The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

ABA Backs Federal Court Trials of Alleged 9/11 Plotters

The president of the American Bar Association sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. today praising the decision to pursue federal court prosecutions of five Guantanamo detainees with alleged ties to the 9/11 attacks.

The Nov. 25 letter, signed by ABA President Carolyn Lamm, comes after Holder became the target of criticism from conservative politicians for his decision to try alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the others in New York.

The letter calls the military commissions before which the detainees were originally charged “constitutionally flawed” and lauds the U.S. court system as “well-equipped to handle trials of this magnitude.”

“[N]o matter how heinous the charges, the long awaited trials of these alleged terrorists must be both fair and perceived as fair, or the resulting verdicts will not be recognized as legitimate,” the letter reads. “The accused must receive the competent assistance of counsel, be afforded due process, and treated as innocent until proven guilty.”

Lamm was not immediately available for comment.

The ABA posted the letter in its entirety on its Web site.

Gobble, Gobble v. Quack, Quack

Just about everyone knows now that Justice Antonin Scalia likes to hunt. Those sporting instincts were painfully revealed when controversy erupted over his refusal to recuse himself from a case involving then-Vice President Dick Cheney shortly after he went duck hunting with Cheney. But it's not the quack, quack of the duck that triggers the sporting challenge for Scalia. It's the gobble, gobble of the wild turkey.

In the just-published book, "American Original: The Life and Constitution of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia," by USA Today's Joan Biskupic, her subject talks about how much he enjoys the sport of hunting and the beauty of the outdoors. And he prefers hunting turkeys to other game. Why? In one of a number of interviews he gave to Biskupic, Scalia explained:

"It is more proactive. You're not just waiting. There's something about hearing them. Have you ever heard a turkey gobble? It's a very strange sound, like a wooden rattle. [You] hear that far away and then make sounds like a hen to induce [the turkey] to come closer and closer. Finally, he sticks his head up over a log, and you have to take your shot, or else you've lost him. Turkeys are very wily creatures. they have superb eyesight and they're very cautious. You get one shot. If you miss, the whole day's ruined."

First Amendment No Shield for Debt Collectors Gone Bad, Court Says

By Marcia Coyle

Debt collectors who use unfair or deceptive tactics during collection litigation cannot rely on the First Amendment's petition clause as a defense, ruled the Alaska Supreme Court recently in the first appellate decision on the issue.

In an increasing number of consumer cases, debt collection agencies have been arguing that their litigation tactics are immunized from suits under state and federal unfair trade practices laws because those suits burden their constitutional right to petition the courts, according to Deepak Gupta of Public Citizen Litigation Group, appellate counsel to the debtor in the Alaskan case.

“The Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling sends the message that debt collection companies can’t get away with abusive tactics simply by hiring lawyers,” said Gupta. “The court rejected a dangerous new immunity defense that would have created a gaping hole in consumer protection law.”

The Alaskan case—Pepper v. Routh Crabtree—stemmed from an attempt by Checkrite of Anchorage, a collection agency, to collect $518.80 in dishonored checks allegedly written by Robin Pepper, a mentally disabled woman. Checkrite hired the Routh Crabtree law firm in Anchorage to recover the amount owed, and the firm subsequently sued Pepper.

Pepper filed a separate suit alleging the collection agency and law firm had violated the state Unfair Trade Practices Act (UTPA) by not giving her proper notice of the lawsuit. She charged that they sent papers to a nonexistent address, misrepresented to the court that she was competent, and tried to get a default judgment against her without notifying her counsel, Alaska Legal Services.

Routh Crabtree argued that Pepper’s claims impermissibly sought to impose civil liability on the law firm and the collection agency for exercising their constitutional right to petition the government. Pepper contended that the UTPA covered unfair and deceptive debt-collection practices that occur in the context of litigation and that neither the so-called Noerr-Pennington doctrine, nor the petition clause on which that doctrine was based, immunized these practices.

The Alaska Supreme Court on Nov. 20 agreed with Pepper after finding that subjecting Routh Crabtree and its client to potential liability under the UTPA would not chill their exercise of the right to petition.

“As Pepper contends, `no debt collector has a legitimate interest in pursuing collection litigation without notifying debtors, or in seeking to default incompetent debtors without notice to their lawyers or guardian,’” said the court.

Richard Crabtree of Routh Crabtree was not available for comment.

Public Citizen’s Gupta said the right to petition defense has been raised in a number of federal district courts, but the Alaska Supreme Court was the first appellate court to address it.

The state high court, he added, applied the same constitutional analysis that federal courts will apply. “We’re encouraged and think it will be persuasive to federal courts.”

PTO Adds to Its Government Affairs Team

By Sheri Qualters

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office continues to seed its leadership ranks with private-sector intellectual property lawyers.

Dana Colarulli, the director of government relations for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), will join the PTO's Office of Governmental Affairs on Dec. 14. Colarulli will be a legislative attorney-adviser at the government affairs unit and join a team of about a half-dozen professionals, said PTO spokesman Peter Pappas.

“Dana brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in intellectual property,” Pappas said. “He will provide much needed bench depth to our [Office of Governmental Affairs] team and we very much look forward to having him join us.”

Colarulli, who referred questions about his move to the PTO, is leaving the IPO on Dec. 9, according to the organization’s newsletter. At the IPO, Colarulli developed close ties with numerous private-sector lawyers through his role as staff liaison to 15 of the association’s standing committees and overall committee coordinator.

“In more than seven years with IPO, Dana has contributed enormously to strengthening the government relations and committee programs of IPO,” stated IPO’s executive director, Herb Wamsley, in the newsletter. “He will be a great asset to the USPTO.”

The PTO has hired several high-profile private-sector intellectual property lawyers just prior to and since David Kappos’ Aug. 7 Senate confirmation as PTO director. Before joining the PTO, Kappos was vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property law at International Business Machines Corp.

More recently, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tapped Sharon Barner as deputy director of the PTO on Oct. 2. Barner was a partner in the Chicago office of Foley & Lardner, who chaired its intellectual property department.

D.C. Court of Appeals Seeks Comment on IOLTA Proposed Changes

The District of Columbia Bar is looking to join the more than 40 state bars around the country that have made participation in a trust program mandatory.

Proposed changes to the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct governing interest on lawyers' trust accounts, or IOLTA, are under review at the D.C. Court of Appeals. The court is seeking public comment on the proposal, which was recommended by the D.C. Bar Board of Governors.

