This article originally appeared in the The American Lawyer's September 2000 issue under the headline "Money to Burn."
Considering the money, the excesses of the 26 partners of Ness Motley Loadholdt Richardson & Poole don't even approach wretchedness. Okay, Ronald Motley did hire Earth, Wind and Fire to perform at his wedding last year, and his two-year-old 156-foot yacht is almost as recognizable a sight in the Charleston Harbor as the Yorktown aircraft carrier. Yes, the firm did buy a new plane, its third, a ten-seat Falcon 50; and yes, it did build a spanking new office building, a five-story brick-and-glass showplace overlooking the harbor.
