Alum of the Month: Charles J. (Mike) Cronan IV ('70)

Mike Cronan is a member of Stites & Harbison PLLC. His practice focuses on civil litigation, with emphasis on business and complex litigation, health care law and alternative dispute resolution.

We asked him to reflect on his experiences as a Brandeis Law student.

Why did you choose Brandeis?
Brandeis was an answer to prayer. When I graduated from college, becoming a lawyer was secondary only to my goal of marrying my high school sweetheart and starting a family. Mary Anne was a year behind me in college. We promised her father if we got married she would finish school. Attending Brandeis allowed me to get married, my wife to transfer to UofL where she received her degree and rent-free living in a tenant house on my grandfather’s farm while I learned the law.

What is your best memory from your time at Brandeis?
I was in law school from 1967 to 1970. That was during the Vietnam War and a tumultuous time on campuses all over the country. My best memory is of time spent with classmates and especially the friendships my wife and I made with other young couples just starting a family.

How did your experience at Brandeis help you in your career?
The obvious answer is that it taught me the law; or, perhaps more accurately, how to think and analyze like a lawyer. Beyond that, however, when graduate school deferments from the draft were cancelled in 1968, I joined the Navy ROTC program at UofL where I participated for the last two years of law school and then four years active duty in Navy JAG. I was enriched by the variety of experiences encountered in the entire law school-to-Navy process and thereafter in practice.

What advice do you have for law students today?
I am very reluctant to offer any advice to law students today because their world is so different from mine as a law student in the late '60s. That said, however, courses which focus on legal analysis and effective communication, both oral and written, will give you an edge.

Who was your favorite professor and why?
Norvie Lay was my favorite professor, although he taught the course I liked the least – federal income tax. Norvie was clearly an expert in his field. He was congenial, articulate and offered “real world” experience so much so that I also signed up for his seminar on estate tax after finishing the income tax course.