Click here for a copy of the D.C. Bar’s proposal, submitted to the court in September. The D.C. Court of Appeals notice is here.

The rule change would require all members of the D.C. Bar who receive IOLTA-eligible funds to participate in the IOLTA program. Under the current rule, there is an opt-out provision. There are two exceptions to the proposed rule: a lawyer must first obey court orders regarding how client money is held; and the lawyer doesn’t have to participate in the D.C. IOLTA program if the lawyer is participating in the IOLTA program where the lawyer is licensed and principally practices.

The D.C. Bar’s board also recommended adopting interest rate comparability provisions for the banks in which lawyers hold client money. The banks that want to qualify as approved depositories must agree to provide certain interest rates on IOLTA accounts.

D.C. Bar officials say the proposed rule changes, if adopted, would increase both the revenue from D.C. IOLTA accounts and the interest paid by banks on money held in those accounts. “We’re all hopeful this will increase IOLTA revenue,” said a D.C. Bar official, Hope Todd, assistant director for legal ethics. The D.C. Bar Foundation distributes interest money to local legal service providers.

The deadline for written comments is January 4. Send ten copies of any comment to the clerk of the D.C. Court of Appeals, 430 E Street, N.W., Suite 209, Washington, D.C. 20001. Any comment submitted to the court will be made available to the public.

Carving out Thanksgiving Lobbying

Thanksgiving is a time to talk turkey. So we decided to check in with the interests that advocate for your Thanksgiving meal.

It turns out that they're trying to take a holiday this week, too.

"We try as hard as possible not to confuse the legislative regulatory issues...with what is a uniquely American holiday," said Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation, which has spent $240,000 so far this year lobbying over the agriculture appropriations bill, avian influenza, and climate change, among other things.

Brandenberger said he always hopes the association doesn't have a big issue before Congress in November. "We don't want to even create an appearance that we're mixing our members' government affairs business with the business of making sure Americans enjoy their holiday."

Of course, lobbyists for the National Turkey Federation still wind up fielding their share of cooking questions. Brandenberger said he's answered questions on the Hill ranging from whether he deep-fries his Thanksgiving turkey (he doesn't) to where one could find a heritage bird. The most popular question: "Why do I always fall asleep after I eat my Thanksgiving meal?" On that one, Brandenberger is quick to deflect blame from the birds. "The answer was because you eat so many more carbs at your Thanksgiving meal," he said.

The cranberry folks, too, lay low at Thanksgiving. "Maybe we should pardon a cranberry, huh?" joked Jeff LaFleur, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association. The Cape Cod association, along with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association, pushed for $1.25 million in research funds in the agriculture appropriations bill, but doesn't have any big issues right now.

"Everyone in the office gets free cranberries here," offered William Broydrick of Broydrick & Associates, which represents both growers' associations. Asked if he makes his own cranberry sauce, he said that "you'll have to ask my wife."

Cranberry giant Ocean Spray, meanwhile, has spent $300,000 with Cassidy & Associates so far this year, lobbying on everything from free trade agreements to the new federal dietary guidelines (they want mention of the health benefits of cranberry juice).

And the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, which has spent $30,000 with lobbyist Robert Redding Jr. so far this year, wants to be eligible for a subsidized school lunch program meant to provide more fruits and vegetables to students. But during the holiday season, they're concentrating on raising awareness in Georgia, said association president Hilton Segler.

"Our commissioner of agriculture has declared...that November is pecan month in the state of Georgia," Segler said.

Lawyer for Prosecutor Seeks Supreme Court Review of Immunity Ruling

Federal prosecutor Daniel Zachem has a lot riding on a pro se civil suit against him that alleges he participated in a conspiracy to violate the rights of a D.C. Superior Court grand juror.

But the suit has far-reaching implications for all federal prosecutors, and so Zachem’s lawyer wants the U.S. Supreme Court to pick up the case and reverse an appellate ruling this year that narrowed the scope of prosecution immunity from suit.

Zachem’s attorney, Michael Martinez, a partner at Crowell & Moring in D.C., said this week he is planning to file a petition for certiorari in January. Justice John Paul Stevens this month extended the deadline, which had been Nov. 23.

Zachem, an assistant U.S. attorney in D.C., “has determined that this is a case important enough, both personally and professionally, that it warrants a petition for certiorari,” Martinez said in court papers filed in the Supreme Court (.pdf) this month. “Indeed, the case presents important issues regarding the parameters of the absolute immunity defense for prosecutors.”

The Morning Wrap

Whose Church?: A schism over doctrine in the Episcopal Church has triggered some ugly legal battles over assets, The Wall Street Journal reports. In civil courts nationwide, breakaway parishes are fighting local dioceses and the national church for property, including financial accounts and endowments.

Health-care and Bankruptcy: The New York Times reports that the share of personal bankruptcies caused by illness is growing, according to bankruptcy lawyers and court officials. "This has really become the insurance system for the country," one trustee said.

Lawyer Charged with Hiring Hitman: A New Jersey defense lawyer, who is a former federal prosecutor, has pleaded not guilty to a 39-count indictment for charges including murder and drug trafficking, the New Jersey Law Journal reports via Law.com. According to investigators, the lawyer traveled to Chicago to hire a hitman to murder a cooperating witness who was set to testify against his client.

Merger Pressure: Reuters reports that 59 senators, including John Kerry and Orrin Hatch, have urged European antitrust regulators to conclude an investigation of the Oracle and Sun Microsystems merger and justify any further delay in making a decision on the deal. The U.S. Justice Department gave its OK in August.

No Defense Wounds: Kentucky investigators said Tuesday that the death of a U.S. Census worker was a suicide arranged to look like a murder so his family would get a big insurance payout, The Associated Press reports.

Sotomayor's Name Still Turning Up in Senate Races

The nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor continues to resonate in races for the U.S. Senate, four months after she was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The latest example comes from California, where two Republicans running for their party's nomination have split on whether they would have supported Sotomayor.

Carly Fiorina, a former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, said Monday that she probably would have voted for Sotomayor because “she seemed qualified.” A spokesman for Chuck DeVore, a state legislator, said that DeVore would not have because he favors only nominees who are against abortion rights.

One blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that Fiorina’s statement could be a controversial move among GOP primary voters, regardless of Sotomayor’s qualifications. But if she makes it to the general election against incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), Fiorina would face an electorate with a large Hispanic population that presumably supports Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice.

