The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Broadcasters Sue over FCC Disclosure

The National Association of Broadcasters has filed suit over the Federal Communications Commission mandate that its member broadcasters document and disclose what portions of their broadcasts are in the public interest.

The suit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, states the FCC order is "arbitrary and capricious; contrary to law; and unconstitutional. NAB requests that this Court enter an order holding unlawful and setting aside the Order and granting such other relief as may be deemed just and proper."

In a written statement, NAB vice president Dennis Wharton declared that broadcasters "have no quarrel with serving the public interest." But forcing radio stations to document what public work they do would be a distraction, he writes.

"We would submit that the impact of these regulations would negatively impact the ability of many broadcasters to continue to serve our communities," the statement says. The suit was filed on behalf of the NAB by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr's John Rogovin, Jack Goodman, and Aaron Hurowitz.

Human Rights Groups: 'We Oppose Steven Bradbury, Too'

Add Humans Right Watch and the Open Society Policy Center to the chorus of opposition to the controversial nomination of Steven Bradbury for the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department.

The two groups took the unusual step this week of sending a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee to urge Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to block his nomination.

"While the undersigned groups rarely take positions on nominations, we believe that Bradbury's role in authorizing torture makes this an extraordinary case," wrote Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch executive director, and Morton Halperin, executive director of the Open Society Policy Center. "Bradbury's approval of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading techniques to interrogate detainees defies applicable law and precedent."

The letter further described Bradbury's role in yet-undisclosed legal opinions in which he allegedly authorized waterboarding in conjunction with other interrogation techniques. Roth and Halperin also criticized his testimony last month in Congress.

During a Feb. 14 oversight hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Bradbury said the waterboarding technique used by the CIA was a gentler form than that practiced by the Japanese during World War II or the Spanish during the Inquisition in the 15th century.

"This is the kind of legal analysis one would expect from a defense counsel trying to keep his client out of prison, rather than an objective analyst of the law," the letter continued. "But however you parse it, waterboarding is torture."

In a March 11 interview with Legal Times, Bradbury acknowledged his decisions have created controversy and he has enjoyed the debates the surveillance and interrogation policies have generated. You can also read a profile here.

Big Home Builders Launch Solo Lobbying Effort

Fifteen members of the National Home Builders Association’s High Production Home Builders Council — the bruised giants of the residential construction industry, like KB Homes, Toll Brothers, Pulte Homes and Centex Corp — have struck out on their own in pursuit of aid and incentives.

The builders, some of whom are already in bankruptcy, are seeking an expanded tax loss carryback program, which would effectively let them pair their current losses with previous years’ boom profits, resulting in a tax refund.

Representing the builders is the C2 Group, which earned the builders’ business through a referral from one of the builders’ law firms, says C2 Group founding partner Tom Crawford.

Helping the companies’ bottom lines would prevent further erosion in the residential market, Crawford says: “To the extent that we can help them with their cash flow during the economic downturn, they don’t have to liquidate properties to pay overhead,” Crawford says.

But why didn’t the council members work through the NAHB? Partly, Crawford says, the purpose was to highlight the problems unique to big builders: Some small business policies that matter to NAHB members are irrelevant to larger players.

But Crawford also noted that his clients have a different philosophy than the NAHB over the association’s February announcement that it was cutting off Congress from its PAC money until Congress did more to stem the housing market collapse. (That move was deemed unseemly by some observers who thought it implied a direct connection between campaign contributions and a desired policy outcome).

“We don’t believe that NAHB intended to do that, but we’re very conscientious about showing there’s no link between the two,” Crawford says. Given that a previous version of the carryback legislation only failed by one vote, “[w]e’re going to continue to work with the Senate because we think that’s the right thing,” he says.

The group is no way starting a rivalry with the NAHB, he says. “We’re not starting a trade association. We’re very focused on these few issues,” Crawford says, adding that he intends to work closely with the NAHB on his clients issues. A spokesman for the NAHB said the association was aware of the big builders’ solo effort but not directly involved. The fifteen home builders either declined to comment or did not immediately return calls.

Should the group’s initial efforts succeed, Crawford says, it may work on getting permanent income averaging written into law and encourage an incentive for home buying.

Verdict Reached in Sonnenschein Trial

The jury in the D.C. Superior Court trial of Douglas Rosenthal against his former firm, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, reached a verdict in favor of Rosenthal at about noon today. The decision came after a day and a half of deliberating.

Jurors determined that Rosenthal should have been compensated $500,000 a year for the years 2003 and 2004, instead of the more than $400,000 in compensation he received from Sonnenschein for those years. For 2005 and 2006, the jury determined that Rosenthal should have received $1,365,000 instead of the more than $1 million offered by Sonnenschein for those years. The award, however, is significantly less than the $8.2 million Rosenthal asked for.

