner in South Beach. As we pondered the long list of appetizers to share, with that characteristic twinkle in his eye, Michael solved the dilemma by ordering one of each. Just imagine a table with a half dozen appetizers for four people – before we began dinner.

The trip to Cuba gave us memories for a lifetime. I can still see Michael smoking a hand rolled cigar at the tobacco farm we visited, and riding in a restored convertible as was the custom there. It was a physically taxing adventure, but each time I asked how my friend was feeling he would give his usual answer: “Triple A plus”.

Michael’s loyalty to his beloved Chicago Cubs was well known. His office was a veritable sports memorabilia museum, including pictures of him playing ball at Wrigley Field. His abiding affection for Chicago included his passion for Chicago hot dogs, wrapped in skin, and topped with mustard but never, ever with ketchup!

Michael was also fiercely loyal to his undergraduate alma mater, the University of Wisconsin – Madison. I, on the other hand, boldly cheer for my undergraduate and law school alma mater, the University of Michigan. It didn’t take long for us to have a regular wager on the outcome of their Big Ten football game, with the loser treating the four of us to dinner at the restaurant of the winner’s choice. Michigan didn’t fare so well in those days, so I usually hosted us at Spago and Jean-George, two of Michael’s favorites.

In September 2019, just before the world’s reaction to the pandemic changed our lives, Michael and I flew to Madison for a guys weekend to watch the Wisconsin Michigan game.

We took an Uber to the game where Michael had arranged field passes and VIP seating. Wisconsin badly drubbed my Wolverines – so badly that Michael told me he felt sorry for me – but with that twinkle in his eye he confessed that this moment of mercy was fleeting. To make matters worse for me, we couldn’t get a ride, and had to walk back to our lodging in the rain. With his spirits buoyed by victory, Michael enjoyed the entire trek with his vanquished buddy.

I could go on and on with stories about Michael’s wit, his passion, his achievements, and his commitment to his family, his friends, and his community. His accomplishments and achievements were many. But more important for him was his love for his family, his concern for his friends, and his compassion for the less fortunate.

Michael would not have wanted this to be a sad occasion. He would have insisted that we remember him with humor and laughter. And he would have preferred that rather than praising his good works, we follow his example by doing what we can to care for our families and friends, to improve our community, and to help our fellow man. He would have wanted this to be a day we all call "Triple A plus."