Other states where Senate candidates have spoken out about Sotomayor include Connecticut, Florida, and New Hampshire.

FTC Clears Panasonic / Sanyo Deal

The Federal Trade Commission today approved the $9 billion merger of Panasonic Corp. and Sanyo Electronic Co. - on one condition.

To satisfy the FTC's anti-competitive concerns, Sanyo must sell its portable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery business, including a manufacturing plant in Japan. The two companies are the world's largest makers of such batteries, which power products including two-way radios used by police and fire departments throughout the United States.

The battery business will be sold to FDK Corp., a subsidiary of Fujitsu Ltd., within 15 days of Panasonic’s acquisition of Sanyo. Included in the divestiture is the Sanyo plant in Takasaki, Japan, that produces about 30 percent of all NiMH batteries worldwide. The order also requires Sanyo to provide FDK with access to select Sanyo employees, and to transfer all licenses, patents, and other intellectual property related to its batteries to FDK.

“Our nation’s police and fire departments rely on portable nickel metal hydride batteries to power the two-way radios that they use every day as part of their public safety missions,” said Richard Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition in a Nov. 24 statement. “The consent order announced today protects consumers by preserving competition in the market for these critical batteries.”

The commission vote was 4–0.

Panasonic was represented by Ann Malester, a partner in the Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Sanyo turned to Arman Oruc of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in Washington.

Hogan & Hartson Senior Advisor Wins Asian Peace Prize

A Washington-based senior advisor to Hogan & Hartson is in the Philippines today being awarded an international peace prize alongside a U.S. congressman, a world-famous boxer and a Tony award-winning actress.

President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines will present Christine Warnke with the Gusi Peace Prize in economics and humanitarianism at a banquet in Manila.

Warnke is one of this year’s 20 international recipients recognized for “working toward the attainment of peace and respect for human life and dignity,” according to the prize’s Web site. The awards cover such fields as science, sports, performing arts and politics.

Warnke, a government affairs advisor at Hogan & Hartson, is recognized for her involvement with humanitarian, business and health initiatives, particularly her work in Africa, said prize spokesman George Bistis. Bistis said he has been familiar with her work for years, and referenced Warnke’s efforts delivering wheelchairs to South Africa, building a hospital in Congo and fighting human trafficking in Romania among her accomplishments.

“There were so many countries,” Bistis said. “It was very impressive work that she has done, particularly for human rights, dignity and equality among sexes.”

Warnke, a native Washingtonian, works with several nonprofit organizations and said she was drawn to this work early on after spending part of her childhood in Sao Paolo, Brazil. “Growing up as a child and seeing it and watching kids on the street growing up in cardboard boxes really impacted me,” she said. “There are people living this way. Really destitute.”

Her next projects will be helping deliver wheelchairs to the Philippines (with help from Deepak Chopra) and encourage Angolans to register their children at birth so they can be citizens of the country, she said.

Meantime, she added, it’s rewarding to be honored among a class of noted humanitarians. “You feel like you’re among Mother Teresas here,” she said. “It’s very humbling.”

The only other American laureate this year is Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who is recognized in the category of legislation for introducing into Congress the Filipino World War II Veterans Act, which extended equal veteran status to Filipino veterans. The act passed in February as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Among this year’s other recipients are seven-time world champion boxer Manny Pacquiao; Tony award-winning Philippine singer and actress Lea Salonga; Russian painter Alexey Steele; Princess Fuziah Raza Uda of Malaysia; and Ali Nasuh Mahruki, the first Muslim and the first Turk to climb Mt. Everest.

The Gusi Peace Prize is named for Capt. Gemeniano Javier Gusi, a Filipino guerrilla who fought against Japan during World War II before becoming a politician and a human rights activist. It’s administered by the nonprofit Gusi Peace Prize Foundation.

Former laureates include actor Anthony Quinn, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and noted forensic scientist Henry Lee, of TV show Forensic Files fame. For a complete list of this year's and past winner, visit the prize’s Web site.

Tennessee Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Mosque Fire

A 24-year-old man who firebombed a mosque in Columbia, Tenn., last year was sentenced yesterday to a little more than 14 years in federal prison on charges of destruction of religious property and use of fire to commit a felony.

The defendant, Michael C. Golden, pleaded guilty earlier this month before Senior Judge Robert Echols of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Golden, represented by Michael Flanagan, a solo practitioner in Nashville who was court-appointed, admitted he constructed Molotov cocktails and used them to destroy the Islamic Center of Columbia in February 2008. Flanagan said in an interview that Golden was a follower, not a leader in the criminal activity.

A co-defendant painted swastikas and the phrase “White Power” on the building, the Justice Department said. Two co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

“The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights,” Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement on Nov. 23. “We will aggressively prosecute anyone who seeks to intimidate or injure any congregation because of what they believe, how they worship or who they are.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal McDonough from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and Jonathan Skrmetti, a Civil Rights Division trial attorney, prosecuted the case.

The Morning Wrap

Overcriminalization?: What do you call it when former AG Edwin Meese III begins to agree with the American Civil Liberties Union? The New York Times calls it "an emerging consensus on the right that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained."

Today's Ponzi News: The alleged Ponzi scheme at Florida law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler helped subsidized the firm's salaries to the tune of $10 million a year, the Daily Business Review of south Florida reports via Law.com.

Drywall Testing: Federal regulators say there is a "strong association" between chemicals emitted by Chinese drywall and metals corrosion, a finding that could pave the way for the government to help homeowners facing billions of dollars in repair bills, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Silverdome Saga: A state judge in Michigan agreed Monday to allow the controversial sale of the Pontiac Silverdome to a Toronto firm for $583,000, lifting a restraining order that had stalled the sale for a week, the Detroit Free Press reports.

So Long, Farewell: Staffers at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia celebrated the retirement of long-time clerk of the court Nancy Mayer-Whittington with a song-and-dance number in the second floor ceremonial courtroom. The Washington Post obtained a video taken on an attendee’s phone.

City to Settle Mass Arrest Class Action for $13.7 Million

The District of Columbia has agreed to pay $13.7 million to settle a class action suit brought by protesters arrested during a demonstration in 2000, lawyers in the case announced at court today.

