The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Gibson Dunn Promotes Two to Partner in D.C.

Updated 2:04 p.m.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has promoted 11 attorneys to partner, including two in Washington.

Adam Di Vincenzo and Scott Martin were previously associates with the firm. Their new titles take effect January 1.

Di Vincenzo focuses his antitrust practice on mergers and acquisitions, government investigations, intellectual property and civil litigation. Before joining the firm, Di Vincenzo was an attorney with the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

In 'Defeat Jihad' Lawsuit, WMATA Paid $35K in Attorney Fees and Costs

After a Washington federal judge ruled last month that local public transit officials ran afoul of the First Amendment in delaying the posting of a controversial advertisement in rail stations, the agency agreed to pay $35,000 in attorney fees and costs to the group behind the ad, according to a document (PDF) recently obtained by Legal Times.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative, a New York-based organization, sued the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in September after learning that the agency was postponing the ads. The ad read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man," with the tag, "Support Israel/Defeat Jihad."

WMATA lawyers argued that they had a "compelling" interest in delaying the ad because it posed a threat to public safety, but AFDI claimed that by indefinitely delaying the ad, the agency was in violation of the First Amendment. In early October, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that while the ad did have elements of hate speech, it was nonetheless protected under the First Amendment and ordered WMATA to post it.

D.C. Appeals Court Tosses Police Whistleblower Retaliation Claims

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals recently sided with D.C. government officials embroiled in a seven-year dispute with police officers who had alleged violations of the city's whistleblower protection law.

In an opinion (PDF) published November 15, the court vacated a judgment in favor of one of the officers who sued, concluding that the jury was wrong to find that he had a valid claim under the whistleblower protection law. The court also upheld a trial judge's decision at an earlier stage of proceedings to grant the city summary judgment on claims brought by five other officers involved in the case.

City officials praised the decision. D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan said in a statement that he was gratified that the court had recognized "the officers' patent misuse of [the] District's Whistleblower Protection Act in this lawsuit." But police union head Kristopher Baumann said in a statement that the ruling "eviscerates" protections for city government employees.

BuckleySandler Seeking Arbitration in Fee Dispute With Ex-Pennsylvania State Senator

Former Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Fumo is serving 61 months in prison on convictions for fraud and obstructing justice. He's now facing new legal action in Washington, this time brought by his former attorneys at BuckleySandler.

On October 31, the firm filed a motion (PDF) in District of Columbia Superior Court to compel arbitration, accusing Fumo of failing to honor the terms of their representation agreement to submit fee disputes to arbitration. According to the motion, Fumo owes the firm more than $400,000 in fees.

In the motion, the firm claims that Fumo did not respond to requests for payment and then denied ever agreeing to arbitration. In an affidavit submitted with the motion, BuckleySandler partner Samuel Buffone said that the firm made several attempts to reach Fumo and his lawyers about resolving the situation, to no avail.

UBS Whistleblower Sues Schertler & Onorato for Malpractice

Updated Nov. 5 at 11:27 a.m.

A former UBS AG banker who blew the whistle on his ex-employer's activities filed a lawsuit yesterday for legal malpractice against his former attorneys at Washington's Schertler & Onorato.

Bradley Birkenfeld worked at UBS from 2001 until he resigned in 2005. Beginning in 2007, Birkenfeld cooperated with federal prosecutors investigating allegations that UBS helped clients evade U.S. taxes. UBS was eventually fined $780 million, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service approved a $104 million whistleblower award for Birkenfeld in August.

In the complaint (PDF) Birkenfeld filed yesterday in District of Columbia Superior Court, however, he accused his former lawyers at Schertler & Onorato of botching the whistleblower process and costing him a potentially larger award. He also accused the firm of failing to take steps that could have prevented his subsequent arrest and conviction on a charge of defrauding the United States.

Legal Ethics Committee Weighs In On Disclosures By In-House Counsel

In-house lawyers suing their employers or clients for discrimination or a retaliatory firing can't disclose any confidences or secrets, unless they're defending against a counterclaim or affirmative defense, according to a new opinion from the D.C. Bar Legal Ethics Committee.

