ATL's New Pen Pal: Oona O'Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 2)
[Thumbnail image. Click to enlarge. Photograph courtesy of Oona O'Connell.]
There should be a law -- against this kind of hotness in a U.S. law school classroom!
As you may recall, lawyer cum Playboy model Oona O'Connell was not pleased by our prior coverage of her. She recently sent us an angry email, taking us to task for publishing malicious gossip.
Our response to Oona O'Connell, followed by her reply, after the jump.
We responded to Oona O'Connell's email as follows:
Dear Ms. O'Connell:Greetings. Please call me Dave. Thanks for your message!
I think you've misconstrued the nature of ATL. We poke fun at people, sure, but it's all in good fun. None of this should be taken seriously or personally -- it's completely frivolous.
I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying life and doing your own thing. I know exactly what you're talking about, since I'm not exactly following a conventional path either, having left the law to work as a blogger. So I say more power to you! There aren't many of us who have the guts to go off and do our own thing.
Your email is great, and I think it would benefit a lot of people to read it. Would you mind if I were to reprint it in the pages of ATL? (I'm asking because I treat all emails I receive as confidential; if I want to publish something with someone's name attached, I ask first.)
Thanks again for your message. Hope all is well!
Best,
Dave
We were relieved to receive this reply:
Daveok fine i guess i'm not really mad anymore. I have to say that there were some comments to your article that were quite funny!
it just struck a sensitive spot to see supposed law school colleagues throwing in their two cents, since my time at UM was filled with outlandish lies and rumors, most of which had no basis in reality, and even though you try to ignore those things it can really get you down sometimes. And people can criticize me, my work, whatever, that's fine, but I do NOT appreciate comments about my family, that is private.
I also have to say I am kind of fascinated by the whole debate. To me, Playboy is art. I know lots of people think nudity is a big deal, but I just don't. I love to hear people going back and forth between the whole "she's liberated!" "no, she's exploited" kind of thing. I'd be very interested to hear other peoples' thoughts on this. What I love about my work is that every job or shoot is creative process where I can help create something beautiful.
I started modeling to pay the exorbitant fees charged by UM Law, but I ended up graduating early to model full time because I love it. Playboy was one of my first modeling jobs ever, and while I have moved away from the whole glamour/sexy thing into much more commercial and fashion fields, I still am very proud to have been a part of the Playboy family.
If you look up the work of almost any fashion model (and I am talking fashion, not nude or porn, think Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, anybody) you are bound to find, at the very least, topless images.
They may shot in a more editorial/artistic than a glamour (sexy) style, but they are there. I think when your profession is based on your appearance, naked boobies or whatever are just not really a big deal.
Anyway, you can reprint any of my emails. Although if you ever print any more pictures, can you please just ask me for them? The ones you used are soooooo old, it's like someone printing your first grade book report and using it as an example of your writing. Thanks!
xoxo
Oona
Wow, fabulous! And we did follow up with Oona O'Connell, who sent us several more recent pictures of her -- including the one at the top of this post, and the one we used in this prior post.
We have a few more interesting emails, and a handful of additional pics, which we'll post in the near future. So check back soon to get your Oona O'Connell fix!
Earlier: ATL's New Pen Pal: Oona O'Connell, Lawyer Turned Playboy Model (Part 1)
A Mini-Trend: Law Students in the Nude?
(33) 
her arms are in better shape than mine :(
Everyone be sure to click on the thumbnail, er, YUM-nail....
To everyone who posted rude comments on the last pic, you can't argue with this.
Res ispa loquitur.
Lat--Nice use of the word "cum" here.
Her everything is in better shape than yours.
This response from Ms. O'Connell is very enlightening, thanks for posting it. IMHO, the reason why her work outside of the legal setting is so notable is because the law is seen as one of, if not the, most conservative, button-down professions out there (perhaps second only to the clergy). After finishing my first year of law school, I definitely understand how suffocating this environment is, and am a little apprehensive about joining a big firm upon graduation. I bought into the whole "you can do anything with a JD" line, and though I do hope to practice in some capacity, would strongly advice people considering law school to NOT go unless you actually want to be a lawyer.
