RUSSELL ROBINSON II: He wrote the book on North Carolina securities law, while helping create a powerhouse firm and mold key institutions across the state.

• Author: Infanzon, Vanessa

An encounter with retired attorney Russell Robinson II leaves a lasting impression. Those who know the famed Robinson Bradshaw law firm co-founder say his attention to detail wasn't limited to briefs and motions. Partner Caroline Sink remembers early in her career when a woman in administration retired and Robinson made sure she received a mink coat for her years of service to the firm.

"I was really struck by his thoughtfulness about her and the arrangements for her retirement celebration," Sink says. "When it mattered, and it wasn't just cases or client matters or strategy for the Duke Endowment or the Morehead Foundation, it was people that were here in this firm. He was paying attention to what was important."

Robinson, 90, and the late Robert Bradshaw, both Duke Law School graduates, established the Charlotte law firm in 1960 with J. Carlton Fleming, and later Robin Hinson. The firm has offices in Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Raleigh and Rock Hill, South Carolina with more than 160 attorneys.

From the start, Robinson Bradshaws approach to managing the practice was different than that of most peers. "Russell wanted a firm where everyone is heard and we share basically everything," says Robert Harrington, a Robinson Bradshaw partner. "We don't track billable hours for purposes of compensating ourselves or rating ourselves. The idea being, clearly coming from Russell, the client is always first, and at least incidentally, it's a much more pleasant way to practice law without having pressures that can take away from the enjoyment of the practice."

Robinson wrote "Robinson on North Carolina Corporation Law" almost 60 years ago and published six more editions, the latest in 2003. In the late 1990s when Allen Robertson was a new partner, he saw how Robinson worked from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. every evening to produce the next version of the book.

Robertson suggested the firm use the marketing slogan, "We wrote the book on corporate law," in the company's first advertising campaign. He proudly presented the idea to Robinson, who promptly killed it.

"To know someone or to work with someone and see how excellent, how hard-working they are, how great they are in every respect," says Robertson, now the firm's managing partner. "And yet, at the same time, to be so humble to say, even though he's the one who spent five years of his life reading 800 or 900 North Carolina Supreme Court decisions on corporate law going back to the 1790s, 'I couldn't possibly take...