The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Top D.C. Firms Show Solid Revenue Gains in 2011

Updated 5:35 p.m.

Washington-based law firms showed a solid increase in gross revenues during 2011, according to the latest Am Law 100 survey, released Friday.

Nine D.C.-based firms landed on the list this year, with all showing modest revenue increases, with the exception of Hogan Lovells, which posted the same gross revenues as in 2010. Six Washington-based firms posted revenue increases greater than 5 percent, including Covington & Burling, growing by 5.1 percent to $611 million; Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, which grew by 7.4 percent to $342 million; Williams & Connolly, up by 5 percent to $317.5 million; Steptoe & Johnson LLP, which rose by 9.1 percent to $376.5 million; Venable, which grew by 5.3 percent to $355.5 million; and Arnold & Porter, which grew by 15.2 percent to $639.5 million, topping the list of D.C.-based firms in terms of gross revenue growth rate.

Crowell & Moring and Patton Boggs’ revenue each inched up .6 percent, Crowell to $329.5 million and Patton to $339.5 million.

Citing Privacy, DOJ Wants Cell Phone Tracking Records Kept Secret

The U.S. Justice Department today said the government should not be forced to publicly disclose information about criminal cases involving mobile phone tracking in which the defendant was acquitted or the case was dismissed.

The government's position was outlined this afternoon in a public records suit the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation filed in Washington's federal trial court. The ACLU and EFF are reviewing cases in which federal agents used mobile phone tracking to follow suspects.

A federal appeals court ruling last year compelled DOJ to provide 214 names and docket numbers of cases that resulted in a public conviction or guilty plea. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit called for further proceedings on whether the government should be required to turn over that same information for defendants whose cases ended in an acquittal or dismissed charges.

The government has identified six cases—in Washington, Florida and California—where there was an acquittal or dismissal. But DOJ lawyers said in court papers (PDF) filed this afternoon in Washington that releasing the information would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

In Conspiracy Case, Judge Chides DOJ Over Exculpatory Evidence

Federal prosecutors in Washington are mulling whether to ask a judge here to reconsider her conclusion that the government was wrong to hold onto certain beneficial information in a criminal case against a longtime criminal defense lawyer.

The defense lawyer, Charles Daum, and two private investigators, are preparing for trial on charges of participating in a scheme to dupe jurors in a drug case in 2008. Daum and the investigators have denied government allegations rooted in the manufacture of fake evidence.

Justice Department lawyers ran afoul of their discovery obligations by holding onto witness information that undercuts the government’s case, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler said at a recent hearing. Kessler said “there is not the slightest doubt” that the government violated its obligation to turn over exculpatory information, committing a so-called "Brady violation."

“In this day and age with all of the publicity going on about Brady issues, not just the (Ted) Stevens trial, the series that is running these days in the Washington Post, so many other cases that are being dug up, it is hard to fathom why the government would not be super, super attentive to the issue of what is and what isn’t Brady,” Kessler said, according to a transcript.

D.C. Developer Sues Teachers Insurance Group Over Halted Project

Updated at 5:15 p.m.

The developer of residential properties in the Northeast Washington neighborhood known as NoMa is suing his former partner, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), for $100 million, claiming TIAA abruptly stopped and removed him from the project.

According to the complaint (PDF), veteran metropolitan-area developer Ronald Cohen entered into a contract with TIAA to build a cluster of residential properties in NoMa. Cohen would handle the operations and TIAA would handle the financing, according to the complaint.

After the first phase of the project was finished, Cohen accused TIAA of suddenly removing him from the project in violation of their contract. Cohen originally filed suit in District of Columbia Superior Court on March 26, but TIAA filed to move the case to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia yesterday.

Mayer Brown Replaces Wiley Rein as Lobbyist for Alcatel-Lucent

Mayer Brown this week revealed to Congress that it is lobbying for the U.S. arm of a French telecommunications giant after the lobbying relationship between the company and Wiley Rein ended.

The law firm is advocating for Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc. on "[s]pectrum legislation," according to lobbying registration paperwork. Wiley Rein, which filed a lobbying termination report with Congress last week, received about $80,000 from Alcatel-Lucent for lobbying in 2011 on several spectrum-related bills, congressional records show. Firm senior public policy consultant Douglas Wiley and public policy consultant Scott Weaver most recently lobbied on measures that included spectrum auction legislation that Congress passed in February in an effort to free up airwaves for new wireless networks.

