When Thomassy started his promising career as a lawyer he joined a firm with WASP surnames deliberately. They took him on and he became their most brilliant lawyer. However, the senior partner told him that as an Armenian he would never get promoted, at least while "he" was alive. Thomassy, stung, left and decided to follow a controversial path defending the most undesirable characters in society. He sends a birthday card every year to the old senior partner, as if to say, "You still alive?"