The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Dickstein Bolsters State Attorneys General Practice in D.C.

Dickstein Shapiro has added a second partner in as many weeks to its state attorneys general practice.

JB Kelly was formerly the general counsel to the North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper before joining Dickstein. Kelly served in this role since 2001 and oversaw litigation involving mortgage foreclosure and tobacco.

Last week, Lori Kalani made a lateral move to Dickstein as a partner in the same practice from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Reporters Committee Honors Journalist Fred Graham at Awards Dinner

The worlds of law and journalism came together in Washington Thursday night to pay tribute to the First Amendment.

Over dinner at The Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press honored one of its founders, Fred Graham, a former Court TV anchor and New York Times U.S. Supreme Court correspondent, as well as Politico White House reporter Josh Gerstein, C-SPAN Executive Chairman Brian Lamb and Gannett Co. Inc. Vice President and Senior Associate General Counsel Barbara Wall, for their dedication to promoting government transparency and press freedom.

Before a crowd of more than 400 guests, Graham, a Vanderbilt University Law School graduate, received the first Reporters Committee Distinguished Service Award, which the 42-year-old nonprofit group will rename the Fred Graham Distinguished Service Award. The organization, which provides free legal assistance to journalists, gave its First Amendment Award to Gerstein, Lamb and Wall.

Whistleblower Wants Second Suit Against Verizon Kept Alive

The lawyers representing a whistleblower who claims Verizon bilked a group of federal agencies, including the Justice Department and Federal Aviation Administration, are trying to keep alive the suit in the face of a challenge from the telecommunications company.

Here's a central issue in the dispute: whether whistleblower Stephen Shea's complaint is too similar to the suit he brought against Verizon in 2007.

Shea collected tens of millions of dollars for his role in the earlier case against Verizon. The company settled last year for $93.5 million over allegations of improper billing for taxes and surcharges. Verizon didn't admit liability in the suit, which was only named the General Services Administration as a victim.

Verizon's lawyers, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partners Randolph Moss and Jennifer O'Connor, argue Shea's other suit in Washington's federal trial court, filed in 2009, alleges the same conduct and should be dismissed. Verizon's attorneys call Shea's second complaint a "near carbon copy" to the first one "that brings no new information to bear." A trial judge hasn't ruled on the request.

Yesterday, Shea's lawyers filed papers to try to convince the judge, Gladys Kessler, that the second suit is "materially distinct" and should be allowed to move forward. The attorneys, including Christopher Mead of Washington's London & Mead, argue that the second complaint against Verizon focuses on other federal agencies not named in the first suit.

DOJ Intervenes in Whistleblower Suit Involving Hanford Nuclear Site Cleanup

The Department of Justice announced today that it has intervened in a whistleblower suit involving a $2.65 billion contract with CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc. to clean up underground radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

But the whistleblower, former CH2M employee Carl Schroeder, isn't likely to see any of the proceeds. Schroeder pled guilty in November to conspiracy to defraud the United States for his participation in the scheme, and The False Claims Act bars recovery by any whistleblower who is convicted of criminal conduct for his role in the fraud.

CH2M was awarded a contract by the Department of Energy in October 1999 to manage and clean up more than 170 of Hanford's underground storage tanks containing mixed radioactive and hazardous waste.

The Morning Wrap

Revisiting: The U.S. Supreme Court this term will revisit racial diversity in the college admission process, The Washington Post reports. In the case, Abigail Fisher, who is white, contends the University of Texas admissions system favors African Americans and Hispanics over whites and Asian Americans. Oral argument is scheduled for October. The Wall Street Journal has this report.

Donating: "Lawyers at the nation's biggest law firms are voting with their wallets — and Barack Obama is the clear winner," The National Law Journal reports today. DLA Piper lawyers have given President Obama's campaign more than $345,000 in direct contributions. Kirkland & Ellis attorneys, along with lawyers for firms that include Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, are pumping money into Mitt Romney's campaign.

