McKool Smith, New York Times, Weddings, Willkie Farr

Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: The Turman Show

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LEWW is back, plus one more adorable kid and minus a lot of sleep. Prime wedding season is nearly upon us, but today our task is to get you caught up on some of the nuptial fabulosity that occurred in our absence.

(And by the way, if you missed the NYT’s December feature on the bride and groom who met at their kids’ nursery school and left their spouses to be together — and the whole should-we-celebrate-infidelity uproar that ensued — get your fill here. Good stuff.)

Today’s finalists:

Lauren Tortoriello and Jason Ertel

Eboni Marshall and Rossie Turman III

Elizabeth Raskin and Benjamin Warlick

Check out these newlyweds’ pictures and résumés, after the jump.

Lauren Tortoriello and Jason Ertel
(Buy them a serving fork.)

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The Case:
– The bride has an undergrad degree, cum laude, from Columbia, and an MBA, magna, from Notre Dame. The groom has an undergrad degree, magna, from Notre Dame, and a JD from Columbia.
– He’s an associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The write-up doesn’t say what the bride does, but she’s the child of two attorneys: Her father’s a partner at Cleary Gottlieb, and her mother was a prosecutor who also taught at Seton Hall Law School.

The Case Against:
– From the write-up:

The couple met in August 2003. Mr. Ertel, who had been a member of the Notre Dame cheerleading team, had gone with a mutual friend to watch a Columbia cheerleading practice during his first week of law school. That’s when he noticed Ms. Tortoriello, who was standing atop a human pyramid.

“She certainly stood out as the most attractive member of the team,” Mr. Ertel said.

Oy. As a member of the cheerleading community himself (ahem), Jason surely knows that the attractiveness of a school’s cheerleaders is inversely correlated with its academic prestige. Best-looking member of Columbia’s squad = Chubby third alternate at any SEC school.

Also, this situation trips our tool alarm. Most Columbia 1Ls probably spend their first week of law school getting cozy with Black’s Law Dictionary and wondering if they should bail and reapply to Harvard, but this guy goes to watch undergrad cheerleading practice. At Columbia. We repeat: Oy.

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Eboni Marshall and Rossie Turman III
(Buy them a bud vase.)

The Case:
– The groom, a partner at Skadden, has an undergraduate degree from Arizona State (where he was student body president) and a JD from Columbia.
– The bride graduated from Fordham and has a PhD in social ethics from Union Theological Seminary. She is an assistant minister at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.

The Case Against:
– These two were the subject of a lengthy Vows column, which provides a lot of detail about their courtship (short version: God was involved). You’ll either totally identify with them or think, “Well, it takes all kinds.” Also, kudos to Rossie for showing up at his wedding reception with a cashmere overcoat and a cane.

Elizabeth Raskin and Benjamin Warlick
(Buy them a stock pot.)

The Case:
– This couple boasts twin JDs from NYU. The bride graduated from Emory; the cutie groom graduated from UVA and has a master’s in electrical engineering from Berkeley.
– Benjamin is an associate at McKool Smith. Elizabeth was at the same firm until recently but has since departed for unspecified opportunities, perhaps including doing Benny’s laundry.

The Case Against:
– Even if we could point to flaw here, the groom’s mop-headed charm would more than compensate.

The Verdict:
Definitely a tie between the two-JD Team Raskin-Warlick and the cane-wielding Team Marshall-Turman. Congratulations, newlyweds!

The Rest:
Avery Easley and Trenholm Boggs (St. Mary’s)
Christina Zervoudakis and Adam Hopkins (2, NYLS, Case Western)
Elizabeth Turchyn and Joshua Halpern (2, Fordham)
Karen Alinauskas and Nathan Love (Queen’s University)
Meredyth Isaac and Michael Romalis (University of Connecticut)
Sarah Kozlowski and Jeffrey Bartfeld) (Rutgers)
Lindsay Speros and Henry Robbins (UNC)

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