According to an opinion published online last week by the committee, the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct don't allow in-house lawyers to disclose confidences – information protected by attorney-client privilege – or secrets – information gleaned that a client has asked to keep secret or that would harm a client – in making a claim.

But the committee found that the rules do allow in-house lawyers to make those disclosures if the employer or client being sued calls into question the lawyer's conduct.

DOJ Eyes Whistleblower Suit Against Verizon from a Distance

The U.S. Justice Department is sitting on the sidelines in a whistleblower's suit against Verizon Wireless, having earlier declined not to get tangled up in the suit.

But DOJ wants the presiding federal judge in Washington to know that the government has an interest in the case. The government doesn't want to see a ruling against the whistleblower, Stephen Shea, that could jeopardize the ability to bring a case later on.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed a "statement of interest" in the case in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that said any dismissal should not be with done with prejudice—a position that goes against the request of Verizon's lawyers at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Verizon's lawyers want the action thrown out—for good.

An assistant U.S. attorney, Doris Coles-Huff, said in the court papers that a defendant who wins dismissal could try to block any filing of a complaint by the government down the road under the False Claims Act, or FCA. "This would not be in accord with the purpose of the FCA qui tam provisions; rather than assist the United States in pursuing fraud, it would hinder it," Coles-Huff said.

Former House Official Wants Public Corruption Conviction Overturned

Nearly nine years ago, Fraser Verrusio, then a policy director in the House of Representatives, accepted an all-expenses paid trip to the first game of the World Series. He's now fighting to convince a federal appeals court in Washington to erase his conviction on public corruption charges stemming from that trip.

A jury in Washington's federal trial court convicted Verrusio in February 2011 on charges that included acceptance of an illegal gratuity and failing to include gift information on financial disclosure reports. He was sentenced that year to spend the afternoon in a cell in the courthouse.

Verrusio's lawyers—including A.J. Kramer, the federal public defender in Washington, and a team from Baker Botts—filed their opening brief on October 5 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The case is one of two cases pending in the D.C. Circuit with ties to Washington's lobbying scandal and the exploits of Jack Abramoff.

The defense lawyers argue, among other things, that the trial judge, Richard Roberts, "greatly expanded" the scope of the federal anti-gratuities statute. The attorneys contend the U.S. Justice Department didn't prove that Verrusio used his official position to influence government decision-making.

Former Clyde's Restaurant Official Pleads Guilty in Embezzlement Scheme

A longtime former employee of Clyde's Restaurant Group who stole more than $640,500 pleaded guilty in Washington federal district court today.

Nancy Preston, formerly the corporate controller at Clyde's, where she oversaw the company's centralized accounting function, was charged in August with mail fraud in a decade-long embezzlement scheme.

Preston, a 55-year-old resident of Vienna, Va., agreed to turn over $258,000 in stock awards and must pay back an additional $389,069, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said today. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras scheduled sentencing for December 12. Preston's plea agreement said the trial judge will determine the punishment.

Prosecutors said Preston diverted money from Clyde's to make payments on a personal credit card. Preston was also accused of using a company vendor to buy goods for personal use. Preston was the corporate controller at Clyde's, which owns restaurants in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, from 1992 to 2011.

Lawyers in Black Farmers Case Renew Request for $90M in Fees

The attorneys who secured a $1.25 billion settlement for black farmers in a high-profile discrimination case in Washington renewed their request Monday for $90.8 million in legal fees, the highest amount allowed in the deal.

The lead class counsel filed an updated fee petition in Washington's federal trial court, arguing that the amount constitutes "fair and appropriate compensation for the enormous amount of work class counsel have performed" and for the results achieved in the deal.

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

The lead class attorneys—Crowell & Moring's Andrew Marks; Henry Sanders of Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders, Pettaway & Campbell in Alabama; and Gregorio Francis of Orlando's Morgan & Morgan—said claim assistance has been provided to more than 25,000 people between November 2011 and May 2012. The process is ongoing.