Wendeen says, “Randy Levine minds his business by speaking his mind–with equal parts knowledge and passion.”
Best known as President of the New York Yankees, except to the lawyers on the other side of his fierce end game in the crunch of a tough labor negotiation, Randy Levine is a man who speaks his mind, but he is a teddy bear at heart.
Some forty years ago, I hunted Randy’s head as a legal recruiter–to no avail. He had worked closely with Associate Attorney General, Arnold Burns at the Justice Department. They moved as a team into private practice. Arnie then led the effort to find a more ideal Firm to serve their big-ticket clients. His colleague Rudy Giuliani recommended that he consult with me. Randy visited me and then Big Gun Arnie stopped by to chat. In the end, Arnie and Randy joined an EOLIS client–the fancy Proskauer law firm–without an ounce of my help. But they graciously tipped their hats in the press release, that trumpeted their arrival. They thanked me for my advice in their consideration of multiple offers.
Randy and I have been friends ever since, as each of us wended our way in the private and public sector and back to business. Our paths intersected as senior advisors to Mayor Rudy Giuliani in his first term. Randy moved up the ladder to become Deputy Mayor. I left the City Hall corridors for a stint in the Governor’s office. Randy went to the Yankees. I returned home to EOLIS International Group, the legal search and consulting business I founded. Our friendship has continued through the years.
Randy has made quite a name for himself, but he is at ease with success and enjoys making more of others’ accomplishments. When I seek out his counsel or call to kibbitz, I know I’ll find him–wherever he is. If you know Randy you know he returns his phone calls–fast. Have I mentioned that Randy also has grace? He has never asked me to explain how the heck it came about that I brought A-Rod to a poker game that landed up as a story in the New York tabloids?
At the end of lunch, I didn’t have to propose a next date. He did. I have a choice of any of the 81 Yankee games he will be watching, intently, in his buzzing president’s suite at Yankee Stadium. I’m on my way!