Hip, hip Jorge!

After that exciting introduction, this post actually has nothing to do with Saturday's Yankees v. Red Sox game. More on that later, when I'm home with the camera. I will, however, spare everyone the R-rated video clips (the guy sitting next to me had a pretty foul mouth - within a minute-long clip, he definitely echoed a particular words enough times to make it 18 and over only).

No, today's congratulatory shout has to do with the fact that a case I work on will be considered by the Supreme Court later this year. The case is Medellin v. Texas, and cert was granted just this morning. [As a quick FYI for those less-familiar with legal terms, the Supreme Court gets to pick pretty much every case it hears; it is not forced to hear anything, really. Therefore, if you want the Court to consider your case, you file a petition for a writ of certiorari. If your petition is granted, that means you got "cert" and the Court will hear your case].

The case has to do with the right of foreign nationals detained (arrested, under questioning by authorities, etc) here in the US to be informed of their right to have their consulates notified that they have been detained. This right is based on Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. As a result of this treaty, if you are ever detained in a foreign country, you would have the same right to have the U.S. consulate notified of your detention. This is not legal advice, and I am not your lawyer, but in a friendly sort of way, if you ever DO find yourself detained by authorities in a foreign country, you should absolutely have the US consulate notified. Consulates frequently provide substantial assistance to their nationals detained in foreign countries.

Unfortunately, the US and its states have not necessarily lived up to our end of this bargain. In a previous Supreme Court case, Justice O'Connor referred to the "vexing problem" of "individual States' (often confessed) noncompliance" with the Vienna Convention. Authorities frequently neglect to inform people they have a strong reason to believe are foreign nationals that these detainees can choose to have their consulates apprised of their situations. Mexico got so upset about the whole thing that it brought the US before the International Court of Justice a few years ago because of alleged violations of various Vienna Convention rights in the cases of 50+ Mexican nationals on death row in the United States (the case is called Avena). The ICJ sided with Mexico in 52 of the cases, saying that the US had to provide judicial (in the courts) "review and reconsideration" of the sentences of these 52 Mexican nationals. If you're wondering what "review and reconsideration" means, you're not the only one. The ICJ left it pretty unclear.

The domestic litigation story is pretty twisted from there. Oklahoma has provided review and reconsideration in one of the 52 cases. Texas has refused. In February of 2005, President Bush said the US would abide by the ICJ's decision in Avena and would provide the mandated review and reconsideration. He then promptly caused the US to withdraw from the provision that gives other countries the right to bring cases before the ICJ if the US violates the Vienna Convention. A year later, the Supreme Court decided a case involving a Mexican national who was not one of the prisoners specifically covered by Avena. The case is called Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, and the Court basically disagreed with the ICJ's reading of Article 36. Although foreign nationals and countries basically have no way to get recourse for future violations, there's a strong argument that the 52 Mexican nationals whose cases were directly adjudicated by the ICJ do still get review and reconsideration.

Last time we argued this issue, in Sanchez-Llamas, I was not yet admitted to the bar (the story of how I did not officially become a lawyer until 14 months after I started working at the firm is one for another day). Since you have to be a member of some bar somewhere in the US in order to put your name on a Supreme Court brief, I couldn’t have my name on any of the briefs. This time, I'll probably be on maternity leave when the case is heard, but in the meantime, my name made it onto the petition and will hopefully make it onto the briefs as well.

Night on the Town

Anyone who was in the city yesterday knows that the weather left a little something to be desired. Had anyone been peeking in my office yesterday, you would have known that the work I was doing also left a little something to be desired. The end result was complete and utter depression around 5:30. At the time, I envisioned a night alone, with only primetime reruns from last night to keep me company - thoroughly unappealing. John's work continues to proceed at breakneck pace, so since we didn't have any plans, it wouldn't make sense for him to come home at a decent hour just to veg on the couch.


I called John in desperation, and a brilliant thought came to me. We could do something! We could go out! This is, after all, one of the most exciting cities in the world. Surely, we could snag tickets somewhere or a dinner reservation someplace nicer than a diner - something. Forget the budget! I decided that, three months or more after finding out about both these things, we must celebrate the promotion and the baby. Now. Not tomorrow. Not next week.


So, I went home, showered, got dressed, and John came to pick me up for dinner at One If by Land, Two if By Sea (name taken from Paul Revere's Ride, Longfellow). It is widely heralded by many sources as one of the most romantic dinner destinations in the city. As I discovered, they also serve a killer beef wellington. Even leaving all the mushy stuff out in a nod to our less romantically inclined readers, it's amazing how much 5 or 6 courses with a bite-sized cookie and peanut butter brownie at the end can improve one's outlook on life. We even took cabs both ways. For many, this might seem completely normal. I think the last time John and I took a cab when it wasn't pouring rain was probably over a year ago. And despite almost dying with a cabbie screaming up First going 50 mph, you know what, it was wonderful. I now highly recommend pretending to be rich for a night as a mood lifter - there's always easy mac when tomorrow comes.

Baby's first present

So, a couple of weeks ago, we were in DC and had the opportunity to go to Target, primarily for the purpose of buying staggering amounts of Cadbury Mini Eggs, which for some reason I had been completely unable to find in appropriate quantities in New York. My search of several drug and grocery stores revealed only the occassional Cadbury plastic egg, which in some circumstances contained a single-serving package of CMEs. Obviously, this would not be enough. Thus, Target in the suburbs, complete with a full two aisles of seasonal candy, was an important destination.


