Billy was without doubt a "city boy." Raised just a few blocks from Pennsylvania Avenue, he grew up without wanting for anything. His father a lobbyist, and his mother an attorney; they were certainly among the elite and were devoted socialites in the D.C. scene. While Billy grew up not wanting for anything, he was humble; a quality which I admired.

He was the shortest of the bunch, but would have survived the Holocaust as he had bright blonde hair and gleaming blue eyes. He dressed in a "preppy" sort of way with a bit of flair, but his outward appearance was never overstated.

Billy had a refined palate; and at the outset, perhaps would have been my pick from our cohort to make it through the grueling process that the court presents to candidates. He had been to some of the finest restaurants in the country, as they were in his backyard. Jose Andres comes to mind, and when I asked Billy stated that he had been to all of his "fine establishments."

Billy was no slouch when it came to wine. He was a fan of the Napa Valley and would become our teacher with respect to California. His father had been collecting Napa Cabernets for the past thirty years and had some of the most famous and sought after wines in all the world in his personal cellar. With a simple phone call, Billy would surely be able to make the request of a few heavy-hitters from Napa to be sent our way.

I appreciated his humour as well. He had a quick-wit about him, and one could nary get a joke past him. My guess is that he would had scored in the top ten percent on his SAT's, and at a young age been identified as someone with a far better than average intelligence quotient.

Billy became the partner in this process that I would lean on and cling most to. His palate, enthusiasm, intelligence and quick-wit made him a person that was hard not to respect or be fond of.