The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

Paper Currency Discriminates, Court Finds

In a decision that could mean the redesign of currency in the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled today that paper money discriminates against the blind.

In a 2-1 decision, the panel said that the Treasury gave no justification for currency to be uniform to the touch and sent the case back to the district court to determine how the blind will be given “meaningful access” to paper money.

“Upon casual inspection, anyone with good vision can readily discern the value of U.S. currency; yet even the most searching tactile examination will reveal no difference between a $100 bill and a $1 bill,” wrote Judge Judith Rogers for the majority.

Read the full opinion here. And click here and here for reports in The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

The American Council of the Blind has suggested several ways of distinguishing bills, such as changing their shapes and sizes or adding embossed dots or foil.

The ACB sued the treasury in 2002, alleging that the physical design of paper currency violated a section of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires that the government provide individuals with disabilities access to federal services. The Bush administration argued that the financial burden of tailoring new currency would be too great.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson sided with the ACB, ordering the Treasury to devise a way of bringing paper currency in compliance. The Bush administration appealed his decision.

Greg Craig's Panamanian Ties

Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid has received a lot of attention over lobbyist campaign staffers resigning over potential conflicts of interest. But ABC News’ Political Punch Blog points out that at least one of Sen. Barack Obama’s senior advisers has questionable ties as well. Gregory Craig, a partner at Williams & Connolly and a foreign policy advisor on Obama’s campaign, represents the president of the Panamanian Legislature — Pedro Miguel González, who is under indictment for murdering U.S. Army Sgt. Zak Hernández in 1992. Read on here.

You can also find out how Craig, who was assistant to the president and special counsel in the Clinton White House, first met Obama through Vernon Jordan Jr., a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and a longtime friend of the Clintons, in this Legal Times story.

World Justice Summit Set for Vienna

The rule of law isn't just for lawyers. That seems to be the theme for a World Justice Forum announced by the American Bar Association today, set for Vienna, Austria from July 2 to 5. Leaders of the business sector, government, nonprofits as well as lawyers from 80 countries will converge on Vienna to find ways of spurring the growth of stable institutions and the rule of law worldwide — which in turn will foster economic growth, public health and environmental protections and reduce corruption and human rights violations. Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy are confirmed as participants, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor are also listed as honorary chairs and may attend. Four former secretaries of state are also honorary chairs.

ABA President William Neukom is the driving force behind the invitation-only summit, which represents the next step in his global justice initiative. His "Rule of Law Index" will also be unveiled in Vienna. Using more than 100 factors and measures, the index will identify nations where justice reforms are needed.

"The absence of the rule of law consigns billions of people — well over half the world — to lives characterized by corruption, violence, poverty, sickness and ignorance," Neukom said in a statement. By the way Neukom, the former general counsel to Microsoft, is heading in a new direction after his presidency is over in August: he will become the managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants.

The Morning Wrap

SCOTUS: The Supreme Court upheld the power of the states to give preferential tax treatment to residents who hold bonds. (Legal Times)

The court also upheld a federal law that punishes people who seek or distribute child pornography. (The Washington Post)

Harsh: A New York state judge let stand a school superintendent’s decision to suspend a student for giving a teacher “noogies.” (New York Law Journal via Law.com)

Prop It Up: The Senate yesterday edged Congress closer toward legislation that would greatly increase the federal government's role in lifting up the housing market. (The Wall Street Journal)

Free to Go: Just one in five detainees in U.S. custody in Iraq are members of the main extremist groups fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces, and many of the rest can be reintegrated, the military says. (USA Today)

Click here to find out which legal department our sister publication, Corporate Counsel, ranked No. 1 for 2008. Hint: rhymes with "Best."

Women's Bar Association Honors Justice Ginsburg, Mary Kennard

The Women's Bar Association held its annual awards dinner Thursday evening, honoring the work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Mary Kennard, vice president and general counsel of American University.

Ginsburg, who is pictured with WBA President Lorelie Masters, received the Janet Reno Torchbearer Award in recognition of her years of public service and her work on employment rights before she joined the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kennard was honored as the WBA Woman Lawyer of the Year for her work both with the university and her work in the Washington legal community.

The WBA also released its city-wide survey and report on the advancement and retention of female minority attorneys, titled "Creating Pathways to Success for All." The report outlined ways to retain minority women lawyers in today's law firms and served as a follow-up to the survey the WBA released in 2006.

