A Prominent Partner Gets Out the Vote and Avoids 'Lawyer of the Month' Honors

A mere 11 votes separated the winner and the runner-up in last month's Lawyer of the Month competition. Given the closeness of the vote, maybe Laura Flippin should have focused more on voter turnout, to boost the tallies of her rivals. It seems that Ira Schacter did just that. Check this out....

Voter turnout in our October Lawyer of the Month poll was not high: only 453 votes were cast. In the end, DLA Piper partner Laura Flippin, who allegedly blew a .253 on a breathalyzer test, narrowly edged out Cadwalader partner Ira Schacter, who reportedly bought a $215,000 engagement ring for his Playboy-bunny ex-fiancée — while refusing to pay for his teenage daughter’s $12,000 hearing aids.

A mere 11 votes separated the winner and the runner-up. Given the closeness of the vote, maybe Laura Flippin should have focused more on voter turnout, to boost the tallies of her rivals.

It seems that Ira Schacter did just that. Check this out….

Here’s an email exchange in which Ira Schacter urged his correspondent to vote for Laura Flippin. We have redacted the email address of Schacter and the name of his correspondent (whom we’ve dubbed “Swing Voter”), but the substance of the correspondence remains unchanged:

For the record, Lawyer of the Month honors don’t always go to “a**hole[s].” Readers decide on the criteria for the contest, each time they vote. Sometimes LOTM honorees are recognized for their sense of humor, like Judge Sam Sparks (W.D. Tex.), or their heroism, like the late Chief Judge John Roll (D. Ariz.).

Sponsored

Should we make Ira J. Schacter a finalist for November Lawyer of the Month, based on his attempt to skew the voting for October? It’s tempting; we’ll take it under advisement.

UPDATE (11/16/11): We do not reveal our sources here at Above the Law. But in response to some of the comments expressing concern for Schacter’s unnamed correspondent, rest assured that nobody is losing their job as a result of this post. (We put a lot of thought and care into what we post, and we always consider how to protect our sources.)

Earlier: A Cadwalader Partner, His Deaf Daughter, and His Playboy Bunny Ex-Fiancée
Lawyer of the Month: October Reader Poll
October Lawyer of the Month: Drunk and Disorderly

Sponsored