The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

The Morning Wrap

New rules: President Obama vows the development of new criteria for the use of drones in attacks against alleged terror targets, saying the United States is at a "crossroads" in the global fight against terrorism, The Washington Post reports. “As our fight enters a new phase, America’s legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be the end of the discussion,” Obama said in a speech Thursday. “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.” In today's New York Times: "C.I.A. to Focus More on Spying, a Difficult Shift." Reuters examines pending lawsuits around the country that are rooted in the government's targeted killing program. Obama in his speech called on the Justice Department to review its rules on subpoenas that target the media.

After Pat: From today's Chicago Tribune: "The lawyer picked Thursday to succeed Patrick Fitzgerald as Chicago's U.S. attorney is a former federal prosecutor best known for taking on corrupt politicians and powerful institutions such as the University of Notre Dame." The nominee, Zachary Fardon, oversees the Chicago litigation department at Latham & Watkins.

Confirmed: Sri Srinivasan, a top appellate lawyer at the U.S. Justice Department, will become the newest member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The National Law Journal has this report. The confirmation was the first for the prominent appeals court in seven years, NPR reports. The Wall Street Journal has this report on Srinivasan.

Firms to Update Congress on Black Farmers' Claim Money

The lead class attorneys who helped secure a $1.25 billion settlement in 2011 for black farmers in a high-profile discrimination case have called on Crowell & Moring and Stinson Morrison Hecker for help on Capitol Hill, according to lobbying registration paperwork filed with Congress on Wednesday.

The firms are keeping members of Congress abreast of the status of the claims process, said Crowell partner Florence Prioleau, who is handling the work with Stinson partner Phillip Fraas. Plaintiffs should start receiving payments from the settlement in about two months, she said.

The settlement, which Congress approved in November 2010 and President Barack Obama signed off on that December, gives money to tens of thousands of black farmers who missed out on an earlier deal with the U.S. Agriculture Department over claims of discrimination in loan processing.

Zuckerman Lawyer Counsels IRS Official in Congressional Probe

It's not every day a witness testifying on Capitol Hill invokes the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But that's what IRS official Lois Lerner did this morning at the advice of her attorney, William Taylor III, a Zuckerman Spaeder white-collar defense partner in Washington.

"I have not done anything wrong. I have not broken any laws," Lerner said in her opening statement to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Seated directly behind Lerner was Taylor, a founding partner of Zuckerman Spaeder. Taylor is no stranger to headline-grabbing cases. His client list includes prominent names such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the International Monetary Fund accused of sexual assault; Kenneth Langone, the former chair of the New York Stock Exchange, and William Welch II, the former U.S. Department of Justice official investigated for prosecutorial misconduct in Ted Stevens case.

Daily D.C. Lateral Roundup

Wiley Rein has expanded its environment and safety practice in Washington with the addition of partner Steven Richardson.

Before joining Wiley Rein, Richardson was a partner at Van Ness Feldman. His practice focuses on regulation, public policy and litigation in matters related to water, wetlands, hydroelectric, energy and environmental law.

From 1993 to 2000, Richardson also served as an advisor to U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

Sullivan & Worcester has added a lateral partner to its environment, energy and natural resources practice.

Elias Hinckley, previously a partner and clean energy practice chair at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, focuses his energy practice on tax, specifically policy and financing. Hinckley brings experience in a number of energy sectors, including wind, geothermal, hydroelectric and coal, among others.

Q&A: McKenna Long & Aldridge's Joanne Zimolzak

Joanne Zimolzak took over as the managing partner of McKenna Long & Aldridge's Washington office in November. She not only oversees about 114 attorneys (according to our most recent Legal Times 150 survey) but also serves as head of the firm's insurance practice.

Zimolzak, who joined McKenna in 1994, focuses her business litigation practice on representing multi-national insurance carriers. She also has experience on matters related to regulatory compliance, internal investigations and fraud reporting.

Legal Times sat down with Zimolzak in the firm's K Street N.W. office to discuss what's keeping McKenna attorneys busy these days, growth in northern Virginia and women and diversity in the legal industry.

Lawyers Saddle Up for Bike to Work Day

Cyclists fill Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington.

More than 14,000 bicyclists—including a few lawyers—saddled up for Washington's annual bike to work day.

The event is meant to encourage cyclists of all skill levels to commute by bike and raise awareness about biking. There are more than 70 pit stops, scattered across D.C., Maryland and Virginia, for the riders.

