Pendleton, a second-generation attorney, said, "I think growing up with a father who is an attorney builds into the child a great esteem for the profession." Luzzatto, a fourth-generation attorney, agreed, saying, "I grew up with the family tradition lurking in the background, and, definitely, that was a factor that made me consider the profession favorably."
Luzzatto, whose family founded the patent law firm Luzzatto & Luzzatto in Italy in 1869, is now a senior partner in the firm. He said while he was never pressured to become an attorney, he does think his family would have been disappointed if he had chosen to follow a different route. He also said that since patent lawyers have to earn technical degrees before they can be licensed, he knew that he would always have something to fall back on if patent law didn't work out for him.
"I felt that I had at least to make the effort to learn enough about it to be able to make an educated decision," he said. "Luckily enough, I got hooked both on my technical field (chemical engineering) and on patent law."
When asked if he thinks being a fourth-generation attorney and working daily with his father helped him become a better attorney, Luzzatto said there are both pros and cons to it.
"The fact that you have the responsibility of a family tradition is a burden and something you always keep in mind before you make important decisions," he said. "On the other hand, at least in my experience, it is that very same responsibility that makes you work harder and strive to achieve a professional level at least as high as the one you have stepped into when you joined the family business."
"Working with and under a parent is not the easiest thing to do, but the good news is that it gives you a chance to be better trained, because the trainer has more patience and an obvious interest in your education," he said.
In addition to having a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather who were attorneys, Luzzatto is also married to an attorney who is a partner in his firm. The couple has three daughters and a son. Currently, their oldest daughter is attending law school, but Luzzatto swears that no one pressured her to become an attorney.
"Quite on the contrary," he said. "We supported her when she decided to try different studies, and it was her own and independent decision to abandon them in favor of law school. Did our environment influence that decision? I don't know, but I guess that it may have, at least to some extent."
Kfir Luzzatto
Luzzatto thinks it's very important for parents to allow their children the freedom to choose their own futures without any pressure to pick certain careers.
"I have seen quite a number of second- and third-generation attorneys who have gone into the profession only because their parents expected them to do so," he said. "Those will often be miserable throughout their lives and will seldom make good attorneys. As a parent with a long tradition and a thriving firm, you need to exercise admirable restraint not to channel your children's lives into a dead end and to allow them to make their own decision without any pressure from you."
Edgar Luzzatto
Pendleton, a partner at Portsmouth, NH, firm Dwyer, Donovan & Pendleton, agrees that you should not pressure your children into any certain profession. He was not pressured by his father; and even though his oldest child is only five years old and currently wants to be either a fairy princess or a Power Ranger, Pendleton has already thought about whether or not he will encourage his children to go into law. Surprisingly, he has decided that he won't, mostly because of how much the profession has changed over the years.
"It's a difficult profession. It's different now than when I went into it," he said. "It's lost a certain sense of gentility. Modern lawyers believe that fighting hard for their clients means filing a lot of nasty motions. Gone are the days of attorneys sitting down together and trying to resolve things on behalf of their clients."
Pendleton misses the aura of honor and respect that the legal profession seemed to have in his eyes when he was growing up, an aura he attributes to the respect his father and his father's colleagues received.
"When I was growing up, my dad was a very well-respected attorney in Concord, NH, and he worked at a well-respected firm," he said. "My image of the profession was that it was just that, a profession. It was made up of an impressive group of people, and you were supposed to be in awe of it. I held it in high esteem."
Enrico Luzzatto
One of Pendleton's most vivid memories of being in awe of the legal profession occurred on a trip to the State House with his father. He said he was extremely impressed not only that his father knew everyone by name but also that everyone there knew his father by name, as well. These days, Pendleton himself knows everyone at the State House, but it's not all because of his dad. He said it's also because of his intense involvement in the community, something he feels can be helpful in fostering a love of the profession.
"I think there are other ways to build esteem for the legal profession, even if you didn't grow up around attorneys," he said. "You can get involved in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association. By being a part of groups like this one, you can meet people in a social setting and make connections that other people have because of their family."
Riccardo Luzzatto
Out of 10 kids in a combined family, Pendleton and his stepsister (whose father was an attorney and a judge) were the only two to become attorneys, and they work at the same firm. When asked if working with family members is difficult, Pendleton said it depends on the type of relationship you have.
"I think you have to have a unique relationship with your family to make it work," he said. "You have to ask yourself if you have the kind of relationship in which you can work together on a day-to-day basis, even if there are personal problems within the family."
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