Buddyboy: Very interesting resume info on Sidley's Hopson. Any lawyer who is global co-leader of Sidley's litigation practice is going to be an exceptional trial lawyer. As someone who first chaired approximately 20 complex cases to jury verdict, I can tell you that my foremost goal in every one of those cases was to connect with the jury, and the most reliable way to do that was to simplify your storyline of the case and minimize your use of notes (using none during noir dire, opening statement, and closing argument). I wouldn't expect that too many of Sidley's senior litigators specialize in simplifying storylines, but if that's who Hopson is, CYDY's chances of a good outcome against NSF just increased materially.

Given Hopson's lofty perch within Sidley's massive partner pyramid structure, I am intrigued (again) that little CYDY and this run of the mill piece of business litigation (from Sidley's perspective) would merit the involvement (presuming Rantes22's info on Hopson is accurate) of one of Sidley's superstar trial lawyers. I can't explain it, but I can tell you that, on the surface, it makes utterly no sense for Hopson to be devoting his limited and valuable time to this particular pedestrian lawsuit for a new and tiny client. Just say'n.