The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

DOJ Loses Brand

After just over two years at the Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy Rachel Brand is jumping ship. Bush first nominated Brand in March 2005. During her tenure, Brand played a large role in securing reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act. The former White House counsel office aide and clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was also responsible for shepherding Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito’s confirmation hearings.

"Rachel Brand has served the Department of Justice and the American people with distinction and honor," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, in a statement. "Her considerable knowledge of legal policy is rivaled only by her passion for the issues and projects on which she worked during her tenure here at the Department. I will miss her significant contributions as an advisor to me."

Talking About Freedom

The Bush administration received word today that the Supreme Court will allow Gitmo detainees to challenge their detention in court.

The decision is a big blow for the administration, which has sought to prevent those at Gitmo from appealing their indefinite confinement.

Pay Scale Change?

It didn’t make much news when Howrey matched the first-year associate market at $160,000 in Washington; ho-hum, just more money for 26-year-olds without a shred of professional experience.

But this addendum is noteworthy: The firm is working on a compensation plan for all of its associates that would trash the lockstep system used by nearly every firm.

“We want to individualize how we take associates and move them along the development cycle,” says Robert Ruyak, chairman of Howrey, based in Washington. “This would allow us to pay people a different rate based on skill.”

The fledgling program, first reported in The Recorder, is still being constructed with input from the associates at the litigation firm. Ruyak says he hopes everything will be up and running by the new year.

“I was happy with the positive feedback I got,” he says. “We think it would be a better system that, once people progress at different speeds, you can advance them at a different pace.”

Ruyak envisions the flexibility allowing women associates more freedom to spend time raising a family while remaining on track to make partner.

“I think, because we have a relatively narrow specialty, it gives us the freedom to try a program like this,” says Ruyak.

The bottom line is that there would be a new bottom line: skill would outweigh billable hours.

Legal Tender: Different Worries

Two news stories today from Financial Advisor Magazine may suggest different sorts of worries for financial advisers and for those who may come to them for advice.

For people with retirement plans, a survey in May by the Spectrem Group found a lack of confidence in their financial future. Only 31 percent believed they had a sound retirement policy.

For financial advisers, a survey of 800 of them found that the biggest concern for 83 percent was obtaining "better" clients who more closely fit the adviser's products and services. Of almost equal concern to these independent advisers was improving efficiency, building value in their practices, and (finally!) offering value-added services.

Now, juxtaposing these two surveys in this way may be a bit of a cheap shot. The studies aimed to learn different things from different groups, and no doubt many financial advisers truly wish to help people develop a sound retirement plan, not simply to find better customers.

But be careful, dear readers. I've previously written (subscription required) about what sort of financial adviser to look for, at least with regard to fee structure, if you truly need outside help.

Morning Wrap

• It’s Alive: Scientists transplanted the genome of a species of bacteria into another species. The breakthrough is a step in producing synthetic life forms reports the New York Times.

• No More Bill: A funeral has been scheduled for the new immigration bill after it withered away on the Senate floor yesterday. The bill, vilified by both the right and the left, was rejected by a vote of 53 to 46, and immigration reform for the nation’s 12 million undocumented workers will probably have to wait for another congressional term.

• Bye, Bye Birdie. Hello, Eagle: The bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list yesterday after 40 years. During that time, the population rose from 417 breeding pairs to 10,000.

• Democratic Debate: Decrying the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday on race in schools, Democratic candidates debated race and poverty last night at Howard University.

• 5 to 4: Here’s a look at yesterday’s Supreme Court decisions from a host of newspapers: NYT, WaPo, LA Times, and, of course, Legal Times.

Battle of the Bands

Tonight at that D.C. hipster haven, the Black Cat, law firms from across the city will attempt to beat one another not in the courtroom but on the stage. The Battle of the Law Firm Bands begins at 7 p.m., and according to their press release, they will “rock all night.”

The lineup of ten bands includes The Precedents, Greenberg Traurig’s The Sanctions (possible reference to Abramoff? Hmm.), On-Kilter, and De Profundis. Do these lawyers practice in their parents’ garages surrounded by cheap amplifiers and a healthy dose of angst? Well, perhaps that’s too Seattle.

No matter what though, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow’s band, Beats Workin’, goes on at 10:05. So brave the $10 cover charge (all proceeds go to charity), and have something to tell your friends back at the office tomorrow. Super cool bonus: Snow plays a mean flute solo.

Go Rob that Bank

Sean Wallace was sentenced yesterday to 80 years in prison (though all but 32 years will be suspended) for his part in forcing a young boy to rob a bank for him.

You may remember the story. According to the Prince George's County state attorney's office, Sean Wallace and Jeremiah Hall went up to a boy at the New Carrollton Metro stop in February 2006 while he was on his way home from school. They threatened to shoot the boy if he did not rob a bank for them. The frightened boy agreed, went with them to a bank in Bethesda, got the money, and then went to the police afterward.

Wallace was charged with kidnapping and robbery with a deadly weapon. His co-defendant Hall was sentenced to 15 years in prison in March.

Prison Medicine

The D.C. Prisoners' Project of the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, along with Covington & Burling, filed a class-action suit yesterday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The suit alleges inadequate and unconstitutional medical care for many D.C. inmates being held in the Rivers Correctional Facility in Winton, N.C. GEO Group, a private prison contractor that operates the facility, and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons have been named as defendants.

After the 2001 closure of the District's notorious and dilapidated Lorton prison, more than 7,000 D.C. inmates are now being detained in various federal prisons, including Rivers under a contract between GEO and the Bureau of Prisons. The suit seeks to remedy "the grossly inadequate and inhumane level of medical care" at Rivers, which allegedly has occurred because of aggressive cost-cutting measures by GEO. The publicly traded company posted revenues of more than $860 million last year with more than $30 million in profits, according to the plaintiffs' press release.

Constitutional Showdown

The White House has challenged Congress to the constitutional equivalent of a duel, minus the glove slap to the face. As reported in the Associated Press this morning, the White House has refused to comply with congressional subpoenas for documents relating to the firings of federal prosecutors, invoking, you guessed it, executive privilege.

The administration has also refused to allow former political director Sara Taylor and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers to testify before Congress. Fred Fielding, the current White House counsel, wrote in a letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committee that the administration wished to avoid this “unfortunate path.” “We had hoped this matter could conclude with your committees receiving information in lieu of having to invoke executive privilege,” Fielding said: “Instead, we are at this conclusion.”

The Great Divide

That ripping sound you heard from the Maryland Avenue NE home of the Supreme Court this morning was of a Court bitterly divided.  Its 5-4 decision striking down diversity programs in public schools is being hailed by conservatives as a White House promise fulfilled, and derided by liberals as an unconscionable act.

Says Ralph Neas of the left-leaning People For the American Way: "Under the leadership of President Bush’s new justices, the Supreme Court is turning its back on  the promise of  Brown vs. Board of Education.  We knew that the confirmation of  Chief Justice Roberts and of Justice Alito would be a setback for civil rights, but it’s painful to watch years of progress undone so recklessly.” Roberts wrote the majority opinion.

Our Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro will have a full report on the decision later today at legaltimes.com.