Boalt Hall, Harvard, Laurence Silberman, New York Times, Weddings

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch 9.27: 31 Flavors

By  
on


The stalk-and-eventually-marry-your-doorman phenomenon continues to enthrall the NYT weddings editors. This week they shine the spotlight on yet another bride — this time a producer at CNN — who found love in the lobby. LEWW encourages female Biglaw associates to embrace this trend. You’re in and out of office buildings all day, ladies — open your eyes to the lusciousness perched behind those security desks!
And now, this week’s finalist couples:

1. Monique Mendez and Graham O’Donoghue
2. Ashlee Conley and Andrew Veit
3. Anne Claiborne and Andrew Grotto

Read all about these newlyweds, after the jump.



1. Monique Mendez and Graham O’Donoghue
(Buy them a salad fork.)
The Case:
– These two cuties met at Columbia, where each received a law degree. Monique, a Yale grad, clerked for Judge Barbara Jones (SDNY) and is now an associate at Covington & Burling. Graham, who was magna at Harvard, clerked on the DC Circuit for Senior Judge Laurence Silberman (“the man who saved the Second Amendment“) before serving as an associate counsel to George W. Bush. He’s now an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
– LEWW spent a summer working with Graham many years ago, and he was — we say this with love — one of the whitest white boys we’ve ever known. That, of course, was before he was thrust into the gritty world of Harvard, Columbia Law, and the Bush White House. We’d have expected him to marry an icy-blonde Ann Coulter type, so it’s delightful to see that the new Mrs. O’Donoghue is of a different hue, so to speak.
The Case Against:
– Nearly a week after the wedding, ten of their twelve silver teaspoons languish unpurchased on their Tiffany registry. People are so cruel.

2. Ashlee Conley and Andrew Veit
(Buy them a food grinder.)
The Case:
– This is a somewhat unlikely pairing. She’s Catholic; he’s Jewish. She was magna at the University of Georgia; he went to Brown. Their worlds collided at Vanderbilt Law School, from which they recently graduated.
– They’re headed to Biglaw in New York, she to Sullivan & Cromwell and he to Simpson Thacher.
– Andrew’s maternal grandfather was a founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire.
The Case Against:
– It’s 1984, and you simply must name your baby daughter Ashley (the third most popular baby-girl name at the time). But your last name is Conley, and “Ashley Conley” would be too weird. So you decide on “Ashlee Conley.” Oh, that’s much better.

3. Anne Claiborne and Andrew Grotto
(Buy them a buffet plate.)
The Case:
– Even this bride’s name — Anne Barrington Claiborne — is prestigious, which may be why she’s keeping it (Grotto sounds so . . . ethnic). A Stanford grad, she has a JD, cum laude, from Harvard and a master’s in public health from Johns Hopkins. She’s an associate in Ropes and Gray’s Washington office.
– The groom graduated from the University of Kentucky but quickly rose above that, snagging a law degree from Boalt and a master’s in public administration from Harvard. He works for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where he is the senior adviser to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse ( ‘Do it to me, Sheldon.’ ‘You’re an animal, Sheldon.’ ‘Ride me, big Sheldon.’).
The Case Against:
– Apparently, if you work for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, you’re required to look seriously pissed-off at all times, because the looming prospect of a nuclear North Korea haunts your soul and chills your every breath.
The Verdict:
– Team Mendez-O’Donoghue, with its all-Ivy credentials and strong Biglaw employment, takes the title this week. Congratulations, newlyweds!

Sponsored

Topics