Lawyers for the protesters said it would be the largest amount ever paid in the U.S. to compensate protesters who were wrongfully arrested. The plaintiffs alleged that police officers detained nearly 700 people attending an April 15, 2000 march against “the prison industrial complex,” which was timed to overlap with an IMF / World Bank meeting. Many of those arrested were tied up for long periods of time, they said.

“It sends a message to every city and every law enforcement officer that there is going to be a steep price to pay for violating protesters’ First Amendment rights,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, which filed the suit in 2001.

Verheyden-Hilliard said she believed that U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman’s decision to set a trial date had pushed the District to settle.

“Faced with the reality of trial and a potentially huge loss, the district was able to come to the table,” she said.

The case is the second major protester suit the District has settled in recent weeks. It agreed earlier this month to pay $450,000 to eight individuals who were allegedly interrogated by police during a 2002 demonstration related to the Iraq War.

Senate Confirms Paul Martin as NASA Inspector General

Paul Martin, formerly of the Justice Department, is re-launching his career. Sort of.

Martin was confirmed by the Senate on Friday as the inspector general for NASA. Since 2003, Martin had been Justice’s deputy inspector general, serving under Inspector General Glenn Fine. The OIG investigates, among other things, allegations of fraud, abuse and integrity laws that govern DOJ employees, operations, grantees and contractors. (Click here for the OIG web page.)

In September, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Martin, who spent 13 years at the U.S. Sentencing Commission before joining the Justice Department.

“Glenn and my colleagues at the DOJ OIG are some of the brightest, hardest working, most dedicated public servants on the planet,” Martin said in a statement last month before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Martin described Fine as “the epitome of the kind of leader any Inspector General should strive to emulate.”

Martin says he’s looking forward to his new role, noting he has to get up to speed on all the space lingo. Martin starts at NASA on Nov. 30.

Judge Says He Won't Hear Cases of Released Guantanamo Detainees

A federal judge last week dismissed suits by four former Guantanamo Bay detainees whose lawyers had continued pressing their habeas cases despite the fact that the men had already been released to other countries.

Lawyers for the detainees argued that while their clients were no longer being held at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba, they were still in the "constructive custody" of the U.S. government. Two of the men have been detained by Libya's government, while another was serving a sentence in Tunisia for a prior conviction. The fourth’s whereabouts were unknown, though his counsel said he might have been in Afghan custody. Lawyers for all of the men contended they were being held abroad "by color of the authority of the United States."

In his opinion, dated Nov. 18 but officially filed today, Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said he no longer had jurisdiction to hear the cases. He called the theory that the men were being held under U.S. authority “rank speculation,” and concluded that, in any event, the court had no way of granting relief.

“Simply put, this Court has no authority over the foreign governments currently holding petitioners,” Leon wrote.

Check out earlier coverage of this issue from the BLT.

Second Pick for Army GC is Former NYT Top Lawyer

President Barack Obama has a new nominee for general counsel for the Department of the Army, five months after his first nominee withdrew amid questions about his work for mortgage financier Fannie Mae.

The new nominee is Solomon Watson IV, who for 16 years was general counsel to The New York Times Co., a company with First Amendment interests that are at times at odds with the military’s. Watson, who retired from the Times Co. in 2006, served in the U.S. Army as a lieutenant in Military Police Corps from 1966 to 1968 and was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation medals for service while stationed in Vietnam, the White House said in an announcement late Friday.

Latham & Watkins partner Donald Remy had been nominated for the same position. Remy worked at Fannie Mae from 2000 to 2006, but on a form he submitted to the Senate Remy identified it only as a “major U.S. company.” Republicans began asking questions, and Remy withdrew June 12.

Watson (Howard, Harvard Law) started his career as a Boston associate for what was then Bingham, Dana & Gould. He joined the legal department at the Times in 1974 and became corporate secretary in 1979. He was general counsel from 1989 to 2005, during which he was among the few African-American general counsels for a company in the S&P 500. He was a member of the company’s executive committee.

In other legal-related nominations, the White House announced Paul Sanz, who is general counsel to the House Armed Services Committee, for general counsel to the Department of the Navy; Kathleen Tighe, deputy inspector general at the Agriculture Department, for inspector general to the Department of Education; Orlan Johnson, a partner at Saul Ewing, for chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation; and Sharon Bowen, a partner at Latham & Watkins, for vice chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Click here for the news release.

UPDATE (12:27 p.m.): Johnson was a bundler for Obama's presidential campaign, raising between $200,000 and $500,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Interviewed for a story in Legal Times in October 2008, Johnson said he had worked on several fundraisers, from an event at Washington's Union Station that brought in close to $500,000 to a fundraiser at Oprah Winfrey's Santa Barbara, Calif., home that raised $3 million.

This Week in The National Law Journal

Coal Dust-Up: Jenna Greene dissects a $50 million legal battle between two heavyweights of the coal industry. The case, now pending before a trio of arbiters, pits lawyers from Patton Boggs against those from Reed Smith.

Collateral Damage: Tony Mauro reports on an issue that has been simmering for years and is now beginning to boil: when, whether and how defendants should be informed about the collateral consequences of pleading or being found guilty. Depending on the defendant, the state and the crime, those consequences can include deportation, loss of the right to vote and disqualification from government services.

Daschle Going Global: Carrie Levine spoke one-on-one with former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle about his move from Alston & Bird to DLA Piper. Daschle spoke about the chances he'll return to public life, his decision not to lobby, and his relationship with former DLA Piper adviser Dick Armey.

Michel Moving On: And over the weekend on The BLT, Mike Scarcella reported on Chief Judge Paul Michel announcing retirement plans. Michel, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, noted in June that five of the court's 12 active judges were then eligible to retire or assume senior status.

The Morning Wrap

Mine Explosion: The death toll from a gas explosion in a northern Chinese mine has jumped to 104, making it the deadliest blast in nearly two years, The Associated Press reports. A total of 528 people were working in the Xinxing mine at the time of the explosion Saturday at 2:30 a.m., the State Administration of Work Safety said.

Before KSM, There is AKG: The New York Times takes a look at the case of suspected terrorist Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a former inmate at Guantanamo Bay who, like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, faces trial in the Southern District of New York. Says one of Ghailani's lawyers, "I'm the scout going through the forest before the main force comes through."