Arrested: From The New York Times today: "The man thought to have been behind the crude anti-Islam video that set off deadly protests across the Muslim world in recent weeks was arrested Thursday for violating terms of his probation in a 2010 bank fraud case." The Wall Street Journal's report is here.

Spying: Wired reports on the U.S. Justice Department's increasing use of warrantless internet and telephone surveillance techniques. The American Civil Liberties Union obtained the data through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Court Approves Suspension for Lawyer Who Stole Neckties

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals today approved the 90-day suspension of a former U.S. Department of Treasury lawyer who pleaded guilty to stealing neckties from a high-end Virginia department store.

Albert Zarate, a member of the D.C. Bar since 1995, pleaded guilty in Fairfax County Circuit Court to attempting to steal "seven or eight" neckties from a Nordstrom department store in December 2009, according to court filings. The District's attorney disciplinary body found that Zarate's actions didn't involve moral turpitude, and negotiated the 90-day suspension with him.

In an order (PDF) published this morning, a three-judge appellate panel agreed that Zarate's case didn't involve moral turpitude and approved the 90-day suspension. The suspension was effective from December 2010, meaning he's already served the time.

Hogan Grows Its Government Regulatory Practice in D.C.

Updated 4:10 p.m.

Hogan Lovells has picked up a government affairs director from Sprint Nextel Corp. for its government regulatory practice in Washington, the law firm announced on Wednesday.

Trey Hanbury joined Hogan as a partner, focusing on technology, media and telecommunications. He started at Nextel Communications Inc. in 2004, a year before it merged with Sprint Corp.

Hanbury wrote in an email that his time at Sprint was a "fantastic experience." But Hogan allows him to "broaden [his] scope" and focus on more clients, he wrote.

Williams & Jensen Lobbying for Arm of Russian Telecom Company

Updated 5:42 p.m.

A Bermuda-based wireless telecommunications company has enlisted the help of Williams and Jensen to lobby Congress.

Eric Stewart, a principal at Williams & Jensen, filed a lobbying registration form to Congress on September 24 on behalf of Mobile TeleSystems Bermuda Limited. According to the lobbying form, Stewart will be lobbying on "market access issues."

Stewart was the former deputy assistant secretary for Europe/Eurasia at the Department of Commerce, appointed in 2003 by President George W. Bush.

Lawyers for FBI Agent Urge Court to Keep Retaliation Ruling in Place

The lawyers representing an FBI agent in a retaliation suit against the bureau are urging a federal appeals court in Washington not to disturb a three-judge panel decision that kept the case alive and alarmed the U.S. Justice Department.

The U.S. Justice Department recently asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the panel decision.. The ruling ordered additional proceedings in the trial court to explore the retaliation claim that the FBI agent, Wilfred Rattigan, lodged against the bureau.

Rattigan contends the FBI targeted him for possible revocation of his security clearance based on a discrimination complaint he filed. The agency, however, ultimately did not pull Rattigan's clearance. He alleges in the suit in Washington's federal trial court that bureau officials reported false security-related information about him, potentially jeopardizing his career.

Federal trial judges don't have the authority to review an executive agency's denial or revocation of a security clearance. But can judges review the report of allegedly unfounded information about a person? Rattigan's lawyers on Wednesday argued in support of the power of judges to review reports of false information.

Hill Republicans Join Suit Challenging Obama Recess Appointments

Congressional Republicans have joined in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board in January, a legal fight focused on the constitutional limits of presidential appointment power.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 41 other Republican senators filed an amicus brief Wednesday in the case of Noel Canning, a company challenging whether the appointments were unconstitutional.

Obama angered Senate Republicans with his recess appointments during a two-day break between "pro forma" sessions that even some Constitutional lawyers concluded didn't qualify as an actual recess. Republican retaliation came this year at the expense of Obama's judicial nominees.