What's the link between being a plaintiffs' securities lawyer and a movie fan? Seth Ottensoser JD '95 can tell you.
"As a plaintiffs' securities lawyer, I get to be creative: I get to write the script for my litigation," says the partner at Bernstein Liebhard LLP. When you're on the plaintiff side, "you're creating the story, and it needs to appeal to the judge and the jury. So while it's not a movie, it's certainly putting together a script that makes sense, with your eyes always on that ball of making sure your story is proven, believable, and gets you where you need to be."
As a film aficionado, it makes sense that one of the things Ottensoser loves best about litigation and being in the courtroom is the drama. "It gets your adrenaline going," he says. "You have to be at the top of your game. You're dealing with adversaries and judges who are as smart as you are, if not smarter. So that brings out the best in what you're trying to do."
Now, as chair of Gould's New York alumni regional committee, Ottensoser hopes to script some good times for Trojans, starting with cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and conversation.
"Our mid-summer event at USC headquarters in New York City was overwhelmingly well attended, so I think there is a need and a desire to get together," he says. A fall event at a New York firm is currently in the planning stages. (Join us for future events! Email [email protected])
"Getting New York alumni together is a very important endeavor, not only socially, which I think matters, but also from a business perspective," he says. "People who were at the summer event have reached out to me to see if there were ways we could do business together as lawyers. I think those business relationships are one of our chapter's ultimate goals."
As a native New Yorker who headed west for law school after earning an English degree on the East Coast, Ottensoser hopes to spread the word that USC's law school is a top-ranked institution with alumni who are lawyers at the top of their field in New York. He joined the Alumni Association with that goal, and a sense of gratitude, in mind. "I am indebted for the education and opportunities that USC gave me," he says.
Ottensoser's experience at USC Gould led him back to the classroom, this time at Harvard Law School, where he lectures on securities litigation, corporate finance, securities regulation — everything he does for a living.
"I do think it's very important to educate up-and-coming lawyers or students in general. If you've acquired an expertise or knowledge in a certain discipline, I've always believed that you are duty-bound to impart that to people who could follow you."
Ottensoser found his niche in securities litigation at USC Gould, but it wasn't the specialty he originally thought he'd pursue. "I went to USC because I was interested in going into entertainment law. I interned in college for Paramount Pictures, and I had the full intention of going into the film business."
Instead, he's spent more than 20 years in securities litigation, 14 of them at Bernstein Liebhard LLP. And although he didn't end up going into the film business on a legal level, he's always tried to be involved in other ways, including being involved in the creative process of horror movies on the side.
"Some people like art; some people like music. To me movies, and horror movies in particular, that's the art form I enjoy," he says. "I like seeing how a film comes together, the angles, the colors, and the cinematography."
There you have it: some conversation starters for those alumni get-togethers.