'Get Their Message Out': Scott Fenstermaker, a lawyer for another accused terrorist, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said that his client has expressed the desire for a trial despite his intention to admit his role in the attacks and seek “martyrdom” through execution, the Times reports. Ali is one of five, including Mohammed, expected to go on trial in Manhattan for planning the Sept. 11 attacks.

Monitoring Sex Offenders: The government's focus on prosecuting crimes against children shows now sign of slackening under the Obama administration, but sex offenders are using new technology to try to avoid state monitoring, The Washington Post reports. One example: A man on probation in Iowa for molesting a 9-year-old girl was recently caught downloading pornographic images on his PlayStation Portable -- while walking to his probation appointment.

Class Action Counter-Suit: The defendant in a class action has sued one of the San Francisco lawyers who brought it, accusing the lawyer of making defamatory statements in the media and hurting the company's business. The Recorder has the story via Law.com.

Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul Michel Announces Retirement

Chief Judge Paul Michel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit announced last night he is stepping down as chief and retiring from the judiciary effective May 31, 2010, the Federal Circuit Bar Association said today.

Michel, the chief since December 25, 2004, announced his retirement plans at the bar association's 25th annual dinner, held at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Northwest Washington. Michel, who has served on the court for 21 years, was the guest speaker. His bio is here.

"Chief Judge Michel has been a tireless and passionate leader of the Court, as well as a friend of the Association and the broad spectrum legal community within its jurisdiction," the Federal Circuit Bar Association said in a statement today. The association said Michel's speech "rallied the community to serve and protect the Federal Circuit and the judiciary, as well as all institutions of governance."

Judge Randall Rader is next in line for chief judge, the bar association said. Rader was appointed to the United States Claims Court by President George H. W. Bush in 1989 and served there until his appointment to the Federal Circuit in 1990. (The Claims Court was changed in 1992 to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.)

In a speech delivered in June on the state of the Federal Circuit, Michel, who is 68, noted that five of the 12 active judges on the court are eligible to retire or assume senior status. (Click here for a copy of the speech.)

"We thus face the potential of a generational reconstitution of the membership of the court," Michel said, according to his prepared remarks. "I hope the Association will continue its growing efforts to assure strong qualifications and a minimum of pure politics in these selections."

Appeals Court Rules for D.C. in Protest Case

Updated Nov. 21

The police have no obligation to order a crowd to disperse before making arrests, a federal appeals court ruled today, marking a victory for the District of Columbia in a suit that alleges police unlawfully arrested a group of demonstrators in January 2005.

In a divided opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded the suit to the trial court for further proceedings. The trial judge had granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. Click here for the D.C. Circuit opinion.

The appeals court found that there remains material issues of fact in dispute. The plaintiffs and police tell different stories about how the plaintiffs ended up getting arrested in an alley the night of January 20, 2005, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Northwest Washington.

Some in the crowd took to property destruction. The plaintiffs, including Sarah Carr, said they were not involved in any acts of vandalism. The trial court judge found the arrests of the plaintiffs violated the Fourth Amendment because the police could not have had probable cause to arrest certain marchers.

At issue on appeal is the extent to which police need probable cause to arrest any individual in a crowd when there are people who are committing crimes. Senior Judge Laurence Silberman, writing for the majority, said that “police witnesses must only be able to form a reasonable belief that the entire crowd is acting as a unit and therefore all members of the crowd violated the law."

Silberman said the police do not first need to order the crowd to disperse to give non-offenders a chance to comply with the order.

“If police have probable cause to believe that the group they are arresting is committing or has committed a crime, no more is necessary,” Silberman wrote. “Requiring a dispersal order in addition to the ordinary probable cause threshold would be particularly anomalous in a case like this in which officers have reason to believe that an entire crowd is engaged in or encouraging a riot.”

Stacy Anderson, an assistant attorney general for the D.C. Attorney General’s Office, argued for the District. Daniel Schember argued for the plaintiffs.

Perkins Coie Taps Marc Elias to Succeed Robert Bauer as Political Law Practice Chair

For Perkins Coie, the announcement that its own Robert Bauer had been named to replace Gregory Craig as White House counsel meant the firm needed to find someone else to chair its political law practice group. Enter Marc Elias.

Elias, who has been a partner at the firm since 2001, will take over Bauer's role as chair of the firm's political law practice when Craig's resignation becomes official on Jan. 3.

While at Perkins Coie, Bauer, who has served as President Barack Obama’s personal lawyer since 2005, turned its political law practice into one of the most highly regarded in the field. The practice boasts an impressive list of clients, including the Democratic Senatorial and Congressional Campaign committees, and the Democratic National Committee. The firm also advises numerous congressional candidates, non-profit organizations and political action committees on compliance issues related to campaign finance laws, lobbying disclosure rules, and legislative and executive branch ethics codes. The practice comprises 10 lawyers and nine non-lawyer compliance specialists.

Elias said he and Bauer have already begun transitioning leadership responsibilities. “One of the great things Bob did was to ensure clients had relationships with all of the other lawyers in the practice,” Elias said in an interview last night. “We have already started talking to clients, making sure they are informed of what is going on and ensuring that their needs are being met.” He added that he doesn’t expect Bauer’s departure to affect the practice’s client portfolio.

Elias grabbed headlines earlier this year when he served as lead counsel for now-Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) during the recount dispute launched by former Sen. Norm Coleman. Elias argued and won a unanimous ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court which affirmed that Franken had received the highest number of votes. “It was an unbelievable experience,” Elias said. “I spent six months in Minnesota during the course of the litigation. As much fun as Minnesota is, it’s very nice to be back in Washington.” (Click here for The NLJ’s Q&A with Elias after the Minnesota Supreme Court’s ruling.)

Elias’s past clients also include the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign in 2004 and Chris Dodd for President during the 2008 primary campaign. More recently, Elias represented New Jersey Gov. John Corzine during his unsuccessful bid for reelection.

Elias said Perkins Coie’s political law practice is already gearing up for the 2010 midterm elections. “I’m excited to take over as chair of the practice,” Elias said. “It’s been growing a lot in recent years as our client base has grown, and it’ll be exciting to continue providing them with high-quality service.”

D.C. District Court Gets New Clerk

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has selected a new clerk of the court.

Angela Caesar, a 19-year clerk’s office veteran, was appointed Tuesday to replace Nancy Mayer-Whittington, who retired on Oct. 30, according to a court spokesman. Caesar was previously chief deputy for administration.