With more than 800 people, Kim Anderson, event planner for the Women's Bar Association, says the dinner had the most attendees that it has seen in recent years.

Minority Partners Meet to Start Up Networking Organization

Beveridge & Diamond hosted the first effort to bring minority partners from across the District’s firms together on Friday evening.

The “D.C. Partners of Color” reception was the first meeting of a new organization, which has not yet been named, designed to bring minority partners together. Benjamin Wilson, managing partner at Beveridge & Diamond and the reception's master of ceremonies, says the organization’s mission is to create a network for minority partners where they can share resources and support for one another.

“This is not the first but only the most recent meeting of this kind in the District, and we hope to create a network that will be there for minority partners for years to come,” Wilson says.

About 90 people from a number of firms attended the reception, which was largely organizational. Wilson says the number of attendees was a sign of the desire for an organization that reaches out across races to minority partners. The organization will also focus on reaching out to new partners to help them prepare for the changes that come after making partner.

“This was a great success. People are just happy to see the breadth and depth of the talent in this town, and to have that many people in the same room together was awe inspiring," says Melvin White, president of the D.C. Bar and partner at McDermott Will & Emery.

Supreme Court Rules on Taxes, Porn

The Supreme Court issued four decisions this morning, including long-awaited rulings on municipal bonds and child pornography. In Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis, the justices said it was constitutional for states to exempt from taxation the interest on bonds from their own states and municipalities, while taxing the interest on bonds from other states.

By another 7-2 majority in United States v. Williams, the Court upheld the latest effort by Congress to combat the distribution of child pornography. The law prohibits promotion and distribution of material purported to contain materials that fit the definition of child pornography. Critics voiced concern that the law would chill everything from documentaries to ads for Hollywood movies. But the Court found the law was neither overbroad nor impermissibly vague.

The session got off to an awkward start, when Justice Samuel Alito Jr. sat down before the marshal had completed her "Oyez Oyez" summons for the session to begin. He quickly stood up again when he realized his error. When he started off the proceedings by summarizing his decision in United States v. Rodriquez, he sheepishly said the audience could tell how eager he had been to announce his opinion. The other case announced today was United States v. Rassam. Check back later at LegalTimes.com for more on today's decisions.

This Week in Legal Times: Our 30th Anniversary Issue

It would have been fairly simple to create a 30th anniversary issue that glanced over the biggest events in the Washington legal community since our newspaper was founded in 1978. Grab a few of the bound volumes, search the electronic archives, find a bunch of old pictures, and voila! Instant issue.

Instead, we embarked upon a far more challenging enterprise. Late last year, we decided to try to name the lawyers who had the greatest impact on the Washington legal community over the last 30 years.

We divided our task into three parts. The editors selected 30 lawyers whose foresight and hard work have changed the business of law in Washington. These are our visionaries. We also picked 30 lawyers whose community and public service has set an example that other D.C. lawyers should follow. These are our champions.

In addition, we’re remembering 30 pioneers—advocates who have passed away since 1978, but whose contribution to business and the community made an indelible impact on the way law in Washington is practiced today.

Earlier this year, we asked readers for their suggestions, and hundreds of names flowed into our newsroom. We also relied heavily upon our own reporting and institutional knowledge to make the final choices.

From the beginning, we made a decision to concentrate on the private bar, public-interest organizations, and career government attorneys. We deliberately exempted high government officials (Supreme Court justices and attorneys general, for instance) from our list—unless their contributions had a specific impact on Washington’s legal community. Other than that, the qualification for inclusion was a law degree and exceptional service during the 30 years that we have published.

One other note: Obviously, these lists are a judgment call by the editors. We fully expect some of you to feel that we have left out worthy lawyers. We certainly won’t disagree: There were far too many terrific lawyers for too few slots. Nonetheless, we’d like to hear from you about it. We invite you to comment about the list here on the blog, or drop us a line at editorial@legaltimes.com.

—David Brown, Editor in Chief & Publisher

The Morning Wrap

Tough Ruling: The chief justice of California’s Supreme Court discusses the same sex marriage decision with the Los Angeles Times.

