The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Scalia Fumes Over Name of Telecom Trade Group

Add "orphan acronyms" to the list of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's pet peeves. Those are acronyms that used to stand for something -- like BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, or KFC, once Kentucky Fried Chicken -- but now stand without explanation as official names.

The acronym Scalia went after in a footnote on Monday was CTIA - The Wireless Association. That is the official name of the trade group that once used the acronym to stand for Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, then the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. But in 2004, as explained on the association's blog in 2009, the group went with CTIA - The Wireless Association, which it said "better represents our diverse membership of service providers, manufacturers, wireless data and Internet companies, as well as other contributors to the wireless universe."

But Scalia would have none of that in his majority opinion in City of Arlington, Texas v. FCC. He mentioned the group as an early participant in the dispute before the court, then dropped this footnote:

After Controversy, Ex-Congressman Registers to Lobby

Former Representative Ron Klein (D-Fla.) has registered with Congress as a federal lobbyist at Holland & Knight for the first time since he left congressional lobbying rolls in February 2012 amid controversy.

Klein, a Holland & Knight partner who maintains offices in Florida and in Washington, in January 2012 registered as a lobbyist for Spirit Airlines Inc. while he was a bundler for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Obama had pledged not to accept donations from federally registered lobbyists.

Following news reports about Klein's registration, Holland & Knight filed paperwork with Congress saying he wasn't a lobbyist for the Florida-based airline. Klein helped raise between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama's re-election, the president's campaign website shows.

Klein told NBC News in February 2012 that his registration for Spirit was a colleague's "clerical error." In the interview then, Klein said: "I'm not a lobbyist."

Mali Hires Davidoff Hutcher Lobbyists

As Mali fights to keep its northern territory and legendary city of Timbuktu out of rebels' hands, the West African nation has hired Davidoff Hutcher & Citron to lobby for it in Washington.

The firm is planning to meet with members of Congress and their aides, as well as senior Obama administration officials, to further Mali's "economic and defense interests," according to foreign lobbying registration paperwork filed this week with the U.S. Justice Department. Davidoff associate Russ Klenet,  as well as government relations professional Stephen Slade, director Jonathan McCollum and analyst Scott Klenet, are handling the account.

Russ Klenet said Mali has a "tremendous desire" to reach out to U.S. officials as the country moves toward a stable democracy. Next week, the Davidoff lobbyists will assist Younoussi Touré, speaker of Mali's parliament, with meetings in Washington, he said.

Business Roundtable Enlists Wilmer to Lobby on Trade

The leading association of U.S. chief executive officers has turned to an international trade lawyer at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr for lobbying assistance in Washington, according to lobbying registration paperwork filed with Congress on Tuesday.

Business Roundtable has hired Wilmer counsel David Ross to lobby for it on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreements. President Barack Obama announced in his State of the Union address in February that his administration intends to start talks on transatlantic free trade, while the United States and nine other nations already are participating in discussions for the pan-Pacific free trade pact.

Ross also is advocating for Business Roundtable on the reauthorization of the trade promotion authority, the White House's power to send trade deals to Congress for expedited approval. The authority expired in 2007.

Benin Ambassador Fires Back at Arent Lobbying Client

Benin's ambassador to the United States has fired back at an Arent Fox client who is accused of plotting to assassinate the West African nation's president and overthrow its government.

In a May 7 news release, Benin Ambassador Cyrille Oguin said Beninese businessman Patrice Talon hired the Washington office of Arent to "damage" the reputation of the country and its president, Thomas Boni Yayi. The dispatch came less than a month after Arent filed lobbying registration paperwork with Congress to promote "respect for the rule of law in Benin" on behalf of Talon, who has lived in Paris since Beninese authorities accused him and three others of planning to poison the president.

Oguin asked for restraint as Talon's case proceeds. This month, a Paris appellate court is expected to rule on whether to extradite Talon.

"Therefore, any parallel activity intended to affect the credibility of Justice and Benin would seriously undermine the ongoing proceedings and is considered as null and void," Oguin said. "The Government of the Republic of Benin invites all its partners to trust fully Benin's justice to hold a fair trial."

Nokia Taps Alston Lobbyists to Help with Trade Agency

Nokia Inc. has called on a former U.S. senator and three of her colleagues at Alston & Bird in Washington to help it with the U.S. International Trade Commission, according to lobbying registration paperwork filed with Congress on Monday.

The Finnish cellphone maker has enlisted former Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), a special policy adviser at Alston, along with senior policy adviser Robert Holifield, counsel William Anaya and partner Robert Jones. Anaya is a co-leader of Alston's political law practice. Jones is the head of the firm's legislative and public policy group.

They are lobbying on unspecified policy matters concerning intellectual property rights cases before the ITC. The federal agency can order U.S. Customs and Border Protection to block infringing products from entering the United States.

Anaya declined to comment.

The Morning Wrap

Chevron Allegations: Chevron Corp. on Friday accused Patton Boggs of fraud in a case that ended in a $19 billion environmental pollution judgment against the oil company in Ecuador, The Litigation Daily reports.

Ginsburg Roe: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday said she backs a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, but the Roe v. Wade decision was too sweeping, The Associated Press reports.

Facebook Departure: Facebook Inc. general counsel Theodore Ullyot is leaving the company, The Recorder reports.

CSX Hires McDonald Hopkins to Lobby

As Congress debates reauthorizing two major rail laws that expire this year, the East Coast's largest railroad operator has tapped the lobbying arm of Cleveland-based law firm McDonald Hopkins for help in Washington.

CSX Corp. enlisted McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies to advocate for it on unspecified matters concerning rail reauthorization, according to lobbying registration paperwork filed with Congress on Tuesday.

In September, the Rail Safety Improvement Act and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act from 2008 are set to expire. The Rail Safety Improvement Act covers Federal Railroad Administration safety programs. The Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act concerns Amtrak and the development of new rail services.

In D.C. Circuit, Lobbyists Fight Obama Lobbying Ban

Laying out their case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for the first time, lawyers for a half-dozen lobbyists contend the Obama administration's prohibition on federal lobbyists from sitting on agency boards and commissions has "punished" their clients.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington got it wrong when she upheld the Obama administration's ban in September, Mayer Brown special counsel Charles Rothfeld and associate Joseph Minta wrote in their opening brief, filed Monday night, in the appellate court.

The lobbyists, who sought appointment or reappointment to Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITAC) overseen by the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, appealed the ruling in November.

"It would seem self-evident that the ability to serve on a government advisory committee is a desirable and beneficial opportunity that many would regard as valuable," the lawyers for the lobbyists wrote. "And that opportunity is withheld from plaintiffs here solely because they engage in the constitutionally protected activity of petitioning the government, thus both punishing and discouraging that constitutionally protected activity."

Breaking Tradition, Obama Taps Non-Lawyer to Head FCC

There's something a bit different about Tom Wheeler, nominated today by President Barack Obama to head the Federal Communications Commission.

It’s not his work as a lobbyist or venture capitalist - rather, it's that unlike practically every other chairman in the agency's 79-year history, Wheeler is not a lawyer.

To be sure, Wheeler by all accounts knows the industry well, heading two major trade groups for years. As Obama put it today in remarks at the White House, "Tom is the only member of both the cable television and the wireless industry hall of fame. So he’s like the Jim Brown of telecom… Tom knows this stuff inside and out."

Still, he lacks the law degree that has been a qualification of almost all of the FCC’s past leaders.