The Legal Elite

I've been working on an assignment commissioned by the Charleston Regional Business Journal entitled The Legal Elite. It involves photographing the top legal minds in Charleston. Today I had the privilege of photographing Eric Schweitzer of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart.

Their firm is one of the most respected in the field of Labor and Employment Law. According to a recent press release: "77 Ogletree Deakins attorneys have been named to the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Of the 77 lawyers, 70 were named top lawyers in the area of Labor and Employment Law. This gives Ogletree Deakins the most Best Lawyers in the field of Labor and Employment Law in the U.S."

Eric has been with the firm some 27 years and runs the Charleston office. He had just finished moving over the weekend, so we had a great time commiserating over the aches and pains of moving since Cami and I had recently done the same. Eric has a passion for sailing. So when I saw the original painting in their lobby depicting the historic Charleston Harbor with the sail boat, I knew right away this was where I wanted to create his portrait. We moved the furniture around to give me the angle I wanted and flipped the reading lamps on in the background for ambiance. Add to that Eric's charismatic smile and we had the shot I was looking for! :-)