Try, Try Again: Microsoft Corp. isn’t finished with Yahoo Inc. just yet. (The Wall Street Journal)

And...: Yahoo is trying to hide large portions of a shareholder lawsuit alleging the company's board improperly rebuffed Microsoft's $47.5 billion takeover offer. (The Associated Press via Law.com)

Locked Up: A judge Sunday jailed Jaber Elbaneh, the al-Qaeda operative who had been under the personal protection of Yemen’s president despite a $5 million reward offered by the U.S. government for his capture. (The Washington Post)

Postal: The man who sent hate mail to Justice Clarence Thomas and others told the FBI he was upset over his girlfriend leaving him for a black man. (The Associated Press via Law.com)

Drama: South Korea's adultery laws are being challenged by a television star whose husband, a soap opera actor, is pressing charges against her for having an affair. (The New York Times)

Modesty From Director Mueller

Somehow we don't think the late J. Edgar Hoover would have been so candid or self-effacing. But FBI Director Robert Mueller, in a National Press Club appearance today, said that on several fronts his agency has not been at its best in striking the balance between the preservation of civil liberties and the need to investigate and prevent terrorism.

Asked to grade himself on how he's met that challenge in the last year, Mueller said a "B" sounded about right. Questioned about the bureau's heavy-handed issuance of national security letters — a type of administrative subpoena — which members of Congress are complaining about, Mueller blamed "failure to follow our own guidelines." He took the responsibility for not ensuring better compliance and training to make certain those letters were not issued improperly.

Mueller spoke about the bureau's 100th birthday this year, which also coincides with the press club's centennial celebration. Both the FBI and the press serve the public, and often their interests are compatible, he said. Famed columnist Walter Winchell turned in a gangster to the FBI in 1937, Mueller noted, adding that "these are not the types of calls I am getting from reporters" nowadays.

"We must be as transparent as possible. We welcome scrutiny," Mueller said. (Hoover, the bureau's director until 1972, would not have shared that sentiment either.) "In the long run, we realize it makes us better."

Mueller made another confession: He has never posted anything on the Internet, though he said he would do so as soon as possible so he'd never have to answer that question again with a no. When press club president Sylvia Smith said in mock disappointment that Mueller would probably not become one of her Facebook friends, Mueller answered no again — though he laughed that he would check out her page on Facebook.

Pillsbury and Sutherland Prefer Their Nicknames

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan would like you to know that they prefer to be called by their nicknames. They’ve rebranded with shorter monikers: Pillsbury and Sutherland. The longer legal names remain unchanged for both firms.

Pillsbury launched a new look for its Web site and marketing materials that includes “a new ‘stripes’ motif that conveys the diversity of our practices and people.” Pillsbury is spreading the word with this slideshow that uses a cup of coffee as a catalyst for telling the story of the firm’s “evolution.”

Sutherland has also created a new Web site and a new look to go with its name. “We can brand ourselves much more effectively this way,” says D.C. partner Mark Herlach in this story from the Fulton County Daily Report.

McKenna Long & Aldridge Expands Effort to Add Industrial Biotech Focus

With the hiring of senior adviser Chris Colwell, McKenna Long & Aldridge has stepped up its effort to add a new focus to its life sciences and public health preparedness practice, the firm announced Thursday.

John Clerici, chair of that practice, says the new focus on industrial biotechnology complements the firm’s existing services in pharmaceutical biotech. The firm has experience in working with clients to secure government funding to research bioterrorism and infectious disease prevention. Industrial biotech uses similar technologies to develop next-generation biofuels and microbial cleanup measures.

“This is about reaching past the low-hanging fruit in industrial biotechnology research and focusing on the science of the possible,” Clerici says.

As part of its new focus, the practice group recently added a new senior adviser position. Colwell previously worked for three years as director of health care regulatory affairs at the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Colwell says the move will allow him to work with companies with more focus on individual strategic approaches. “In a trade organization like BIO, you’re looking at things from a consensus perspective — how will decisions affect an industry and not necessarily an individual business,” Colwell says. “This is an exciting opportunity to work with companies on their business models.”

Morning Wrap

Merging Firms: Akerman Senterfitt is nearing a merger with the 300-lawyer, Philadelphia-based Wolf Block, the Daily Business Review via Law.com. Merger talks between the firms have been under way for weeks but stalled in light of Wolf Block's unfunded pension plan. Wolf Block wants Akerman to take over that financial liability.