Sonnenschein did succeed in its counterclaim that Rosenthal and his new firm Constantine Cannon interfered with clients when Rosenthal left for Constantine in 2005. The jury awarded $300,000 to Sonnenschein in that decision.

Lobbyists Make Good Friends

Charlie Black of BKSH & Associates says he contacted Senate Judiciary Committee members last year as a private citizen who wanted to let them know he had questions about the fairness of an investigation into the island's governor, not as one of Puerto Rico's top Washington lobbyists.

The governor, Anibal Acebedo Vila, was indicted earlier this week on several charges including conspiracy, fraud, false-statements and tax charges, The Washington Post reports tied to campaign fund-raisers. When Black called committee members, they were considering the nomination of Rosa Emilia Rodriguez-Velez as U.S. Attorney. She led the investigation. Her nomination was voted out by the committee in August, but the full Senate has not yet approved her appointment.

"I did it because I thought that the Judiciary committee ought to be looking at the record in regards to how the U.S. Attorney's office in Puerto Rico had conducted this investigation completely in public," Black says, adding that he had been disturbed by leaks throughout the investigation, and the possibility of conflicts. Black says he didn't speak to the governor about the calls, and didn't bill any of his clients for the time.

Gmail Your Way to Class Certification

If you happen to use Google’s Gmail to send messages to your friends about the demise of Bear Stearns, you could have a curious advertisement pop up. The Seattle-based plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is using Gmail’s advertising service to alert Bear Stearns employees to a potential class action the firm has filed on behalf of employee shareholders.

And according to Mark Firmani, a spokesperson for Hagens Berman, the tactic is working. “The firm has been inundated with e-mails and calls from Bear Stearns employees who have been devastated by the loss of their [employee stock] plans,” says Firmani.

The firm filed the proposed class action on Monday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York and is now awaiting class certification.

This is not the first time the firm has employed Gmail’s advertising system (which targets consumers by scanning e-mail text) to alert potential plaintiffs. Firmani says the firm has been using this type of advertising for four or five years now.

Rep. Wynn Joining Dickstein Shapiro

UPDATED

Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), who yesterday announced he will resign from Congress in June, will join Dickstein Shapiro’s Washington office and will likely lobby after a legally mandated year-long waiting period is up. Wynn, who has spent 16 years in Congress, will become a partner in the firm’s public policy and law practice, focusing on legal, legislative, and regulatory counseling.

"He will be doing public policy work. What he specifically does and whether he registers will be determined after his year expires," Andrew Zausner, the head of the public policy group, said via e-mail.

In a press release, Dickstein’s chairman Michael Nannes said he and Wynn met during law school at Georgetown University Law Center.

As the representative of Maryland’s fourth congressional district, Wynne represents parts of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Wireless Caucus, among others. He was defeated in last month’s primary by Democrat Donna Edwards, an activist and lawyer.

- Marisa McQuilken

Morning Wrap

Puerto Rico: The governor of Puerto Rico has been indicted for receiving expensive gifts and improper contributions in exchange for favors and government contracts, reports the WaPo.

Paul, Hastings Settles: A federal judge approved a settlement in a lawsuit that alleged lawyers at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker helped client Mobile Billboards of America sell investments that they should have realized were a scam, reports the Fulton County Daily Report via Law.com.

Switch-out: Justice has switched the lead prosecutor in the case against the Miami attorney accused of laundering drug profits. The new prosecutor will consider dismissing some of the charges against the attorney, reports the Daily Business Review via Law.com.

Antimonopoly: A Chinese antimonopoly law slated to take effect in August could pose another obstacle for Microsoft’s attempt to take over Yahoo, reports the NYT.

Will New Lobbying Disclosure Law Survive Scrutiny?

A First Amendment lawsuit by the National Association of Manufacturers that challenges a key aspect of new lobbying and ethics reform rules will likely be decided by April 14, a week before the first quarterly deadline that would require NAM to disclose its membership list, the organization says.

NAM has requested an injunction that would free them from the obligation to disclose its members while the case, before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in the in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is being decided. The trade association is represented by Jan Baran and Thomas Kirby of Wiley Rein and NAM general counsel Jan Amundson.

The defendants in the suit, the District’s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Taylor; Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson; and Clerk of the House of Representatives Lorraine Miller, have filed briefs arguing that the law should be upheld. The defendants also have support — and amicus briefs — from the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21 and other watchdog groups.

Rep. Wynn to Resign and Join Dickstein Shapiro

Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), who today announced he will resign from Congress in June, plans to join Dickstein Shapiro’s Washington office. Wynn, who has spent 16 years in Congress, will become a partner in the firm’s public policy and law practice, focusing on legal, legislative, and regulatory counseling.

In a press release, Dickstein’s chairman Michael Nannes said he and Wynn met during law school at Georgetown University Law Center.

As the representative of Maryland’s fourth congressional district, Wynne represents parts of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Wireless Caucus, among others. He was defeated in last month’s primary by Democrat Donna Edwards, an activist and lawyer.