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Upping ACLU Internship Pay Ante, UVA Law Student Wins $650K in Poker Event
Posted Jun 19, 2009 4:32 PM CST
By Martha Neil
In between his work on civil liberties memos, a summer intern in the Nevada offices of the American Civil Liberties Union borrowed a few grand from a poker-playing buddy and entered a tournament.
The result was a World Series of Poker bracelet and a gambling payday of over $650,000 this week for 26-year-old Leo Wolpert, reports the Washington Post. The University of Virginia law student went out to dinner afterward to celebrate his first live tournament win—and showed up for work the next morning at his ACLU job.
Wolpert isn't sure how he's going to spend the money, since he doesn't really need anything, and says he's definitely continuing with his UVA legal education this fall, the Post recounts.
"It's not like the money is gonna last forever. UVA is a fun school, and I really do enjoy learning about the law," Wolpert tells the newspaper. However, he admits, "with the economy as it is, it's definitely nice to have poker to fall back on."
Additional and related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Yale Law Student’s Recession-Proof Game Plan: Professional Poker"
ESPN: "Former pro Leo Wolpert wins Event 29"
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Comments
B. McLeod
Jun 19, 2009 10:59 PM CST
I hope I never have to go against Leo at trial.
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Harvey
Jun 21, 2009 2:19 PM CST
McLeod: when would you ever have time to prepare for a trial what with all your hours spent commenting on every article on the ABA blog?
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B. McLeod
Jun 21, 2009 7:07 PM CST
When I need to, I do.
I will add that I use a trial notebook system, such as is frequently plugged by the ABA, based on McElhaney’s “Trial Notebook” (I last updated to the 3rd Ed.). Consequently, I am doing prep as I go, and do not wait for everything until the last two weeks, like some of my colleagues. Even so, when I have to deal with one that is estimated for more than a week, I will have sparse comments for a few days.
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Constance
Jun 23, 2009 12:15 AM CST
Hmmm… no sense of irony. What an intellectual and professional giant we have in McLeod!
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