Excerpt from the Washington University Law Quarterly [Vol. 78-399, Summer 2000], Dedication to A. A. Sommer, Jr., by Joel Seligman¬
THIS IS A MEMORIAL WEBSITE. THE QUOTATION ON THIS PAGE IS TAKEN VERBATIM FROM THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW QUARTERLY. THIS WEBSITE IS NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WITH THE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW QUARTERLY. PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE DEDICATION AT THE LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

"Few individuals in the history of the United States securities regulation accomplished as much [as Al Sommer]. In 1973, Al was appointed to the SEC, where he served as Commissioner until 1976. He was the closest possible colleague of chairman Ray Garrett, in what, in my view, may have been the most consequential post-World War II period in United States securities laws. Among that SEC's several achievements was the enactment of the 1975 Securities Acts Amendments, which unfixed brokerage commission rates and attempted to facilitate a new national securities market system. Al played a leading role in these developments.

"...I will never forget reading once a speech that Ray Garrett delivered when he was chair of the SEC, I believe in December of 1975. Ray's favorite hotel was the Del Coronado out in San Diego. By the time he arrived there, he had his staff compute that he had delivered something like 62 speeches that year. Out of curiosity, Ray asked his staff to inquire how many speeches Al had delivered that year. The answer came back, "66". Ray looked at his staff at a public occasion and exclaimed, "Next year we will have to try harder."

* Read the entire Dedication

¬ At the time this article was written, Joel Seligman was the Dean and Ethan A. H. Shepley University Professor, Washington University School of Law

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