London in New York

President Obama is a lawyer.  He is a graduate of Harvard Law School who practiced briefly for several years as a full time attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland in Chicago. That got me thinking as to what kind of lawyer he was in his practice days. As one who was trained as a Bankruptcy and Restructuring Lawyer (a multidisciplinary practice) one might think that this was perhaps the perfect time for the Chris London Presidency. But if that were the case they would probably tap Harvey Miller of Weil Gotshal & Manges, the leader of the Business Finance & Restructring Group at WGM which I started with ironically.  In that case then my experience relative to his would sort of look much like……President Obama’s on economic matters. I digress

So, I started thinking even more deeply. What kind of lawyer is or was President Obama? What set of skills or perspective does he bring to his view of the world?  As a Summer Associate he hooked Michelle, then an Associate at Sidley & Austin–nabbing your mentor slick. As a mentor to some brilliant and charming young Summer Associates, I wish someone had nabbed me. I was not so slick. I was just trying to tread water in the brilliance around me. And Weil Gotshal’s Bankruptcy Department had some great minds.

America hates lawyers but I LOVE em, if only because you can tell a lot about their persona and philosophy by which craft they choose. Did America get a Transactional Lawyer such as an M&A Lawyer, a Venture Capital Lawyer or a Litigator or perhaps even a Trial Lawyer?  I know he is not a Real Estate Lawyer. We have those, in the name of Privatization everything is sold off to a foreign entity.  He is not a Bankruptcy or Restructuring Lawyer because if he had the skills of Harvey Miller we would be out of this Chapter 11 by now.

Then it hit me. We have a series of legislative victories from Stimulus Act, Health Care and now Financial Reform which have been panned by critics on the left and the right for a variety of reasons, including specifically that the assault on capitalism has not put anybody back to work yet. And what kind of symbolism is there that Jamie Dimon who is as responsible as anyone for saving Wall Street will not be there when the Financial Regulatory Reform bill is signed today?  Maybe that is not entirely fair but “Smart money” in America remains on the sidelines not sure where they should place their bets, entrepreneurs frozen in their tracks not sure if this game is even one they want to play as the outcome is far from certain.

It became clear:  Obama is a Trial Lawyer selling America on his victories on the court house steps, while engaged in a Motions practice, which inch by inch seems to give his case for rebuilding America some forward momentum. But the rest of us are scratching our heads because yes, he has won some procedural motions allowing him to frame the debate but the case is not yet won, testimony has not yet been heard nor have any jury deliberations been held,  resulted in a vote much less a verdict.

If America’s case is still being held back in a Motions Practice in 2012, many may be fooled but ultimately we as a people, all LOSE. In the alternative, American Citizens may file a motion to dismiss or for summary judgment against him.

Note: The author is “currently” a Registered Democrat who voted for and supported President Obama. But in terms of full disclosure, he has voted for members of both parties, including Independents like Mike Bloomberg at the local and national level. He wishes to note that he has no issues with lawyers being President but just believes that maybe in retrospect, if we were going to elect a lawyer to rebuild America, we should have elected a transactional lawyer instead of a litigator.

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website