The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Obama Nominates Two to D.C. Superior Court

A public defender and administrative law judge are President Barack Obama's picks to fill open seats in the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Sherry Trafford of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and Steven Wellner, an administrative law judge in the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, were nominated last night. Trafford and Wellner will go before the U.S. Senate for confirmation proceedings.

The Senate has been kind to the president's Superior Court nominees this year. The three nominees to go before the Senate so far this year sailed through committee. Two of the nominees—Judges Michael O'Keefe and Robert Okun—were confirmed soon after. Superior Court Magistrate Judge William Nooter is waiting for a vote by the full Senate. A committee earlier this month approved his nomination.

The Morning Wrap

Nuked: The Senate's rule change restricting filibusters smooths the path to the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for President Obama's picks to fill three vacancies. Democrats resorted to the "nuclear option" to curb the minority's power to filibuster. "It's time to change the U.S. Senate before this body becomes obsolete," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. The Washington Post reports: "Senate’s filibuster rule change should help Obama achieve key second-term priorities."

Awarded: A jury in San Jose, Calif., has awarded Apple $290 million in damages against rival Samsung over iPad and iPhone patent infringement claims, The Recorder reports. The award at the closely watched retrial brings the total owed to $930 million. Coverage here in Bloomberg and here in Reuters.

Seized: The District of Columbia now owns a strip club, The Washington Post reports. "The District's Office of Tax and Revenue has seized the Stadium Club, a steakhouse and gentleman's club popular with professional athletes and hip-hop artists and the home for a reality show called "Strip Club Queens," in order to pay off the debts of owner James Redding," according to the report.

Resigned: "Utah’s embattled attorney general, John Swallow, resigned Thursday amid persistent questions about whether he had committed widespread ethics violations, saying the legal fight had become too costly," The New York Times reports.

Senate Changes Rules, Curbs Power to Filibuster

The Senate today invoked the so-called "nuclear option" and stripped the ability of the minority party to block presidential nominations—a move that will smooth the path to confirmation for President Obama's judicial picks.

The 52-48 historic vote overturned a Senate rule that stood for more than a century. The rules previously required 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and advance a nomination to an up-or-down confirmation vote, which requires a simple majority.

Now, a simple majority can overcome a filibuster for all judicial nominees except those for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyer Convicted in Insider Trading Scheme Disbarred

Matthew Kluger, a former law firm associate convicted in a 17-year, multimillion-dollar insider trading scheme, was disbarred today in the District of Columbia.

Kluger is serving 12 years in jail after pleading guilty to passing along nonpublic information about business deals he gleaned from his job at some of the nation's biggest law firms. Kluger, disbarred in New York in January, didn't contest his disbarment in Washington.

The D.C. Court of Appeals based its decision to disbar Kluger on his conviction for obstruction of justice, finding it was a "crime of moral turpitude" that required immediate disbarment. Kluger also pleaded guilty to securities fraud charges.

Board Recommends Disbarment for Lawyer For Fraud Conviction

An attorney discipline board in Washington is recommending Daryl Hudson III, the head of a debt financing company in Washington and former counsel with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, be disbarred over his wire fraud conviction.

The Board on Professional Responsibility earlier this month recommended disbarment. Hudson was convicted of a crime of "moral turpitude," the board said, warranting automatic disbarment—if the conviction survives appeal.

A federal jury in New Mexico found Hudson guilty of wire fraud in September 2012. Hudson is serving a 70-month sentence in prison. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is not expected to rule on Hudson's status with the D.C. Bar until his appeal wraps up.

D.C. Circuit Denies Terror Victims Access to Frozen Funds

Hundreds of thousands of dollars tied to Iranian financial institutions and frozen by U.S. banks remain off-limits to terrorism victims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled today. The problem, the court said, was the lack of proof the Iranian government owned the bank accounts at issue.

Families of victims of the 1996 bombings at the Khobar Towers apartment complex in Saudi Arabia sued the Iranian government in 2000, accusing Iran of supporting the terrorist group behind the attack. The families won a default judgment—Iran never participated in the case—and a judge awarded approximately $591 million in damages.

The plaintiffs began what U.S. District Senior Judge Royce Lamberth once described as the "often-frustrating and always-arduous" task of finding Iranian assets to satisfy judgments. In August 2011, Lamberth ordered Sprint Nextel Corp., to pay more than $610,000 it owed to an Iranian state telecommunications agency to the plaintiffs instead.

Lance Armstrong's Lawyers Seek Dismissal of Fraud Claims

Updated at 5:00 p.m.

A lawyer for Lance Armstrong today asked a Washington federal judge to dismiss the government's fraud case against the famed cyclist, arguing prosecutors failed to meet deadlines to file their claims.

U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins did not rule on the motions to dismiss filed by Armstrong and the other defendants. The judge said at the end of today's hearing he doubted he would dismiss the case in its entirety, but didn’t indicate which defendants he might be inclined to dismiss.

The U.S. Department of Justice accused Armstrong and others of making false claims while receiving millions of dollars in sponsorships from the U.S. Postal Service. Prosecutors said Armstrong's use of performance-enhancing substances violated the sponsorship agreement.

This Week in The National Law Journal

Clerks Hiring Plan 'Kaput': Federal courts are abandoning an effort to control the clerk hiring process, Karen Sloan reports.

Regulatory Climate is Unsettled: Todd Ruger reports on The National Law Journal Regulatory Summit last week.

New Plan in Mesh Litigation: Amanda Bronstad reports: "With the parties no closer to settlement, the federal judge overseeing the transvaginal mesh device litigation is weighing an entirely new trial plan in hopes of resolving the nation's largest mass tort."

Judge Denies Injunction in Challenge to D.C. Attorney General Election Delay

Updated at 6:12 p.m.

A Washington federal judge today denied an injunction that would have blocked D.C. Council legislation delaying the city's first election for an attorney general. The problem, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said, was that the legislation in question wasn't formally a law yet.

Paul Zukerberg, a local criminal defense lawyer and former candidate for the council, sued the city challenging a measure passed on Oct. 1 pushing the attorney general election back from 2014 to 2018. Zukerberg sued as a private citizen and also recently declared his intent to run for the attorney general job if the election went forward.

Zukerberg argued that a preliminary injunction was necessary given fast-approaching deadlines related to the 2014 election. Boasberg said that because the law in question wasn't final—it's awaiting approval by Congress—the court lacked jurisdiction to consider Zukerberg's challenge.

Gilbert Sues Ex-Client for $6 Million in Fees and Expenses

Washington-based law firm Gilbert is suing a former client for more than $6 million in legal fees and expenses in connection with a $26 million jury award.

Gilbert's former client was Tire Engineering & Distribution LLC. The company, which does business as Alpha Tyre Systems and Alpha Mining Systems, develops special tires for underground mining. After Alpha won a $26 million judgment in a trade secrets case, Gilbert claimed the company refused to pay millions of dollars after switching lawyers—to former Gilbert partners who started their own practice.

The firm sued Alpha and its new lawyers at Weisbrod Matteis & Copley on Nov. 13 in District of Columbia Superior Court.