T. Scott Thompson, a communications partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, has been commuting to work via bicycle from Arlington, Va. for the past 12 years. Thompson, who was a competitive cyclist in college, said a couple of co-workers spurred him to start commuting by bike in 2001. After about a month, he was hooked.

D.C. Superior Court Nominees Testify in the Senate

Two lawyers who spent most of their careers on opposite sides of a courtroom testified today before a U.S. Senate committee in the hopes of serving together on the District of Columbia Superior Court bench.

Washington solo practitioner Michael O'Keefe, whose practice is mostly in criminal defense and family law, and Robert Okun, chief of the special proceedings division at the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., were nominated by the White House in March. At today's hearing, they pitched their extensive history practicing in Superior Court and experience working with a variety of litigants, including those without a lawyer.

Neither nominee faced criticism. Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who chairs the subcommittee overseeing District of Columbia affairs, said they were "well-qualified" to serve. The nominees did face questions from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the subcommittee's ranking member, about their views on the city's gun laws, which have been the subject of legal challenges; both said they would abide by rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court and District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

The Morning Wrap

Defending: Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. says he's confident prosecutors didn't botch any guidelines in the collection of phone records from The Associated Press, telling reporters that the investigation of a leak required "very aggressive" action. The National Law Journal has this report on the flap over the subpoenas. Holder told NPR that he's unsure how many media subpoenas he has authorized. POLITICO reports here on Holder's reemergence in the national spotlight.

Back again: "In the aftermath of a national tragedy, Kenneth R. Feinberg has become the essential man," The New York Times reports today. Feinberg has been a central figure in dividing up victim compensation funds following major catastrophes.

Pause button: A candidate for Brooklyn district attorney wants CBS to delay airing a reality series about the office's work under the leadership of Charles Hynes. The challenger, Abraham George, says the program would run afoul of election finance laws. "We are surprised that this candidate would not know about the First Amendment," a CBS spokesman said. "This is obviously a publicity push by a politician."

The limit: The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending states cut drunk-driving thresholds from .08 to .05. "The proposal, among others by the board, faces a long road before, if ever, becoming the law of the land. It took more than 20 years for all the states to act after the NTSB recommended reducing the drunk driving threshold in 1982," according to a report in The Baltimore Sun.

Q&A: Latham & Watkins' Alice Fisher

In the 35 years since Latham & Watkins established its Washington presence, the firm has grown from an outpost to one of the 10 largest offices in the District. At the helm is Alice Fisher, managing partner of Washington office since March 2011.

A common thread among many of the attorneys in the office is that they have served in various high-level government positions. Fisher is no exception. She joined the firm in 1996, and decamped for the Department of Justice in July 2001 to serve as the deputy assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division. She rejoined the firm in October 2003, only to leave once more for Main Justice to serve as assistant attorney general of the Criminal Division in September 2005. She returned a second time to the firm in 2008.

Fisher focuses on white-collar matters, particularly criminal and internal investigations. Her clients include the NCAA, the Hospital Corporation of America and Eli Lilly & Co. Legal Times sat down with Fisher earlier this month to discuss firm business, the DOJ Criminal Division and diversity in the legal community.

DOJ Defends Review of Associated Press Phone Records

Updated 11:20 p.m.

The U.S. Justice Department is defending its review of two months of phone records for a group of reporters and editors at the Associated Press, which called the government action "a massive and unprecedented intrusion" into newsgathering.

The news agency publicly disclosed the Justice Department's review of the phone records in a protest letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. "There can be no possible justification for such an overbroad collection of the telephone communications of The Associated Press and its reporters," Gary Pruitt, president and chief executive officer of the AP, wrote.

"That the Department undertook this unprecedented step without providing any notice to the AP, and without taking any steps to narrow the scope of its subpoenas to matters actually relevant to an ongoing investigation, is particularly troubling," Pruitt said. Prosecutors collected records on 20 separate phone lines.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia did not reveal the nature of the investigation. The Justice Department, however, has previously disclosed that the Maryland and District of Columbia U.S. attorneys are investigating, among other national security matters, the leak of information that provided the substance of an Associated Press story, published in May 2012, about an alleged terrorist plot that was thwarted.

Members of Congress on Wednesday will get a chance to question Holder about the rare move to subpoena newspaper reporters' phone records. Holder is scheduled to testify at the House Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing.