The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

This Week in The National Law Journal

DEA, V.A. bought spy software: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is under fire by Congress for monitoring the personal email accounts of agency scientists, but Jenna Greene and Todd Ruger report that government-contract records show that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Drug Enforcement Administration purchased spy software from the same company that supplied the FDA's computer monitoring program.

DOJ fights over privacy: A dark chapter in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice will get renewed scrutiny as a dispute over the alleged creation — and swift destruction — of improper records about job candidates' personal lives goes before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Mike Scarcella has the story.

Food industry future: Leigh Jones has a profile of Freeborn & Peters, a 120-attorney firm based in Chicago that's hoping to make a name for itself by catering to the food industry.

The Morning Wrap

Aurora Shooting: James Holmes was seeing a psychiatrist before he allegedly entered an Aurora, Colo., theater on July 20 and shot 70 people, killing 12 of them, The Denver Post reports. It isn't immediately clear why the psychiatrist was treating him or for how long.

Social Media: Apple Inc. is considering an investment in Twitter Inc., The New York Times reports. "Apple doesn't have to own a social network," Timothy Cook, Apple's chief executive, said at a recent technology conference. "But does Apple need to be social? Yes."

Social Olympics: Corporate Counsel explores the limits the International Olympic Committee has placed on athletes' use of social media. "This is the first Games where we're really seeing such active use of social media to promote the Games, which is going to be a challenge for us," said Amy Savela, the U.S. Olympic Committee's associate general counsel for marketing.

D.C. Circuit Overturns 12-Year Health Care Exclusion of Purdue Executives

Updated 4:11 p.m.

In a split decision Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has overturned part of the penalty against former senior officials of Purdue Pharma L.P.

The three judge panel — consisting of Chief Judge David Sentelle, Senior Judge Douglas Ginsburg and Senior Judge Stephen Williams — overturned a 12-year exclusion from working in the pharmaceutical and health care industry for former Purdue Chief Executive Officer Michael Friedman, general counsel Howard Udell and medical director Paul Goldenheim. Purdue was convicted of fraudulent misbranding of its drug OxyContin as a less addictive alternative to other drugs. The trio was convicted of misdemeanor misbranding. Friedman, Udell and Goldenheim appealed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' ban, which was upheld by the district court.

Ginsburg wrote the court's opinion, with Sentelle and Williams concurring and dissenting in part.

Pennsylvania County Swaps D.C. Lobby Shops

A former member of Congress at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and one of his colleagues at the firm have lost their lobbying business from a county in suburban Pittsburgh to Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

The Westmoreland County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved a federal government advocacy contract with its state lobbyist, Buchanan, ending a lobbying relationship that, congressional records show, the county began with former Rep. Ronald Klink (D-Pa.) and Mick Nardelli in 2009. Klink is a senior policy adviser at Nelson Mullins, while Nardelli is a policy adviser.

Westmoreland County Commissioner R. Tyler Courtney said the decision to drop Nelson didn't stem from any concern about the firm's efforts in Washington. Rather, the county decided it would better to have a single firm handle all of its lobbying needs. A "more cohesive" effort would be more beneficial to the county as it works to secure state and federal funding for an expansion of Arnold Palmer Regional Airport and other transportation projects, Courtney said.

Senate Showdown Coming for Appellate Judicial Nominees

A showdown on the confirmation vote of a federal appellate judicial nominee, scheduled for Monday, could be a pivotal moment for how many appeals court bench spots the Senate will fill during the rest of this year.

Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is forcing a vote Monday afternoon on Robert Bacharach, of Oklahoma, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, a nominee considered to be highly qualified and noncontroversial. The move is a direct challenge to Republicans who have leaked plans that they will block all circuit court judges for the rest of the presidential election year.

But it is also Reid's only option for moving forward on the circuit court nominees this congressional session, as Republicans cite a loosely defined Senate tradition of backing off from filling circuit court seats in the waning months of a president's term, dubbed "The Thurmond Rule."

Three D.C. Attorneys Recommended for Superior Court Vacancy

The group responsible for vetting applicants to Washington's local courts is recommending a magistrate judge, a solo practitioner and a federal prosecutor to fill a vacancy on the District of Columbia Superior Court.

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission released a list (PDF) yesterday of three attorneys it is recommending to fill the seat vacated by now-retired Judge Linda Davis. Davis, who retired June 30, is seeking appointment as a senior judge.

The commission selected Superior Court Magistrate Judge Noel Johnson, solo practitioner Michael O'Keefe and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Okun.

The Morning Wrap

Olympic Spirit: Mitt Romney questioned the readiness of London to play host to the Olympic games and was quickly rebuked by Prime Minister David Cameron. The Washington Post reports that Romney said it is "hard to know just how well it will turn out."

Take Two: A new proposed bankruptcy settlement for Dewey & LeBoeuf would have firm leaders kicking in more money since they were in a position to presumably prevent the firm's collapse. Am Law Daily reports.

Patent War: It appears as if Apple and Samsung will take their patent battles to court next week in California. Bloomberg reports that jury selection starts next week.

Taxes: If all the Bush-era tax cuts expired, about 80 percent of Americans would pay more in taxes, reports NPR. As Congress debates the topic, neither Republicans nor Democrats are backing down.

Former DOJ Official to Join Allen & Overy in Washington

Allen & Overy has announced the addition of a Department of Justice official to its antitrust practice group.

John Terzaken III, formerly the director of criminal enforcement in the DOJ's Antitrust Division, joins Allen & Overy as a partner. He will lead the firm's cartel defense practice in the U.S., but work closely with his colleagues overseas. Terzaken officially starts with the firm August 1.

At the DOJ, Terzaken oversaw a number of cartel investigations, including the probe into Yazaki Corporation and DENSO Corporation. The companies pleaded guilty to a price-fixing conspiracy involving auto parts and paid a combined $548 million. Most recently, he also oversaw the $160 million penalty agreement with Barclays Bank PLC in the London InterBank Offered Rate scandal.

Judge Awards $300M to Grandson of Assassinated Iranian General

The grandson of an Iranian general assassinated in Paris in 1984 was awarded $300 million in punitive damages yesterday by a Washington federal judge.

Amir Reza Oveissi, who lives in the United States, sued the Iranian government in 2003 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing officials of orchestrating General Gholam Ali Oveissi's death. He won a judgment of $7.5 million in solatium damages in 2011, and then sued for punitive damages under the state-sponsored terrorism exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth issued an order yesterday awarding Oveissi $300 million in punitive damages, concluding in his opinion (PDF) that "defendant Iran must be punished to the fullest extent legally possible for the violent assassination of plaintiff's [grand]father."

Scalia Defends 'Citizens United,' Arizona Immigration Decision

By Tony Mauro

In an interview set for broadcast on C-SPAN this Sunday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia vigorously defended recent controversial decisions, including the 2010 Citizens United case that has been blamed for flooding election campaigns with millions of dollars in corporate donations.

Asked if there is too much money in politics, Scalia said no, arguing that as in other First Amendment contexts, more speech is better."I forget what the figures are, but I think we spend less on our presidential campaigns each year, when there's a presidential election, than the country spends on cosmetics," Scalia said.