Wiley declined to comment. Mayer Brown partner Howard Waltzman, who is handling the account, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Ward didn’t have an immediate comment.

The company spent $330,000 on its U.S. lobbying efforts during the first three months of this year, according to congressional records. Alcatel-Lucent used its own employees, as well as lobbyists at Covington & Burling and PutalaStrategies, for its government affairs work.

For Hill Lawyer, Building an Office from the Ground Up

This is part of a series of BLT profiles of Capitol Hill counselors and the work they do.

Layth Elhassani had just been hired as the legislative director for newly appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) – only the second person on staff – when the AIG financial crisis hit in 2008.

There was no policy team, nobody had much experience in the banking industry, but there was a lot of pressure to figure out what happened to the company and what role Bennet and the Senate banking committee would play in addressing the crisis.

Elhassani, 37, says that’s what separates working on Capitol Hill from attorney jobs at big firms, where there’s time to do all the research you need and every last detail must be perfect. On the Hill, Elhassani says, sometimes you just have to go with what you’ve got at the moment.

Justices, Advocates Gather at Georgetown Law

Updated 11:49 a.m.

By Tony Mauro

A day after the end of the oral argument season at the Supreme Court, justices, advocates, academics and others came together Thursday afternoon to celebrate, survey the wreckage and talk about what's next.

The reception, sponsored as it is every year by the Georgetown University Law Center's Supreme Court Institute, has become the annual company picnic of the Court community. Where else could a group of journalists who cover the Court huddle to handicap Wednesday's arguments in the Arizona immigration case, while Solicitor General Donand Verrilli Jr. is chatting a few feet away, his adversary in the case Paul Clement is schmoozing a few feet beyond that, and oh yes, Justice Elena Kagan, who was recused, is holding court somewhere in between?

Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Samuel Alito Jr. were also on hand for the wine-and-finger-food event. Part of the Georgetown institute's agenda was to thank the 200-plus lawyers who served as judges for the moot courts the institute puts on for advocates who are about to argue at the high court. Director Irv Gornstein said the institute had done moot courts for lawyers in 94 per cent of the cases argued between October and April — 65 out of 69 total.

The Morning Wrap

Torture Probe: The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to announce that "enhanced interrogation techniques" did not yield significant counter-terrorism breakthroughs, Reuters reports. Committee investigators said their three-year-long examination of George W. Bush administration records do not support the claim that harsh techniques, including water-boarding, produced any coups.

Apple Sanctions: Apple Inc. was sanctioned by an International Trade Commission administrative law judge for misrepresenting facts during an opening statement and in a brief, The National Law Journal reports. The judge directed Motorola Mobility to calculate the time and expenses it cost the company to respond to Apple's positions.

Hired: Beth Wilkinson, a partner in the Washington office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, will work part-time for the Federal Trade Commission to conduct an antitrust inquiry targeting Google Inc., The Wall Street Journal reports. Coverage in The New York Times is here.

Judge: Images of Bin Laden Death, Burial Can Remain Secret

A Washington federal judge today refused to order the government to publicly disclose any photos or videos of the death and burial of Osama bin Laden.

The Central Intelligence Agency's claim that release of any photos or videos could harm the national security “passes muster,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in a ruling today.

“A picture may be worth a thousand words. And perhaps moving pictures bear an even higher value,” Boasberg said. “Yet, in this case, verbal descriptions of the death and burial of Osama Bin Laden will have to suffice, for this court will not order the release of anything more.”

Boasberg ruled in a Freedom of Information Act suit that the non-profit Judicial Watch filed against the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies.

Judge Sets Sentencing Date for Key FBI Informant in FCPA Sting Case

Over the Justice Department's objection, a federal judge in Washington today set a sentencing date for a key figure in the government's failed foreign bribery sting case here.

The informant, Richard Bistrong, who pleaded guilty to a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violation in an unrelated case, will be sentenced July 31, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said at a hearing this afternoon in Washington. Bistrong faces up to five years in prison.

Joey Lipton, a Justice Department fraud section trial attorney, asked Leon to postpone Bistrong's sentencing. Leon said the government is continuing to investigate real-world deals involving Bistrong, a former sales representatives at Armor Holdings, Inc. (BAE Systems Plc. Later bought Armor.)

Extending the sentencing date, Lipton said, would allow Bistrong to maximize his cooperation with the Justice Department. Bistrong’s lawyer, Brady Toensing of Washington’s diGenova & Toensing, asked Leon to sentence Bistrong in the early fall.