Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 73) “It was indeed a closely watched case,” says Persons, who was counsel of record before the Supreme Court, where a specialist was retained to conduct the oral argument. The case earned Lawyer of the Year honors for Persons from the securities regulation publication Compliance Reporter. It didn’t take long for the court ruling to be applied in a case with similar issues. Within days of its Scientific Atlanta decision, the justices dismissed a suit brought by former Enron investors against Merrill Lynch in which the plaintiffs contended that the firm was financially responsible to investors because it knowingly helped Enron falsify its financial position. The class action against Scientific Atlanta alleging “scheme liability” embodied one of the major strategic theories attempted to be utilized by plaintiffs in securities litigation during his long career, according to Persons. He notes that until the mid-1980s lawsuits were more difficult to be certified as class actions and thus not as common as now. Since then, the number of such actions has “exploded” in the courts, giving rise to law firms specializing in bringing securities classaction cases and further driving up the number of cases filed, he says. The ruling in Stoneridge is expected to limit the upsurge in securities class actions. “If you have a suit that brings in a company that is not liable, you are punishing that company’s shareholders and rewarding another company’s shareholders,” Persons contends. “That does not make sense, and it’s bad for investors.” As with most securities litigation Persons handles, the Scientific Atlanta case was information-intensive and complex — challenges familiar to every Georgia Tech engineer. “An attorney should gather and analyze facts, discard those that are irrelevant and then handle the remain- ing facts in a logical way, which is the same thing engineers do,” he explains. “Doing the job right is 99 percent preparation — knowing what the case is about, knowing the facts and honing in on them — and that’s why having an engineering degree has been helpful to me.” Reputation for Professionalism fter 40 years with Alston & Bird, Persons has become something of an icon to many of the firm’s younger attorneys, including Tod Sawicki. “I have immense respect for Oscar and consider him to be my mentor,” says Sawicki, who has worked at Alston & Bird for the past 14 years. “He has taught me all of the best things about being a professional and a terrific lawyer. In the way he conducts himself — in the way he treats others, whether they’re young or old, adversary or friend — he’s just remarkable.” Ditto Robert Long, one of the firm’s newest associates. He characterizes Persons as “a great teacher.” “He’s a nationally known litigator and I’m a scrub,” Long says. “He could simply say, ‘Do this,’ and I’d do it. Instead, he walks me through his thought process when he’s making a decision, and that’s really valuable for a young litigator.” Long echoes Persons’ earlier observation regarding the virtues of preparation and focus, noting that it’s easy for younger attorneys to get caught up in the day-to-day details of a case. “You have to be able to step back, figure out what the end game is and stay on course,” he says. “Oscar does that with a grace and professionalism that makes it look easy. So when I get caught up in a maelstrom during a case, I think, ‘What would Oscar do?’ and it helps me focus on what’s important.” Persons is as generous with his time as he is with his knowledge. A A member of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for The Kennedy Center, he served as general counsel to the Georgia Republican Party from 1971 to 1993 and was a member of the State Election Board of Georgia from 1976 to 1995. Persons also has been a lecturer at seminars on trial practice, appellate advocacy, securities litigation, corporate litigation and discovery. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Virginia, two children and two grandchildren. Yellow Jackets sports is another favorite pastime and Persons is a longtime season ticket holder for basketball and football games. A selfdescribed “struggling but enthusiastic” golfer, he is also an enthusiastic collector of wine — French reds to be exact. He first became interested in wine back in the late ‘60s, when the young couples group at the church he attended sponsored a wine tasting. Persons had never been to a wine tasting before. In fact, Atlanta at that time was pretty much a Bacchic backwater. Just about the only labels available on local restaurant menus were Mateus and Liebfraumilch, according to Persons. At least the former offered the extra benefit that “you could stick a candle in the bottle neck,” he jokes. At the wine tasting, Persons tried a beaujolais for the first time. He was impressed. “I had never had anything like that before,” he says. “I started reading a lot of literature on the subject. That way you can become pretty knowledgeable about which wines are good in which years, and those are the ones I try to get.” Persons draws a distinction between the collectors for whom vintage wine is typically an investment and his approach to the hobby. “I’m not interested in collecting bottles of wine just to sell them at some point. Over time, my family and I will drink every bottle that’s there,” he laughs. GT Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Spring 2008 73
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