The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

How the House Lobby Bill Got Done

If you’ve ever wondered how the sausage of lawmaking gets done, Roll Call’s Tory Newmyer has a detailed description of the lead up and final passage of the House ethics reform bill last week. Now, we’ll just have to wait to see what actually makes it out of the House and Senate conference.

Revenues Rising

U.K.-based Clifford Chance announced its revenues were up 16 percent hitting 194 million last year. The firm’s financial year ended April 30. The firm’s average profit per equity partner of $2 million beat out many U.S.-based firms. "We have achieved strong growth in revenues and a sustained improvement in our profitability. This progress is true testament to the hard work and high caliber of our people everywhere in our network and the strength of our client relationships. Each of our regions in Asia, Europe and the Americas has performed extremely well and, given current market conditions, we are well positioned to achieve future growth," said David Childs, managing partner of Clifford Chance.

Its Washington presence also grew last year, according to the Legal Times 150. In 2006, the firm had 40 lawyers in Washington, growing 2.6 percent.

The Dead Guy Excuse?

Prosecutors call it the dead man excuse: you're accused of a crime and blame a dead guy who confessed to his brother.

"It doesn't even pass the laugh test," Barbara Kittay, an assistant U.S. Attorney told Judge John Bates at a hearing this morning.

The case involved was that of Njock Eyong, a law school student who allegedly impersonated an official acting for Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), for whom the student interned on Capitol Hill.

Eyong argues that his friend Stephen Ndip from Cameroon set him up. But Ndip is dead. So the only way to prove that, Eyong argues, is by deposing Stephen's brother Thompson Ndip.

The complications come from whether Bates will allow Eyong and his defense team to travel abroad to take Thompson's deposition.

During a hearing Bates wavered. Though he held off ruling just yet, he told Eyong's attorney, A.J. Kramer, who heads the D.C.'s Public Defender Service, that he "will have substantial question of admissibility to deal with," even if Bates allows the deposition to go forward.

A Coal Course?

Alternative energy is all the rage in Congress these days. But some members are turning to a new alternative that is causing a controversy of its own: coal.

The United States has vast domestic reserves of coal, but coal produces more greenhouse gases than many other forms of domestic energy. So the bid to support coal for fuel has pit advocates of energy independence — including even some liberal leaning leaders such as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) — against environmentalists, according to this New York Times account.

Half Genetic?

New research suggests that political differences may be determined partly by genes. John Jost, a psychologist at New York University, says that political differences are about 50 percent genetic. Jost based his research on twins and their political bent, according to this report from LiveScience.

Possible political consequences:

If this research is correct, a genetic basis for political disagreement may give even more evidence that the dream of everyone agreeing about government is a utopian fantasy.

And will scientists ultimately be able to isolate the responsible genes and modify them? If so, are we happy with parents using genetic engineering to produce a liberal or conservative baby? Will politicians ever try to use gene therapy to "cure" their political opponents?

Morning Wrap

Buyers Remorse. Alberto Gonzales can't count on Hispanics to back him this time around.

Treasury Mouthpiece. Not much has changed since Robert Nichols left the Treasury Department for the Financial Services Forum, except his salary.

Sanctioning Sudan. President Bush made good on his threat to impose economic sanctions on Sudan.

Explosive Uranium. And, we're not talking about foreign countries trying to make bombs. As the price of uranium has increased tenfold, lobbyists are, of course, getting in the action.

Free Love. For all those cringing about having to return to the office post-Memorial Day weekend, it might be time to plan that next vacation to San Francisco's Haight Valley.

Legal Tender: At Mother's Knee

Mothers, teach your children well. According to a new survey, reported in Investment News, mothers are more influential than fathers in teaching money-management skills.

And some encouraging numbers: The Ameriprise Financial survey found that 74 percent of men and 68 percent of women said that their mother was a good financial role model.

In Your Typeface

Richard Posner—a judge on the 7th Circuit, University of Chicago law professor, and legendarily prolific author—likes to pound out his prose in the Century Schoolbook typeface. Many of the other writers in this Slate piece seem a little too attached to their fonts, but Posner, who is also a fellow law blogger, says, “I cannot for the life of me remember why I chose that!”

Sons of Italy (and daughters and non-Italians too)

Geraldine Ferraro, former member of Congress and vice-presidential candidate, now with Blank Rome Government Relations in New York, was honored by the Sons of Italy Foundation last night. She drew a VIP crowd to the gala at D.C.’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, which at one point enabled photographers to capture four female firsts in one frame (we are told): Ferraro, first female veep candidate for a major party; Madeleine Albright, first female secretary of state and honorary Italian; Nancy Pelosi, first female speaker of the House; and, oh yes, Hillary Clinton, first former first lady to run for president and another honorary Italian. Sen. Clinton introduced Ferraro as one of her inspirations: "I've followed in her footsteps."

Ferraro accepted the accolades enthusiastically. She noted that as a young prosecutor in New York City, she created the first special victims unit, joking that "NBC has never paid me a dime" for all the mileage it has gotten from those SVU shows.

The evening was great for people-watching. Legendary wrestler Bruno Sammartino was circulating in the crowd, as was Sen. Mary Landrieu. We spotted two federal appeals court judges: Francis Allegra from the Court of Federal Claims and Arthur Gajarsa from the Federal Circuit.

No Supreme Court justices on hand, Italian-American or otherwise, but we did get to chat with someone who played a justice: actor Joe Mantegna (right), who was Justice Joe Novelli in the short-lived television show First Monday five years ago. (James Garner played the chief.) Mantegna says he viewed the show as a chance to educate the public about the Court, but low ratings killed it. "It's too bad it didn't make it," said Mantegna. "I liked the show."

When to Request Immunity

Sidley Austin partner Bradford Berenson is back in the news with another high-profile client. Susan Ralston, former executive assistant to presidential adviser Karl Rove, is seeking immunity from prosecution before testifying to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about contacts between Bush administration officials and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

“Susan did not violate the law in any way. However . . . she is not comfortable answering further questions without some comfort that her words won’t be used to hurt her unfairly,” said Berenson in a statement. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman says the panel will seek information elsewhere before deciding whether to grant Ralston’s request.

But that move to seek immunity is in stark contrast to Berenson’s representation of D. Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Sampson was called to testify before Congress over the controversy surrounding the nine fired U.S. attorneys. Unlike Ralston—or former top DOJ aide Monica Goodling—Sampson never asked for a deal. When asked why the different legal tactics, Berenson, a former associate White House counsel, had no comment.