Michael Boudin, Weddings

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: October 29, 2006

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On the heels of the robust lawyer wedding market over October 21-22, last weekend delivered another bumper crop of attorney nuptials. We picked three couples to write about, per our standard procedure. But there were many others that would have been equally suitable for review.
Three of the wedding announcements that we almost wrote about illustrate an interesting trend: mentioning past employment positions. Typically this is done only if the former post is a big deal — e.g., a Supreme Court clerkship, an ambassadorship, etc. But in three announcements — Lucy Fowler and Travis Glasson, Liora Powers and Steven Spiess, and Robyn Sorid and Joshua Ufberg — past jobs of the bride were mentioned, despite not being exceptionally notable.
(Fowler, Powers, and Sorid were, respectively, former associates at Foley Hoag, Schulte Roth & Zabel, and Paul Weiss. These are all prestigious gigs; but none is on the level of a SCOTUS clerkship or an ambassadorship.)
Sorry for the digression; on to the business at hand. Here are the couples in contention this week:

1. Leanne Abrams, Brandon Bortner

2. Aileen McGrath, Jason Gillenwater

3. Marjorie Zauderer, David Griffel

Ratings and reviews appear after the jump.


1. Leanne Abrams, Brandon Bortner
Résumé score: 8.8. Solid, although not mind-blowing. She went to U. Penn and Georgetown Law (magna); she’s now in the D.C. office of Nixon Peabody. He went to Washington and Lee and Georgetown Law (cum laude); he’s now in the D.C. office of Latham & Watkins.
Family score: 9.0. Also solid. Most exciting: her father, president and CEO of Benjamin Moore, the paint manufacturer. Very nice. His mother and father are, respectively, the owner of a gift and clothing store and the owner of a heating and ventilation contracting company.
Balance score: 8.8. Well-balanced. Interestingly enough, her academic pedigree is stronger than his, yet he wound up at a more prestigious law firm.
Beauty score: 8.7. An attractive pair. If you like your boys “pretty,” Brandon may be a little beefy for your tastes; but most people would declare him good-looking. Check out the hair on that chest!
Overall score: 8.83.
2. Aileen McGrath, Jason Gillenwater


Résumé score: 9.4. Aileen is the President of the Harvard Law Review. HELLO!!! And this isn’t mentioned in the announcement, but we’ve learned that she’ll be clerking next year for Chief Judge Michael Boudin, of the First Circuit — feeder judge extraordinaire. So, Aileen, have you picked which Supreme Court justice you’d like to clerk for? (Jason appears to be an accomplished jazz saxophonist and clarinetist. But Aileen’s résumé is doing the heavy lifting here.)
Family score: 8.5. Her father is a lawyer with the New York City Law Department; her mother is a teacher at I.S. 220 in Brooklyn. His father is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, and a registered nurse at the VA Hospital in Iowa City; his mother is also an RN.
Balance score: 8.3. Not a great score. But Jason, unless you’re a jazz musician who’s a household name — like, say, Duke Ellington — you’re not keeping pace with Aileen M. McGrath.
Beauty score: 9.2. A very comely couple. She has a little Rachel Griffiths going on. And he’s very pretty too.
Overall score: 8.85.
3. Marjorie Zauderer, David Griffel
(Disclosure: We went to college with Dave Griffel, and we were colleagues on the school newspaper.)
Résumé score: 9.3. Very strong. She earned undergraduate and master’s degrees from Yale, and an M.D. from Columbia. She’s now an internal medicine resident at New York-Presbyterian. He went to her school’s archrival for college, and to NYU for law school (magna, plus an LLM in Tax). He’s now a tax lawyer at Schulte Roth & Zabel.
Family score: 9.0. The two dads are high-powered: hers is a vice president and counsel at Travelers, and his is the chair of the music history department at Juilliard. Her mother is a copy editor, and his mother is an editor and author of two books on opera.
Balance score: 9.0. She went to Yale, he went to Harvard. She’s a doctor, he’s a lawyer. Both are from the tony town of Riverdale. They are well-matched.
Overall score: 9.10.
THIS WEEK’S WINNING COUPLE: This week’s race was interesting. Aileen McGrath has legal credentials that are to die for. But instead of marrying a fellow Harvard Law Review editor, she went for the jazz musician. There’s nothing wrong with following your heart; but it’s not a recipe for victory in Legal Eagle Wedding Watch.
The winners for this week: MARJORIE ZAUDERER and DAVID GRIFFEL. Neither of them individually is as exciting as Aileen McGrath; but together, they’re an impressive duo. Congratulations!
(To read past editions of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch, click here, and scroll down.)

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