The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

The Morning Wrap

Sandy: Millions of residents along the east coast are still without power this morning as the remnants of Hurricane Sandy pounded the region last night. The New York Times and The Washington Post have dueling coverage of the storm. NPR reports that the storm could end up costing tens of billions of dollars in damage. U.S. trading at the New York Stock Exchange was shut down for a second consecutive day. No word on when trading will resume.

SCOTUS: Undeterred by Hurricane Sandy, The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging the government's ability to intercept phone and email communications as part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Our own Mike Scarcella reports.

Maps: An Apple executive was asked to leave the company after an internal fight over the preparedness of its mobile maps app. The Wall Street Journal has the scoop.

 

D.C. Law Firms Take Heed of Sandy and Stay Shuttered for the Day

As Hurricane Sandy makes its way into the Washington area, law firms are taking heed.

In emails and phone calls this weekend, firms encouraged their D.C. employees to work from home on Monday. Washington lawyers, in response, have been cancelling meetings and keeping an eye on the weather.

"We always keep the safety of everyone at Cooley first and foremost when making decisions to close an office temporarily," Ryan Naftulin, the partner-in-charge of Cooley's Washington office, wrote in an email. "We're of course hopeful that the storm will pass quickly and without significant incident -- in the meantime, we will work remotely and monitor events as they develop."

Justice Sotomayor Urges Law Students to Become 'Involved' Citizens

In a speech late last week to law students, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor encouraged them to serve their communities, both as attorneys and as citizens.

It was that notion of service that led Sotomayor to consider a career in the law, she said during her October 26 presentation to the Equal Justice Works annual conference and career fair in Arlington, Va., which drew more than 1,000 law students from about 200 law schools.

“The law, regardless of how you practice it, if you practice honorably, you are doing service, and it was a service that appealed to me because it was a service I felt like I could contribute something to.” said Sotomayor. Judge David Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asked her questions onstage before members of the audience got a chance during a question and answer period.

As Sandy Hits, Washington Courts and Agencies— Except Supreme Court—Close

Updated at 1:11 p.m.

At the U.S. Supreme Court, justice is blind. It was also apparently immune to fears that swept the East Coast over the weekend about the potentially devastating Hurricane Sandy.

The high court remained open this morning for arguments, even as the rest of the District of Columbia, including the federal government, and much of the region shut down in anticipation of the storm. Hurricane Sandy - which intensified overnight, according to the National Weather Service - is expected to hit the east coast today with heavy rain and strong winds.

Arguments at a packed Supreme Court began on time at 10 a.m., with all justices in attendance. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. made no reference to the storm brewing outside. The court announced today that arguments scheduled for tomorrow would be postponed to November 1, however.

PepsiCo VP Leaves to Head Covington's Lobby Shop

The government affairs practice of Covington & Burling has a new leader.

Dan Bryant has left his post as senior vice president of global public policy and government affairs at PepsiCo Inc. to become Covington's chief lobbyist, the firm announced on Monday. He succeeds Covington partner Holly Fechner and senior counsel Martin Gold, who were co-chairs of the government affairs practice. Fechner has become vice chair of the practice, while Gold has assumed senior status at the firm, according to Covington spokeswoman Rebecca Carr.

Bryant said he "learned a ton" about international business and politics during his seven-year run at PepsiCo, which he joined after serving in the U.S. Justice Department. Under U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, he spent stints leading the Legal Policy and Legislative Affairs offices.

This Week in The National Law Journal

Election 2012: With election day fast approaching, The National Law Journal takes a look at what the upcoming presidential election might mean for the legal community. This special feature includes:

Electing a Supreme Court: Marcia Coyle and Tony Mauro consider the possibilities of retiring high court justices.

Shifting Priorities: Mike Scarcella explores how a Romney administration could change the focus of divisions within the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Morning Wrap

Hurricane Sandy: The Washington area is bracing for Hurricane Sandy, The Washington Post reports. The federal government and area schools are closed. The region's transit system stopped Monday operations.

Oil Spill: A trial to determine liability from the 2010 BP PLC oil spill won't start until February 25, 2013, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled on Friday. Lodging challenges stemming from the National Football League's Super Bowl on February 3 and the Mardi Gras festival on February 12 prompted the February 25 start of the trial, Reuters reports.

Reid Accident: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was in the hospital on Friday after he suffered minor injuries from a multi-vehicle accident in Nevada, the Las Vegas Sun reports. "He experienced rib and hip contusions and has been cleared for release by the doctors," Reid's office said in a statement.

Voter Challenges Could Create 'Circus Atmosphere' on Election Day

Recent court rulings across the country are opening up the election process to more public scrutiny of the presidential election, and are also setting the stage for more election-related challenges and litigation, a law professor said at an American Bar Association conference in Washington today.

"We could see on Election Day a sort of circus atmosphere where there's tons of people out challenging voters and trying to prevent people or intimidate people at the polls," said Rebecca Green, co-director of the election law program at the College of William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law.

In Virginia, for example, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in June that the public can now access voter rolls that include voter history, something only political parties had access to previously, Green said.

Hogan Lovells Lobbying for Telecom Company on Spectrum Issue

Hogan Lovells has revealed that former Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) is lobbying for a controversial telecommunications company that filed for bankruptcy in May.

Coleman, a Washington-based of counsel to Hogan, is helping LightSquared Inc. garner support for its efforts to use federally regulated spectrum, according to a lobbying registration report filed with Congress on Thursday.  Backed by billionaire Philip Falcone's Harbinger Capital Partners LLC, the Reston, Va.-based company is attempting to launch a national open wireless broadband network that has faced a backlash stemming from concerns about disruption to Global Positioning System devices.

The Defense and Transportation departments last year said testing on LightSquared signals showed "harmful interference" with several GPS devices and disrupted a flight safety system intended to alert pilots to changing terrain. The company has disputed the findings.

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.