The towering double reflections of Thomas Bourke and Rizwan Ramji on the polished conference table would catch my eye every so often, and I’d have to push the phrase “Dynamic Duo” out of my mind. It was hard, because that’s really what they are, but I knew I wouldn’t be scoring any serious literary points for myself running around quoting comic book slogans. All three of us were at their downtown office in the beautiful One Bunker Hill building across from the public library; they were telling me a tale of deception, pride and greed that ended with five attorneys being sentenced to Federal penitentiary, and one lawyer committing suicide… I looked around the conference room as they spoke thinking I was secretly being ‘Punked’ by Martin Scorsese.

The man responsible for the carnage was Richard Schultz, who you can Google later; he owed money to Tom and Rizwan’s client that he skillfully hid in a variety of ways with the help of his attorneys and an accountant – that’s when our… ‘Duo’ sprang into action, cleaning house and smoking out the dirty lawyers. “Follow the money,” Tom told me, sounding like Dashiell Hammett. “And if that doesn’t work,” Rizwan added, “Talk to the ex-wife.” …Who are these two guys?

Trade secrets, RICO statutes and Professional Malpractice make up part of the world of Tom Bourke. The Latino community will always associate him with the landmark Los Angeles voting rights litigation brought by Hispanics against the County of Los Angeles, where Tom acted as amicus curiae – and if you think that’s worthy of ‘Bold Caps’ on his resume, how about the fact that he successfully represented our past Mayor, Richard Riordan, in what would have been career-ending litigation if lost…but Tom’s not all muscle, in college he studied the great books – Plato, Aristotle, etc. – and has a certain classic charm about himself when he’s not tearing people apart in court.

Rizwan Ramji was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and grew up in Milwaukee. As a person of Indian heritage in Africa, he and his family witnessed enough persecution and oppression to sustain him with a lifelong commitment to protecting people being maltreated or abused. It was a potent emotion of justice I saw in Rizwan’s eyes that day, enough for me to make a mental note to call him should I ever, or anyone I know, have our rights violated.