I don't know (and it isn't any of my business) what Ms. O'Connell's personal situation was in terms of stress, but you do see people do some strange things to their bodies, ostensibly to relieve the stress of being in law school. I'm guessing most of the problem is not law school, but other law students. How many people have left the practice of law because of their peers, not their work?
I love how this blog moves so seamlessly from writing about Supreme Court clerks to emailing with Playboy models. Talk about diverse programming.
A law degree is a smart hedge for someone like Oona. Right now she can make lots of $$$ as a model. But when she gets older and isn't quite as smoking, she can fall back on her J.D.
Kudos, Oona!
Lat...stop posting her letters. I can't get past the first paragraph. The number of grammatical errors in her e-mails are so considerable and frequent that it drives me up the wall. As a female lawyer who writes this, I am glad, for once in my life, that this person decided to use her body rather than her brains.
1:34 - Quit being a dick. Everyone knows that emails don't have to conform with Fowler's Modern English Usage.
I think her emails are actually well-written. She is clearly in the 99th percentile of Playboy models when it comes to writing skills.
Oona. Your shots are great.
"I started modeling to pay the exorbitant fees charged by UM Law"
This reminds me of Loyola2L's rantings about the cost of legal education at T2 schools in comparison to their graduate's job prospects. Could Oona be L2L?!
ALERT THE WSJ LAW BLOG!
A dorky gay dude has a Playboy model emailing him smoking hot pictures of herself? Note to self - quit law firm job, start blogging.
Hey 1:34 -
Your statement:
"[a]s a female lawyer who writes this, I am glad, for once in my life, that this person decided to use her body rather than her brains"
contains an illogical verb choice, and comma abuse. In short, pots and kettles.
Please, don't hate, appreciate.
1:34 is representing all women who read this post and instantly searched for flaws in Oona to justify their own inadequacies. It's nice not to be forced to conform to bluebook/AWLD/Fowler's guidelines in personal emails and blog comments. Most of us get enough of that at work all day.
She is officially my inspiration to keep billing 2,600 hours a year...
Oona makes me very proud to be Irish.
Rock on Oona!
That is so unfair.
Not only did I not go to a Top 25 law school, but none of my female classmates in all three years *ever* looked that hot.
I keep getting screwed in this whole lawyer thing.
As if I need another reason to check ATL; I am already waiting for O'Connell parts III through XXX.
Ode to Oona O'Connell
Outlaw offer
Open organism
Obscene? Objection!
Organ
Obtain oral operation...
Onrush
Overtime
Ohhh Ohhh
Original ostensive orgasm (obviously)
2:26 -
I even went to UM and didn't see anyone close to this hot.
Now, the undergrads walking around in bikinis after having just left the pool located in the middle of campus is another matter....
Why are we being restricted? Why are ALL of Oona's new photos not being immediately posted??
A fine photo, to be sure.
I had the pleasure of attending an Ivy League law school with a former model. She was quite an impressive specimen herself.
"[Thumbnail image. Click to enlarge.]"
Believe me, I'm enlarged.
Her face is a little too horsey for me.
Oona is awesome
Is she a lawyer? Her comments suggest that she's a JD, but probably not licensed. Not that it matters, she's awesome either way.
1:34--perhaps you should re-read this sentence from your comment as well before throwing stones.
"The number of grammatical errors in her e-mails are so considerable and frequent that it drives me up the wall."
To begin with, "[t]he number of grammatical errors" IS (if anything) "considerable"; the "grammatical errors" THEMSELVES ARE "frequent." "The number" is a singular noun and, in this context, is not "frequent."
Been done before, by hotter. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Zdrok)
I can't believe any one of you out-of-shape, pasty, law geeks dare criticize Oona. She is smoking hot -- not just for a female lawyer, either.
Wow, I'm glad she wasn't in my class because 1) her law school is better, and 2) I would have gotten NOTHING done!
Don't listen to the haters. I'd do it too if I had your equipment. Live the dream girl!
I am glad to hear that Oona is doing well. I went to UM with her and to be honest with this legal market in Miami she is probably better off doing whatever she is doing. To be honest, if I was a girl blessed ;like that there is pretty much no way I would go to law school in the first place. Good for you Oona! Law school is overrated and being a lawyer is underpaid (in Miami at least).