The Bow Tie Face-Off. By Geniusofdespair

Inquiring minds want to know...well at least I was interested. There are two prominent lawyers I know of in our town that sport bow ties, Ben Kuehne and Bruce Rogow. I thought, one of them must have been first wearing the bow tie so I asked Bruce Rogow. He assured me he was the first. As I am not the trusting type, I also contacted Kuehne to see what he would say. If I was lucky enough, I thought I could start a feud between them (like my Kuehne-Coffey clash) over the bow tie and have a big story to report. Maybe they would even duke it out and I could take a video. Awesome. But knowing lawyers, they would just argue about it. Yawn. Anyway, Ben Kuehne had a lot to say on the subject:

Truth be told, Bruce is the Dean of the Bow Tie, while I am just Ben the Bow Tie Boy. In my formative years as an appellate lawyer, I marveled at Bruce’s scholarly approach and style. While I have long favored bow ties, I was judicious in my haberdashery splendor in those early years, donning the bow often enough to be comfortable, but always working toward the day when, like Bruce (Professor Rogow in those days), I could discard the cloak of the four-in-hand and reveal my true lawyer self, with the Bow. Thus, I evolved over time, developed a reputation worthy of the Bow, and always saw Bruce (and Florida Justice Major Harding, with a nod to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stevens) as my champions of the appellate persona.

But I do have a different, but nonetheless significant, claim to fame: I have eschewed any pre-tied tie (bow or traditional) since I was a young tyke, having learned at an early age to tie a “real tie”, and preferring to demonstrate my prowess when the other boys were clipping on their faux-ties!

Not content to let Kuehne have the last word on the issue, Bruce Rogow said:

I thank Ben for his comments and am pleased to be associated with his bow tie wearing. Of course he is right, real men tie their own bow ties, and both Major Harding and Justice Stevens share that skill with us. One day in the U.S. Supreme Court I was arguing a case and Justices Stevens, Souter and Blackmun were all wearing a bow tie and I thought "I have a good chance just on the bow tie identification." I lost 9 to 0.

Are these two polite or what? They didn't argue one point. I have to find some attorneys that hate each other or at least coax a few in that direction. "Hey Ben, Bruce also said your shoes look like you buy them at Walmart. And Bruce, Ben said he will swear he saw you use a clip-on."