Daily Diary

Hines’ sight has ultimate vision

Posted 12/02/2008 by The Daily Diary

You might think that heading up the Russian operation for a major US law firm is about as monumental as lawyerly achievements get. And until recently, The Diary would have whole-heartedly agreed.

However, your correspondent this week learned that the place in history of Dewey & LeBoeuf Moscow partner Jon Hines was secured long before the great man completed his first Kazakh energy deal.

For Hines is co-inventor of Ultimate Frisbee, the sport that finally introduced a fiercely competitive element into what would otherwise just be a fun, relaxing way to spend some time in the sun with a few of your mates.

Hines drew up the rules for the game – now played by an estimated 100,000 people in 40 countries and a staple of late-night schedules on Sky Sports 7 – with a couple of mates back in 1968 at Colombia High School in New Jersey.

Although Hines was reportedly the most athletic of the trio, his nascent drafting skills must also have come in handy for his co-conspirators, Joel Silver – the Hollywood producer behind hits including Die Hard and The Matrix – and Buzzy Hellring, whose name alone is so fantastic it wouldn’t have mattered if he never achieved anything else of note in his entire life.

Strangely, no mention of his role in the birth of a sport is made on Hines’ profile on the Dewey & LeBoeuf website.

Meanwhile, rumours that the firm’s London office missed out on all those management positions after losing a crucial game of beach volleyball to the Manhattan HQ are yet to be confirmed.

Leather-clad cyberpunk: less fun than frisbee