To answer your question: Because during my interview with said attorney, he specifically said that if I had any questions, feel free to by-pass the HR recruiter and hit him up directly. I tend to take people at their word.
I understand how prioritizing work flow and communication goes. As this is not my first glimpse into the working world, or even the legal profession, I have picked up one or two ideas about how communications work in the "real world." Again, I was just acting in accordance with his specific comment made during our interaction.
FWIW, I'm not butt-hurt at a lack of response. Its merely a throw-away comment on a random internet thread of things that I take away from this experience. Everyone can be an example, be that a good one or a bad one. Even one that is, as you so intelligently characterized, "a complete asshat."