The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

With Sixth Payout, SEC Whistleblower Program Gains Steam

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued its sixth whistleblower payment, awarding a tipster $150,000 for helping to stop a scheme that was defrauding investors.

The Oct. 30 payment comes one month after the SEC awarded a record $14 million to another anonymous whistleblower. Lawyers see the payments as a clear sign that the program continues to pick up steam.

"The awards we’ve seen now are just the tip of the iceberg," said Proskauer Rose partner Steven Pearlman, who represents corporate defendants as head of the firm's whistleblower and retaliation practice.

Ex-Facebook Privacy Officer Un-Likes NSA Tech Spying

Following a new Washington Post story revealing the National Security Agency's secret tapping of Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. data center links, Chris Kelly, the former chief privacy officer and head of global public policy for Facebook Inc., said Wednesday that the reported scale of government monitoring surprises him.

The Post report, which is based off of documents from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with "knowledgeable officials," says the spy agency has the ability to gather data from hundreds of millions of Google and Yahoo accounts, including those of Americans, without a court order. The newspaper and The Guardian in Britain previously reported on a separate secret NSA program known as PRISM, which was designed to give the agency front-door access to Google and Yahoo accounts with the approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Speaking at the Association of Corporate Counsel's Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, Kelly, who worked at Facebook from 2005 to 2009 and is now an investor, said the government has legitimate reasons to collect data as part of terrorism investigations. But he said the Post's story is "very interesting" to him.

Lawyer Disciplined for Advising Non-Client in Murder Case

A local criminal defense lawyer was recently disciplined for misconduct for the second time since 2011.

Harry Tun received an informal admonition—the least serious sanction possible—for giving legal advice to a person who wasn't his client. The Oct. 10 admonition came two years after Tun was temporarily suspended for double billing the District of Columbia Superior Court for his representation of indigent defendants.

Tun, a solo practitioner and member of the D.C. Bar since 1988, could not immediately be reached today for comment.

In Suit, Patton Boggs Seeks $200,000 in Legal Fees

Patton Boggs is suing a former client in Virginia state court to recoup more than $200,000 in legal fees.

The complaint, filed Oct. 28 in Accomack County Circuit Court, accuses BaySys International LLC of failing to pay $228,919 for legal services provided during a 14-month period starting April 2011.

BaySys specialized in the production of luxury airplane interiors. Steve Walton, former founder and CEO of BaySys, told Legal Times via telephone that the company ceased operations in June. He did not respond to an additional request for comment. Court records do not indicate whether BaySys has hired counsel to defend against the suit. No hearing dates are set.

Senate Blocks Patricia Millett's Nomination to D.C. Circuit

Updated 1:57 p.m.

The Senate today blocked the nomination of Patricia Millett for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, throwing doubt on the ability of President Obama to fill three vacancies on the key court.

Millett's qualifications to serve on the bench were never an issue between Democrats and Republicans. Millett, an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner, has argued 32 times before the U.S. Supreme Court. She was the first of Obama's three simultaneous nominees to the court to come up for a vote in the Senate.

Republicans argued the D.C. Circuit does not need any more judges, and accused Obama of trying to stack the D.C. Circuit—the 11-member court has three vacancies—to win more favorable rulings on federal agency administrative actions.

Robert Wilkins Nomination for D.C. Circuit Passes Committee

The Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the nomination of Judge Robert Wilkins for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

The committee voted 10-8 along party lines to approve Wilkin's nomination, which now moves to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) praised the qualifications of Wilkins, a former Venable partner who is now a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Republicans voted against Wilkins on the same grounds they rejected Obama's two other nominations to the D.C. Circuit. "The D.C. Circuit simply does not need more judges at this time," Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said before the vote. Democrats dispute that claim.

Transparency, and a Switch in Lawyers at the Supreme Court

In the latest issue of Supreme Court Brief, NLJ's newsletter on the high court, we reported on a recent panel discussion of transparency issues facing the justices, including -- but not confined to -- camera access to court proceedings. One speaker, former appeals court judge Kenneth Starr, urged the justices to "grow an extra layer of skin" and allow cameras in. Also, we delved into the last-minute switch in lawyers arguing before the court in a high-profile Michigan affirmative action case October 15. Plus, a look at a brief in a case being argued next week that defends the role that states play in antitrust litigation. Our next issue will be emailed to subscribers on November 4, when the justices return to the bench for their next cycle of arguments.

Supreme Court Puts Greenhouse Gas Cases on a Diet

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. once said, "I have yet to put down a brief and say, 'I wish that had been longer.'" The Supreme Court appears to be embracing that sentiment in its management of the upcoming set of cases challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's regulation of greenhouse gases.

In an order issued Tuesday, the court told the six petitioners in the consolidated case to keep their legal briefs to 45,000 words total -- a sharp cut, given that the nine parties would otherwise have been able to file nine separate briefs of 15,000 words each, or 135,000 words total.

“Ouch, we’ll miss those words," said Jack McMackin of Williams & Jensen, who represents a group of plaintiffs led by the Energy-Intensive Manufacturers Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Regulation. "But who could blame them. I think they already have a headache, just thinking about the briefing. So do I."

McMackin added, "There may be an opportunity in it. I think the court is trying to encourage some joint briefs. While that is unlikely for some petitioners, I think there is at least one potentially great—and very useful to the court in straightening this mess out—joint brief that is possible.”

The Morning Wrap

Hacked: The NSA has intercepted communications at the point where the internet meets Google and Yahoo's data centers, accoring to a report by The Washington Post. The NSA is storing the data at its Fort Meade, Md. headquarters. The government has deined the allegation.

Chemical Weapons: Syria is said to have destroyed all of its chemical weapon production and mixing facilities, according to an international watchdog. The New York Times reports.

Baseball: The Boston Red Sox won the World Series last night at Fenway Park. The Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1, marking the first time the team has won the World Series at Fenway since 1918. The Boston Globe reports.

Schiff Hardin Adds Pair of Product Liability Partners

Two Goodwin Procter lawyers, including the leader of the firm’s Washington litigation department, are leaving for Schiff Hardin.

Elizabeth Geise and Valerie Ross, who focus on toxic tort litigation, join as partners in the product liability group. Their practice includes class actions, commercial litigation and insurance coverage disputes. Geise formerly led Goodwin’s Washington litigation team.

Geise said in an interview that she and Ross "were looking for a larger and more national products liability practice." Schiff Hardin, Geise said, wanted her and Ross as much as the two lawyers wanted to move to the firm. Geise said she first met Schiff Hardin chairman Robert Riley when the two attorneys were on opposite ends of a case about 25 years ago.