Roberta Fox recognizes the work of Deborah Rusin
My name: Roberta Fox / Research Specialist / Locke Lord, Bissell & Brook LLP /Chicago
My Mentor: Deborah Rusin / Librarian / CALL Board President / Latham Watkins /Chicago
I first met Debbie Rusin at a Chicago Association of Law Libraries luncheon business meeting about five years ago. I was fairly new to law librarianship and didn’t really know a whole lot of people in the group. She sat next to me and immediately began talking about her two Jack Russell terriers. Now I tend to categorize myself first and foremost as a “dog person,” and as a former foxhunter I know precisely the level of mischief these headstrong little dogs can get into. I had tears in my eyes, laughing so hard as I heard about her two dogs and their antics. Before the end of the luncheon we had become fast friends.
During the lunch she also revealed to me her recent job trauma, that the firm she was working at—Chicago’s Altheimer & Gray—suddenly dissolved! With little less than a week’s notice Debbie had been out of a job. But shortly after that life-shattering event, she was hired as the evening Reference Librarian at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. I admired her ability to 1) not feel sorry for herself, and 2) land promptly on her feet. Because I am an equestrian, this was an important attribute.
As I grew in my profession and became more involved in my CALL association, Debbie approached me to co-edit our CALL Bulletin publication with her. I jumped at the chance to work with her, to learn from her, and to get to know her better. It was during our three-year tenure together as co-editors I really became acquainted with Debbie’s work ethic. She was dependable as a co-editor, spot-on correct in her proofreading, fair in her judgments of submitted articles and judicious in her dealings with our out-sourced desktop publisher. I was honored to have my name next to hers for three whole years. I hoped I might gain accolades just by professional association!
But it was as a fellow Toastmaster member that I really got to know Debbie Rusin. Toastmasters International is an organization formed solely to help members improve their public speaking abilities, as well as to practice leadership roles. I have been involved off and on for about six years. I approached Debbie and asked if she might like to attend one of our meetings as a guest. Well, in true Debbie form, she not only came to that meeting, she joined! It has been through her speeches I’ve learned the most about Debbie Rusin. I learned that she began her legal career as a paralegal, and progressed systematically through the ranks—eventually putting herself through school to earn her MLS and become a law librarian. I learned that she ran not once, not twice, but THREE times for office in our CALL organization before finally being elected to the board. She relayed this fact with humor, self deprecation and above all, that “landing on her feet” attribute I admire most about her. Above and beyond that, her very first speech was delivered completely without notes.
Should we ever have a “Someone You Should Know” film short about a law librarian, our first subject should be Deborah Rusin. She is infectiously devoted to the profession of law.