The American Lawyer



The American Lawyer

Vol. XXV, No. 1

Copyright 2003 by American Lawyer Media, ALM LLC

January 2003

45 UNDER FORTY-FIVE: THE RISING STARS OF THE PRIVATE BAR

In 1995, The American Lawyer identified the private bar's next generation of

leaders. Now, we look back at them--and ahead to their successors.

The word “elite” comes from an Old French verb meaning “to choose.” In its

modern connotation, the word has also come to stand for high achievement.

Both meanings apply to the special report that follows--the culmination of an

intensive effort by the staff of The American Lawyer to choose 45 of the

highestperforming members of the private bar under the age of 45.

We had help. Many months ago, we contacted all the firms in The Am Law 200

to seek their nominations. We also spun our own Rolodexes, scanned Web sites

and news clippings, and reached out to luminaries within particular practice

areas to solicit their thoughts.

As for criteria, there were a very few. We looked for prodigies who had

already notched a major trial win or complex deal, for those who had

established remarkable records of professional development, for those who

could point to an independent book of business, for those who might have

overcome adversity. We also looked far and wide. It would be possible to

construct a list of 45 young bankruptcy specialists whose accomplishments

were noteworthy (particularly in this market), but we wanted to draw from

many walks of law.

The result, we think, will stand up over time. That was certainly true of

the alumni from our last such effort; their impressive updates appear

throughout the following pages. So, for all you elitists out there, happy

talent scouting.

Teresa Wynn Roseborough, 44

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, Atlanta

When Al Gore was fighting for every last vote in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, his legal team made sure Sutherland Asbill's Teresa Wynn Roseborough was on call. “She works very well in a collaborative setting,” says Ronald Klain, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of O'Melveny & Myers, who had taken a leave from that firm to serve as Gore's chief counsel for the recount. “It's hard to find people of her caliber—her intellect—who can also work that way,” he says.

Roseborough was in charge of anything that hit the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She ended up arguing—and winning—two cases before the appellate court, one initiated by then-governor George Bush, and one initiated by voters in the four Florida counties where recounts were under way. Both cases challenged the recounts on equal protection, due process, and state law grounds. Roseborough also worked on briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court stemming from the proceedings in Florida state court. She sat second-chair when David Boies argued to the high court. “It was energizing because you realized that never [again] in your life would you work on a case that was that important,” says Roseborough. Does she have any political ambitions of her own? “None whatsoever,” says Roseborough, citing the burden of fund-raising and concern for the privacy of her husband, a solo practitioner, and their 10-year-old daughter.

Roseborough argued her first case before the Supreme Court in December of last year. Representing foster children in Washington State who receive Social Security benefits, she argued that the state's blanket policy of using the benefits to offset foster care costs is a violation of the Social Security Act. She has reason to feel comfortable at the Court, having clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens during the 1987-88 term. (An acquaintance from that clerkship later recruited her to serve as deputy assistant attorney general in the office of legal counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1994 to 1996.)

Roseborough received her law degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, where she was editor in chief of the law review. Before that, she lived in Germany with her husband, who was then an officer in the U.S. Army. She decided to practice at Sutherland because of the firm's reputation for allowing its lawyers to move in and out of government. She and her husband also wanted to live in the South to be near family. At Sutherland, she maintains a book of business of $2-3 million, representing the likes of State Farm Insurance Companies and McDonald's Corporation.

Roseborough grew up in Memphis, where she and her brother were the first black students to attend Westhaven Elementary School (and her sister later joined them.) At the time, Roseborough says, she and her brother didn't experience any “global racism,” although there were isolated incidents of name-calling and exclusion. A few years ago, her fifth-grade teacher told her that the school had planned in advance who would teach her and her brother, which classes they would take, and how the school would respond to

angry parents. “We were oblivious to that,” she says.

1/2003 AMLAW 80

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