The Clerk is the court’s chief administrator, overseeing 84 staff and a nearly $10 million budget. In an announcement, Chief Judge Royce Lamberth praised Caesar’s “vision for the future of the office and her demonstrated management experience.”

Caesar did not immediately return a call for comment.

Patton Boggs Picks Up New Partner From the Hill

Kristin Wells, formerly deputy chief counsel for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, has joined Patton Boggs as a partner. Her first day was Wednesday.

Wells, 42, was also previously a counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. She is subject to a one-year lobbying ban, but plans to advise Patton Boggs' clients on dealing with issues abroad.

A native Washingtonian who graduated from the National Cathedral School and earned her law degree from Columbia University, she said she was attracted to Patton Boggs because the firm has "been an active part of the Washington community." Wells, an African-American who has two young children, said she also appreciated the firm's commitment to family-friendly policies and a diverse workforce.

She said she's looking forward to working on a mix of issues. "There might be some cases or matters of foreign companies that have business issues in the U.S., or political issues as well," she said. "I’ve been here just a few days, so we’ll have to see how a lot of this develops."

McInerney Called 'Coup' for DOJ for Fraud Prosecution

Updated 12:40 p.m.

Lanny Breuer has found his rock star to run the Justice Department's Fraud Section: a veteran white collar criminal defense lawyer who is a former prosecution supervisor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.

Yesterday, Breuer announced that Davis Polk & Wardwell partner Denis McInerney has accepted the top slot in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The retiring chief, Steve Tyrrell, is jumping to the private sector. “We’re very excited for Denis to build on the terrific work that Steve and his team has done,” Breuer said.

There may be excitement in the front office, but some career prosecutors in the Fraud Section are concerned that McInerney hasn’t prosecuted cases for 15 years. The search for a section chief in recent months generated angst in the section. Change in the Fraud Section is coming. Earlier this week, Breuer publicly praised the work of deputy chief Mark Mendelsohn, who is leaving for work in the private sector. Breuer called Mendelsohn an “exceptional public servant and a visionary steward” of the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act program.

McInerney’s prosecution experience stems from his work in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. McInerney was a lead prosecutor in the racketeering and money laundering case against Gary Singer, chairman of the Cooper Companies, an eye-care products company. Singer, represented by Theodore Wells Jr. of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a $1.8 million fine. Wells called McInerney a "fantastic" pick. "I have known him as both a prosecutor and as a defense lawyer and he can best be described as a lawyers' lawyer with great judgment and integrity," he said.

McInerney, through a Justice spokeswoman, declined to comment. Click here for his Davis Polk bio.

A former colleague in New York, Patrick Fitzgerald, now the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, called McInerney a “terrific lawyer” who has a reputation of being a straight-shooter. “Denis is smart. He will listen. I see him as a soft spoken, steady leader. He’s a great choice,” Fitzgerald said. He added that it’s in McInerney’s advantage that he has been on both sides of the courtroom, that he can assess cases and proposed legislative changes from different angles.

Labor Department Targets Wage and Hour Violations

The Department of Labor is cracking down on wage and hour violations.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced yesterday that the department has hired an additional 250 wage and hour investigators, boosting staffing by one third to respond more quickly to complaints and undertake more targeted enforcement.

"There is no excuse for employers who disregard federal labor standards – especially those that are designed to protect the most vulnerable in the workplace," said Solis in a statement. "The failure to comply with these basic labor standards means that workers are not receiving the money they have earned."

In the past three months, the Labor Department has brought two enforcement cases that resulted in the recovery of nearly $2 million in back wages for 500 workers.

The Labor Department’s Wage and Hour division administers the Fair Labor Act, which sets standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. The act applies to companies with at least $500,000 in annual business.

It also covers domestic service workers, such as day workers, housekeepers, chauffeurs, cooks, or full‑time babysitters, if they receive at least $1,700 in 2009 in cash wages from one employer in a calendar year, or if they work a total of more than eight hours a week for one or more employers.

Next year, the department plans to launch a national public awareness campaign titled "We Can Help" to inform workers about their rights.

Another Lawyer-Bundler Headed Overseas

David Adelman, a partner at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan who was a bundler for President Barack Obama's campaign, is the president's pick for ambassador to Singapore.

The expected nomination, announced by the White House late Thursday, is the latest in a string of Big Law lawyers who helped raise money for the 2008 campaign and are now representing the administration abroad.

Adelman works in the firm's Atlanta office in its litigation department, specializing in representing energy and communications companies. He’s also a Democratic member of the Georgia Senate, where he is the minority whip and chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee, and a former state assistant attorney general.

He bundled between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2000, he helped represent the Florida Democratic Party in that year’s recount fight. After Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004, Adelman was a plaintiff in a lawsuit that unsuccessfully tried to overturn the amendment.

Adelman (Georgia, Georgia State MPA, Emory Law) did not immediately return a call requesting comment.

Other prominent lawyer-bundlers chosen for ambassadorships include Williams & Connolly’s Laurie Fulton for Denmark; Williams & Connolly’s Howard Gutman for Belgium; David Jacobson, formerly of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, for Canada; and Foley Hoag’s Barry White for Norway. All have been confirmed.

Need An Appellate Lawyer? Ask Judge Braden

Need to find an appellate lawyer with experience in jurisdiction and constitutional law? Just ask Judge Susan Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

In an unusual order last month in a constitutional challenge to Section 8(a) of the federal Small Business Act, Judge Braden determined that the plaintiff’s lawyer, despite “substantial experience” before her court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, should have an appellate “lead co-counsel” with jurisdiction and constitutional law expertise. She then offered a list of 11 lawyers who might be willing to step into that role.

 “It was a complete surprise to me and a lot of other people,” said William Bruckner of Bruckner & Walker in San Diego, Calif., counsel to Kevcon Inc. In Kevcon v. U.S., Bruckner’s client is challenging the constitutionality of Section 8(a), a government contracts program which promotes the development of small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Shortly after the order was issued, the case was transferred to Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams.

The lawyers on Judge Braden’s suggested list included such conservative legal stars as former solicitors general Theodore Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Kenneth Starr, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, as well as such appellate veterans as Carter Phillips of Sidley Austin, Charles Cooper of Cooper & Kirk, David Frederick of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, Edward Bruce of Covington & Burling, and Richard Samp of the Washington Legal Foundation.

