All in

3. THE ATTORNEY

It was the second day out of three given to Felix for reconsideration. He had already recovered a bit from the shock of the unpleasant visit and already started to think more clearly. That's why he also was sitting here, in a top law firm at the heart of Riga, with a eye-pleasing view of the recently renovated art museum. The office, however, reminded Felix more of a SPA salon, with long dark-finished but tastefully lit corridors and mysterious, well equipped modern offices, which have heard so much about what is happening in the city.

When Reno Grant, a well-known tax attorney in the city, who was recommended to Felix from several different sources, entered the office meeting room, Felix was a little surprised. The lawyer, although a man in his best years, visually reminded him more of Quasimodo of the Notre-Dame de Paris, than of one of the most prominent lawyers in the city. "The one who had been broken and badly put together again", he recalled a line from the famous Hugo novel.

Felix had heard that many called Reno an amazing man because he was a fighter, an eternal optimist, a walking encyclopaedia, proud of his origin and language of Latgale - the Eastern part of Latvia with a specific dialect of the Latvian language, that sounds like a mix of Latvian and Russian. His physical tragedy turned out to be his advantage, which allowed him to achieve much more in life than most of his peers.

According to the stories Felix heard, Reno, turning his physical defect into an effect, also reminded him of Nick Vujicic, who was born without legs and hands, felt miserable and looking for his place in life in his youth, until at some point at school he was invited to tell about his inner world in public. It was so beautiful that many listening to his stories wept in admiration and emotion. Then Nick realized that many were inspired by his stories and that others should be able to reach the stars, if Nick could. Over time, Nick became one of the world's most popular inspiration storytellers.

From the very beginning of the conversation with Felix, Reno turned out to be surprisingly open and sincere, so the conversation was unrushed and pleasant. As Felix had a long-term cooperation in mind, it was important to find out at the beginning whether the two could understand each other well.

Responding to Felix's undisguised surprise when they met, the lawyer said that at the age of seven, he had bone tuberculosis. As a result, he remained small for life, almost like a midget, with a hump on his back and a limp leg that pulls a little behind the first one and needs orthopaedic shoes.

"Tell me more about your roots, if it's no secret," Felix dared to ask after a long conversation about Felix's IT business, because Felix had big plans for a legally educated ally. Also after the initial research of the lawyer's LinkedIn and Facebook profile Felix had many questions.

Reno shared that he was the oldest in a family of five kids. "My mom said that there was a curse in her family, because somebody in the older generation of our family tree had done something very bad. Therefore, in the previous generations, all of their first children of have died. My family is the first generation where I, as the oldest child, have survived. Unfortunately, this curse continued for my family as well - my firstborn sunflower has been watching dad from the edge of the cloud for some years now," the conversation unexpectedly turned too personal.

"It is not clear what saved me as a child. Many in the countryside experimented with some folk medicine in addition to hospitals. My mom was also convinced of her methods - she grated nails and put the metal particles in a rye bread so that I could eat them. I tried to spat them out, but it wasn't always possible - she stood beside me and made sure I ate it all. I have wonderful brothers who, despite that our family was quite poor, made their own trolley and carried me everywhere with them. We lived at a country side, so they took me several kilometres to school and back. Probably because of their empathy I enjoy taking care of others now as well."

"In total, I lived in hospitals and sanatoriums for about 15 years of my childhood and youth. Becoming physically who I am now, I realized early that I could only make my living by using my brain. I was an excellent student at both the school and the university. I learned not only law, but also Latin. I actually wanted to become a musician, but at that time I couldn't physically sit at any of the music instruments. That's why jurisprudence came – my next best choice. Despite all this, I am happy with my life - it would be a sin to complain about anything," Reno sounded self-sufficient and perfectly motivated.

Reno's ambition reminded Felix of a researcher from the United States, whom he heard at a recent Nordic Business Forum conference, who said that some of the most successful families in the United States were the first-generation immigrants, but their next generation was less motivated and successful. Many Latvians, who have come from the madness and poverty of the Soviet system, still remember and understand very well their past. Their 'first post-Soviet generation' will do everything possible so that their children will never have to experience anything like that again. Reno also had once promised it to himself regarding his children. On the other hand, the wealth of Reno's own children nowadays made him a little worried about the motivation of their (new) generation.

Felix felt now quite sure that Reno may well be the right one to dive into the fight with the unexpected mafia so deeply rooted in the whole ecosystem of the newly built country, but a plan was needed.