Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, played a role in negotiations, and several chambers of commerce heads praised Ms. Quinn for bringing competing interests together.

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Mr Obama would hardly pick a Supreme Court justice who deemed his greatest domestic accomplishment unconstitutional, but outsiders can only guess how Ms Kagan would interpret the commerce clause more generally.

ECONOMIST: The Supreme Court

Ms Bahl is the former chairman of the society's commerce and industry group and was chairman of the Equal Opportunities Commission before becoming a Law Society elected office-holder.

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