 “The issues presented concern the extent of the court’s jurisdiction, as well as one of constitutional importance. As such, this is not a typical pre-bid protest,” explained the order by Judge Braden, who was appointed to the court by President George W. Bush in July 2003. Her order added that she had not contacted any of the lawyers and her list was not “exhaustive by any means.”

Bruckner, who has 20 years of experience in the Federal Circuit, said the judge first raised the issue of experienced appellate counsel in a status conference.

“She suggested experienced appellate counsel should be brought into the case as co-counsel, not of counsel,” he recalled. “I had expected it would end there. That she would put that into an order caught me by surprise.”

And so did the subsequent transfer of his case to Judge Williams. “I don’t know anything about the hidden workings of the Court of Federal Claims,” he said. “I don’t know why the case was transferred, but I wish I did.”

Judge Braden declined to comment.

            

Online Federal Clerkship Applications at All-Time High

The federal judiciary saw a huge spike in online applications for clerkships from last year, according to a release from the judiciary.

The Web site used by about two-thirds of all federal judges to find clerks saw 401,576 electronic applications between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sep. 30, 2009. That’s a 66 percent increase from that time period last year, when 241,529 applications were turned in.

The applications came from only 10,722 applicants this year, meaning each applied for an average of about 38 clerkships. That’s a 42 percent increase over last year’s applicant pool, which was 7,556. Last year, each clerk hopeful applied for an average of about 31 jobs.

The increases make sense, said Kirsten Solberg, a Harvard Law School clerkship advisor. She said law firms and public-interest employers have been slashing positions because of the state of the economy.

“Clerkships have been relatively stable as an alternative and are attracting people who had not previously considered them,” Solberg said. “Given the increased competition, applicants have cast wider nets in their search for clerkships, applying to various types of judges in various locations.”

Fifty-two percent of this year’s applicants were law school graduates and 48 percent were third-year law students. But 68 percent all the applications were generated by third-year law students, meaning they applied for more clerkships on average than their graduated peers.

It’s definitely not an increase in the number of participating judges that accounts for the spike, said Dick Carelli, a spokesman for the federal courts. There were 1,244 clerkships advertised this year. While that’s more than last year, the rise was modest compared to the boost in applications.

The online application system has been in use since 2005, when it saw 94,693 applications from 4,902 applicants. In 2006, 5,614 applicants submitted 174,363 applications and the next year 7,556 applicants submitted 180,832 applications.

The Morning Wrap

Katrina Plaintiffs Win Verdict: A federal judge in New Orleans has ruled the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' failure to maintain a navigation channel contributed to the deaths of inhabitants and destruction of homes during Hurricane Katrina,The National Law Journal reports. Assistant Attorney General Tony West of the Justice Department's Civil Division said yesterday the department is reviewing the opinion. The New York Times has this piece today on the verdict.

Gay Marriage Gets Boost: Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit this week granted health benefits to the same-sex partners of court employees, The Recorder reports. Kozinski's order comes a day after a colleague issued a directive that a federal public defender be awarded back pay because his same-sex partner's benefits had been denied.

Immigration Audits: The Wall Street Journal reports the federal government will audit about 1,000 U.S. employers for immigration violations, as pressure mounts on business owners to cease hiring illegal immigrants. The government in July announced audits of 654 businesses.

Bruno, On Trial: The New York Times examines the trial of former State Senator Joseph Bruno and the overlap of official duties and private business for lawmakers in Albany. Bruno, 80, is charged him with depriving citizens of his honest services as a public official.

Ditching the Billable Hour: More companies are paying their outside counsel off the clock, according to the Hildebrandt 2009 Law Department Survey, Corporate Counsel reports. Just over half of the 231 companies surveyed said they have started or will start negotiating non-hourly billing arrangements.

DOJ, FCC Target Deaf Translation Service in National Fraud Case

Twenty-six employees of seven companies that provide translation services to the deaf and hearing impaired have been charged in a nationwide scheme to defraud the government of millions of dollars, the Justice Department announced today.

Indictments against owners and employees of the companies, including businesses in Maryland, Texas, California and New Jersey, were unsealed today. Prosecutors say the defendants were part of a scheme in which fraudulent video relay service (VRS) bills were submitted to the Federal Communications Commission for reimbursement.

VRS providers help deaf and hearing impaired individuals to communicate with others through the use of Web cameras and interpreters. The service, which is free for the user, is funded by fees assessed on telephone customers. In 2008, the FCC paid $540 million to VRS providers. An hour-long call is billed at nearly $400. FCC officials said billing irregularities prompted the investigation.

“That people would prey upon the program for their own greed is just absolutely inexcusable,” Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said today at a news conference.

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing. But an FBI supervisor declined to say whether any other companies will be charged. “As this investigation moves forward, we plan to leave no stone unturned, and we will investigate the propriety of all other funds paid,” said Joseph Persichini Jr., assistant director of the FBI’s Washington field office.

FCC chief of staff Edward Lazarus said the FCC is implementing stricter oversight of the VRS program. There will be enhanced auditing and stepped-up scrutiny to identify and act on irregularities.

Prosecutors Hank Walther and Brigham Cannon from the Justice Department’s Fraud Section are handling the case. Charges were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

DOJ Taps Denis McInerney as Fraud Section Chief

By Mike Scarcella

The Justice Department announced today that it has tapped a Davis Polk & Wardwell partner to serve as its new Fraud Section chief.

The Department has been searching for a new chief since this summer, when Steve Tyrrell announced he was stepping down. The new section chief, Denis McInerney, accepted the position today, according to Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer. Breuer said today that McInerney brings an “extraordinary career as a lawyer” to the section.

According to McInerney’s online biography, he was as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1989 to 1994, and served as a deputy chief of the Criminal Division from 1993 to 1994. In 1994, he served as an associate independent counsel in the Whitewater Investigation alongside independent counsel Robert Fiske Jr.

Stay tuned to The BLT for more info.

Details Leak on Hogan Lovells Structure

Updated (6:08 p.m.)

We already knew Hogan & Hartson and Lovells intended to merge their names into Hogan Lovells if the proposed combination is approved by the two firms' partnerships, but Legal Week has more details on the proposed merger. According to Legal Week, Hogan Lovells would have two partnerships and two profit pools.

Lovells' U.S.-based partners would join Hogan's partnership, and Lovells would take on Hogan's international partners.

