I just found out some terrible news. Professor Abraham Abramovsky has passed away. He was 60, according to an email from Dean Treanor of Fordham University School of Law, where Professor Abramovsky taught.
I had just had lunch with Professor Abramovsky a couple of months ago where we discussed some projects. We were going to hold a seminar for doctors and other healthcare professionals on complying with STARK and the Anti-Kickback laws that apply to healthcare professionals.
It is such a shame to have lost Professor Abramovsky. He was more than my teacher. He gave me my first job in the legal profession; he hired me as assistant to help draft his regular column in the New York Law Journal. When it came time to applying to the big law firms that recruited us at Fordham, Professor Abramovsky gave me the most memorable advice: "Lifestyle matters." His point about the burden of big-firm life on a lawyer's family and friends was well-taken.
Professor Abramovsky was nothing but supportive when I told him about having my own law firm. That's when he suggested we hold that seminar together. I was going to cover the corporate and regulatory aspects of the healthcare laws, and he would cover the criminal aspects. And Professor Abramovsky knew fully well that healthcare professionals do have to worry about criminal laws in their practice.
In the end, Professor Abramovsky was, first and foremost, a father. And he never beamed more than when he would talk about his children. He was naturally proud to talk about how they have followed their father's footsteps. They will surely miss their father. I will surely miss my mentor.