The day or two before had been a bit difficult. We got some not horrible but not great news about our early Down's screening, and I had been a little upset. As a way to make the whole thing a little more fun, I decided we should buy the first thing for the baby. Surely, Target would have newborn sleepers in gender neutral colors or some other such trinket, I thought. Wrong! I pity all the people who think they can actually prepare for a newborn without knowing its gender, as it would seem there is some sort of conspiracy on this point. It is, I think, impossible, to buy clothes for a baby under 3 months of age that are not either completely pink or completely blue.

Once clothes were out, all the other possible small-ticket purchases seemed kind of boring and not babyish enough. I mean, a boppy is great, but looking at it doesn't immediately make me think "baby." We wandered around the various aisles for quite some time, laughing at some of the tacky items available, one of which was a set of blinged out pacifiers, full of glitter and rhinestones. Of course, John decided that he must buy these. Now, I realize that taste can differ, but I ask you, is this something you would really consider letting your child walk out in public with (apart from the whole rhinestones as choking hazard issue, which a friend raised recently).





In case you can't tell, the word he's highlighting is "bling." John later pointed out to me that the picture of the baby on the package is just of a baby, not of the baby using the packaged pacifiers. I told him the mother had probably shown up to the photo shoot and then completely refused to let her child suck on something so hideous. They do not help at all with my desire to buy something for the baby, since they can only be used in children 6 months and up, and I can guarantee they will be "lost," "misplaced," or "stolen" long before that time. I'm still itching to start shopping, but I shudder to think at what John might purchase next. I can probably hold out the two or three weeks more weeks until we know the gender and can start buying real baby things.


Oh, and in case you have a freakish desire to see yet another picture of me without makeup, without having brushed my hair, and in my pajamas, here is a 16-week picture. I took my retainer out and smiled this time, though, so I think it still beats the 12-week version.

Joining In

Since I have not previously posted to our family blog, I thought I would join in.

Emma and I are both thrilled about the baby. I am humbled at the prospect of being a father. However, I take comfort knowing that Emma was the oldest in her family and that she grew up helping her mom take care of her younger siblings. Emma and I have a lot to learn about parenting, but we’re confident we will figure it out with time.

I thought I would also take a moment to update everyone on my career progress and the MBA application process. As you may recall, I was considering attending business school this fall. My main goal was to use business school as a way to reposition myself and my career (to become an acquisitions associate at an investment bank or private equity firm).

Last fall, I took the GMAT and began putting my applications together for Harvard and Wharton. In December, when I was in the middle of writing my application essays, a vice president of acquisitions at Lehman Brothers, John Randall, asked me if I would consider transitioning internally to become an acquisitions associate instead of going to business school. The transition to this post-MBA acquisitions role would take place once someone was hired to replace me in my existing role. John essentially said the position was mine for the taking so long as I would commit work at least one year and not attend business school this fall.

After some serious thought, soul searching, prayer, and consultation with Emma, I decided to take the offered acquisitions associate position and commit not to go to business school this fall. I was thrilled by the acquisitions opportunity. I really liked the people I would work with and was especially pleased with the money Emma and I would save by not going to business school. I made this decision in December 2006, just before my applications were due. So I've known for quite some time I would not be attending business school this fall.

I then thought long and hard about whether I should still submit my MBA applications. And believe me, that was a tough decision. I wanted to stop the whole process so I could freely enjoy Christmas with Emma instead of cramming through the holidays to get my essays just right. Sadly, in the end, I decided to go ahead with the applications because (1) my acquisitions offer was not documented in writing, (2) I knew the transition could become political and that the bosses in my existing group could try to obstruct my transition, and (3) my recommenders had already invested a considerable amount of time with me. Submitting the applications became a backup plan. Assuming my transition went well and I was admitted to Harvard or Wharton, my plan was to apply for a deferral so I could keep the option open for 2008.

As it turns out, I didn't get into either Harvard or Wharton. Although the rejection was disappointing (read: injury to pride), it was really a footnote in terms of my career development. It didn't make a difference in terms of my near term career progress. So there it is. Closure at last.
Now, I am in the midst of transitioning to acquisitions, and I love it. I've already worked on several deals this year, and I am currently staffed on two live transactions (one of which will be fund's largest transaction to date). I really think this group may be a long term fit for me. I really like the people I am working with in acquisitions and the potential for a satisfying, rewarding, and challenging career is definitely there. I feel very fortunate, in a way, to have achieved a post-MBA acquisitions position without the expense of business school.

The bosses in my previous group are still working to hire my replacement, and that seems to be progressing well, albeit slowly. In the mean time, I am performing both roles. So if you’re wondering why I haven’t keep in touch as much over the past few months, now you know why.

Anyway, I thought I would give you an update. Although the transition to the deal side is exciting, Emma and I are really just focused on the baby and becoming good parents. We’ll be sure to keep everyone posted when we find out the gender of the baby (scheduled for May 8th). Now that I’ve kicked things off with my inaugural post, I’ll try to keep the posts coming.

John