Hogan Lovells would, however, bring the compensation structures of the two firms into closer alignment, with Lovells implementing a structure similar to Hogan's merit-based model for partner pay. Legal Week reports that 85 percent of Lovells’ profits for equity partners would be allocated on a point-based system.

The changes to Lovells’ pay structure, Legal Week reports, would mark the latest step taken by the firm to move away from the lockstep approach traditionally used by U.K.-based firms. Lovells has already made significant changes to its lockstep structure, rewarding revenue contributions over seniority. There are also expected to be some minor adjustments to Hogan's current pay model.

Read the full Legal Week story here.

SEC Fills Senior Posts in Investor Education Office

The Securities & Exchange Commission announced today that it has filled three top jobs in its Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.

Mary Head was named deputy director of the office, which provides resources to help individual investors make financial decisions.

Head, who has worked at the SEC since 2000, previously served as acting director of the office and as OIEA's assistant director for policy. She also worked as counsel to SEC commissioners Kathleen Casey, Laura Unger and Cynthia Glassman.

Prior to joining the SEC, Head was a lawyer at the National Association of Securities Dealers before moving to Kelley Drye & Warren, and later, Dechert.

Kathleen Floyd was named OIEA’s deputy director of investor education. Previously, she worked for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Richard Ferlauto will become deputy director of policy in the office. He joins the SEC from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, where he was director, corporate governance and public pension programs.

Noted D.C. Attorney, Richard Nixon's Personal Lawyer "Jack" Miller Dead at 85

Herbert J. "Jack" Miller Jr., whose high-profile representation of the Kennedy family and President Richard Nixon made him notable in the Washington legal scene, died Nov. 14 from complications related to influenza, according to a statement from Baker Botts, where he was a retired partner. He was 85.

Miller first gained prominence in the legal community as chief of the Justice Department’s criminal division under then-Attorney General Robert Kennedy between 1961 and 1965. There, Miller led the prosecutions of Teamsters head Jimmy Hoffa and members of the mafia.

Miller left the Justice Department in 1965 to start Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin (later merged into Baker Botts, where Miller finished his career).

He became friends with Robert Kennedy and later supported him in his presidential bid, until Kennedy’s assassination in 1968. Two years later, Miller ran for lieutenant governor of Maryland as a Republican but lost. He said in a 1998 interview with the D.C. Bar that Kennedy inspired him to run for public office.

Miller is known as a pioneer in the field of white-collar criminal defense. A National Law Journal archives search shows a laundry list of famous clients, including Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and various members of the family, Reagan aide Mike Deaver and Nixon Attorney General Richard Kleindienst. But his most famous client was Nixon himself.

Miller told the D.C. Bar that Nixon chose him to be his personal lawyer soon after the president resigned from office in 1974. He was the top negotiator of Nixon’s pardon by his successor, Gerald Ford.

He continued representing the disgraced president, fighting the release of Nixon’s White House tapes. In 1984, he successfully argued a landmark 5 to 4 Supreme Court ruling that Nixon could not be held civilly liable for his actions as president, according to the D.C. Bar.

He also told the D.C. Bar in a 1998 interview that he respected Nixon very much and called him a “brilliant individual.”

Miller was one of the first honorees of the Legends of Law Program by the D.C. Bar.

He earned his J.D. from George Washington University School of Law in 1949.

Miller is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Carey, and their sons, John and Bo.

A memorial service in his honor will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 30 at the Washington National Cathedral.

U.S. Senate Confirms Hamilton for 7th Circuit Slot

Voting 59 to 39, the U.S. Senate today confirmed David Hamilton's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

The Hamilton nomination stalled for five months amid criticism from Republican lawmakers about Hamilton's pro bono work for the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Earlier this week, the Republican caucus fell short of maintaining a filibuster.

“This is a nomination that should be confirmed and should have been confirmed months ago. David Hamilton is a fine judge and will make a good addition to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement.

Obama nominated Hamilton, a federal district judge, on March 17. Hamilton was Obama’s first judicial pick. There are 10 judicial nominations pending on the Senate’s calendar.

Striking Back for a Client - in 140 Characters or Less

UPDATED

Cassidy & Associates vice chairman Gregg Hartley didn't like a critical New York Times story this week on one of the firm's biggest clients, Equatorial Guinea.

So he's hitting back against the reporter, Ian Urbina, using an unusual vehicle: His personal Twitter feed.

"How does NY Times manage its reporter's conflicts of interest?" Hartley tweeted indignantly on Tuesday. "Not well. Re: Equatorial Guinea, father was judge in controversial case."

Naturally, Twitter isn't the best way to give all the context here. Urbina's father, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina, indeed presided over a high-profile case involving Equatorial Guinea. In 2005, Washington stalwart Riggs Bank pleaded guilty to failing to report suspicious transactions. The bank accounts involved included some held by leaders of Equatorial Guinea, and others belonging to onetime Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

In an interview, Hartley said he believed Ian Urbina's connection to the judge meant that "there is a perceptual conflict," or bias. Hartley said he is still deciding how to raise his concerns with the Times directly.

In response to a request for comment from Ian Urbina, Diane McNulty, executive director of community affairs and media relations for the Times, said the paper stands by the article. Urbina discussed his father's role in the case with his editor in advance, she said, and "there was no conflict of interest, and the judge's role had no bearing whatsoever on the article." Judge Urbina noted that there was no trial in the case. "There was nothing for me to rule on other than accepting the plea and meting out a sentence," Judge Urbina said.

Asked why he took to Twitter instead of sticking to more traditional lobbying tools such as meetings with lawmakers, Hartley said the firm - which hosts a blog on its Web site - is "trying to find if it gives us another round of ammunition."

"I was a little fired up at the moment and so used the Twitter to express my frustration at mainline journalism," he said.

Hartley also acknowledged that he hadn't verified what he'd heard about Urbina's connection to the judge before tweeting. "Here's one thing about social media. You don't have to always be right," he said, though he said he would tweet a correction if he was wrong.

Hartley is a prolific twitterer, commenting on everything from the weather to politics to dinner (liver and onions last night, in case anyone is wondering). In fact, he appeared to send out a tweet while being interviewed for this story: "Should all businesses who are "engaged" on public policy be able to deduct both political contributions and lobbying expenses?"

Cassidy has represented Equatorial Guinea since 2004, disclosure reports filed with the Justice Department show, and the oil-rich country has paid the firm $1.39 million in fees and expenses so far this year.

Of course, Twitter is free.