Real Estate Lawyer Gets a Leg Up

0

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP partner Tom Sestanovich has had a storied athletic career – despite losing his right leg to a rare form of cancer as a teenager.

Sestanovich quickly discovered he had remarkable balance and what he calls “a left leg like a tree trunk.” The real estate lawyer took to playing pickup basketball games without a prosthetic or crutches. He was discovered in a gym one day by an amputee who had been recruiting a disabled volleyball team to represent the United States in international competitions, and who had heard of a one-legged basketball player who could dunk. Sestanovich hadn’t played much volleyball – but he ended up playing on the U.S. men’s team at the Paralympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, and Atlanta in the 1990s.

These days, Sestanovich, 48, is still involved in the team with various administrative duties, but has long retired from professional sports. As his real estate practice has gotten busier, he hasn’t stayed as active – although at 6 feet, 2 inches and 250 pounds, he jokes he “could play in the NFL, except for the fact that the whole right leg is gone.”

“I’m about to start the first diet of my life,” he said. “The only exercise I get now is negotiating and yelling at people on the phone. And a little skiing and golf.”

Madison Squared

For one morning, Joe Messina got to be Father of the Constitution.

In a historical re-enactment at the Santa Clarita Valley Constitution Day on Sept. 17, Messina, founder and president of computer consulting firm Wildcat Business Group in Santa Clarita, played the role of James Madison, the principal author of the nation’s founding document.

To prepare for the role, Messina figured he would find a speech by Madison and read it verbatim. He waited until the day before the re-enactment before locating a book – but there were 160 Madison speeches delivered at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

“Apparently the man talked a lot,” Messina said.

Messina ended up cobbling together parts of Madison’s speeches, “especially passages about how the country had financial troubles and the Europeans didn’t trust us. I called those parts out to show these issues are nothing new.”

Each “founding father” was charged with bringing his costume to the event. Messina said finding and wearing a wig proved easy; the big challenge was locating a pair of shoes with buckles.

Staff reporters Alfred Lee and Joel Russell contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

No posts to display