Brokeback Lawfirm: A Runway Report (Part 2)


This is a continuation of our earlier post evaluating the fashions on display last week, at the New York Supreme Court hearing in the litigation between gay lawyer Aaron Charney and his former employer, Sullivan & Cromwell.
We gave out the big awards — e.g., Best-Dressed Lawyer — yesterday. But there are still a few style prizes that have not yet been announced.
Discussion and photographs, after the jump.


Best Non-Bag Accessory: Charles Stillman and Laura Schnell (tie).
Charles Stillman’s right arm was encased in this awesome sling. It was in navy blue, so it matched his suit perfectly. Kudos, Mr. Stillman!
(The sling did provoke some whispering in the peanut gallery. The joke was that immediately after the S&C/Charney hearing, he’d be heading down the hall to appear as the plaintiff in a PI case. But as the Observer explains, Stillman recently had arthroscopic surgery.)
On the women’s side, props to Laura Schnell for her lovely silk neck scarf, in magenta and orange. It added pizzazz to her (rather plain) black pantsuit; the colors were bold, yet tasteful. Good eye, Laura!
Worst Non-Bag Accessory: Daniel Alterman and Allan Bloom (tie).
We previously described Dan Alterman’s hat as a “7-Eleven-Robber-Hat” and a “two-dollar job he bought from that sidewalk vendor in Chinatown.” ‘Nuff said.
(Yes, we own a hat just like this one. But people who are younger and poorer than successful. middle-aged law firm partners can get away with such headgear.)
As for Allan Bloom, his offending accessory was the dreaded Blackberry. We’ve seen some serious cases of Blackberry addiction; after all, we worked at Wachtell. But Zach Fasman needs to stage an intervention for Bloom, and ship his partner off to rehab.
Best Bag: Zach Fasman.
Zach Fasman’s black Tumi. Yeah, we know: it’s kind of a luggage cliche these days. But nobody had anything better.
Even Charles Stillman, who has run away with many of the top prizes, carried his papers in what looked like the black nylon atache case that you get free from Lexis-Nexis in your first week of law school (see right).
(Yes, we know: the black Lexis-Nexis bag isn’t THAT different from the Tumi, which is all about the branding. But at least the Tumi is made of higher-quality ballistic nylon. And look, the brand name does count for SOMETHING.)
Worst Bag: Herbert Eisenberg and John Harris (tie).

Mr. Eisenberg: At a certain point in your life, you DO outgrow the backpack.
(Now if only someone would tell that to our former Con Law professor, whose backpack made a TV appearance on C-SPAN, when he showed up to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mortifying.)
Mr. Harris: We like getting free crap at CLE meetings too. But you’re a partner at a staggeringly prestigious boutique law firm — one that’s perhaps eligible for inclusion in the International Network of Boutique Law Firms.
So you can afford to buy — i.e., spend money on — a decent and proper briefcase.
Best Outerwear: Vivia Chen and Charles Stillman (tie).
Who would have thought that this prize would have been taken by a legal affais reporter, rather than a lawyer? Vivia Chen, of The American Lawyer, was wearing a beautiful, long mink coat.
(Sorry, PETA people: We like fur (at least for women, even if not for ourselves). We were exposed to it at an early age. Our mother owns about a half-dozen furs.)

On the men’s side, the outerwear award goes to Charles Stillman, for his elegant topcoat. We didn’t catch the label, but Anna-Schneider Mayerson did. Apparently he got it at Bergdorf Goodman.
Honorable Mention: We didn’t see this ourselves, so we don’t include it here. But according to commenter “sartorialist”:

One of the S&C partners was wearing what I’m pretty sure is an Oxxford overcoat, judging by the size of the lapel buttonhole. Probably $3k if it’s wool or $6k if it’s cashmere.

The photograph in question, taken by Lavi Soloway, is available here. Which partner is wearing the fabulous greatcoat?
Worst Outerwear: Daniel Alterman and Laura Schnell (tie).
When you go to court, please wear overcoats that fall at least to the knee. Puffy winter jackets work for rap stars, but not for law firm partners. Even plaintiffs’-side ones.
Thank you.
Hot Hearing Trend: Mufflers / scarves.
Okay, this may be less of a fashion trend and more of a matter of survival. But almost everyone was wearing a warm winter scarf. We liked Zach Fasman’s, which was black with gold polka dots. We’re not sure about this, but it looked like it was two-sided: silk on top, wool on the bottom. A practical and elegant combination.
Elegance and practicality: Isn’t that what fashion — and, in a certain sense, the practice of law at its best — are all about?
Associate Gets Crushed Beneath White Shoe [New York Observer]
Earlier: Brokeback Lawfirm: A Runway Report (Part 1)

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