Noose Display a Felony: New York Gov. David Paterson signed legislation Friday that makes it a felony in the state to display a noose as a threat, The Associated Press reports. The crime will be punishable by up to four years in prison.

Olympic Ruling: Oscar Pistorius, a double-amputee sprinter, won an appeal Friday that will allow him to compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics, The Associated Press reports. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that his carbon fiber prosthetic blades did not give him a mechanical advantage as the International Association of Athletics Federations previously ruled. The 21-year-old South African must still reach a qualifying time to run in the individual 400 meters at the Beijing Games. He could, however, be picked for the South African relay squad without qualifying.

Political Forecasts

Last November, former Majority Leaders Dick Gephardt, a Democrat, and Dick Armey, a Republican, had a rare moment of bipartisan agreement while speaking at a DLA Piper luncheon on the upcoming election: Hillary Clinton was a lock to win the presidential race.

Ahem.

At the law firm's latest lunch on the election at the Ritz-Carlton today, the two ate crow, along with pundit Charlie Cook. "I hope none of you were at the earlier events," Gephardt said wryly. Today, all three said this looks to be a good election for Democrats, who will likely expand their majority in Congress, though Armey said he's hoping voters' fondness for divided government will give Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) a better-than-even chance of taking the presidency. Still, Armey said, as someone who "longs for small government conservatism, I'm just going to be left with the theme song from 'Hee Haw.'"

Both Gephardt and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential bid, said this will be a great election for Democrats, with Gephardt forecasting that his party will pick up at least 10 House seats and three to five Senate seats.

The firm also released the results of an economic and legislative survey it conducted of its corporate clients. Read about that here.

Guys, we're watching to see if your track record improves.

California Top Court Says Yes to Same-Sex Marriage

That makes two. Massachusetts' top court legalized gay marriage in 2004. And today the California Supreme Court has declared laws prohibiting marriage by same-sex couples unconstitutional.

“The California Constitution,” Chief Justice Ronald George wrote for a 4-3 majority, “properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.”

The 121-page majority opinion held that gay and lesbians form a suspect class, requiring strict scrutiny of the marriage ban. The opinion also concluded that providing for domestic partnerships instead is simply another form of separate but unequal treatment.

For more on this decision, visit The Recorder, our ALM newspaper in San Francisco.

Praise (and Criticism) for Clement As He Departs

As we detailed here, Solicitor General Paul Clement made the surprise announcement Wednesday that he is leaving the Justice Department on June 2. High praise for Clement was heard from from many quarters. But not everyone is sorry to see him go. "Paul Clement did not leave soon enough," said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation in a statement. "He kicked the cause of employee freedom from compulsory unionism in the teeth once again before heading out the door."

Clement's latest offense against the right-to-work movement was a brief he filed with the Supreme Court May 12 in Locke v. Karass, which the Court will consider next term. The foundation is supporting 20 Maine state employees who object to their compulsory agency fees being used to fund nationwide union litigation far removed from the workers' local bargaining concerns. Clement's brief says it is constitutional for fees to be used in at least some kinds of pooling arrangements with other unions for litigation, though it suggests limits on the use. His brief can be found here.

The standard Clement uses is not good enough, says Gleason, who asks on his blog "Is Bush's Top Lawyer Taking Orders from Big Labor?" He says Clement has been soft on unions in past right-to-work cases as well.

Other reaction from Supreme Court practitioners to Clement's departure has been far more positive. A sampling:

Roy Englert Jr.: “His oral arguments rank among the best by solicitors general. His performances are all the more remarkable because he argues without notes, and because he took office at such a young age."

Carter Phillips: "I thought he was an excellent SG."

David Frederick: "Paul Clement is a very talented advocate whose diligence in understanding the facts and developing legally sound positions will be sorely missed in the Bush administration."

This Week in In-House Counsel

The Supreme Court ruled on Feb. 20 that an investor in a 401(k) plan can sue to recover losses from the plan’s breach of fiduciary duty. How do companies need to respond? The answer, Joseph Musher says, includes quality audits, particularly of the plan's third-party service providers.

General counsel are tagged as custodians of their companies’ most crucial, yet most sensitive and volatile asset: its employees. How do GCs go about managing, motivating, and inspiring these human resources? Michael Maslanka offers do’s and don’ts.

It’s no secret that many corporate counsel are fed up with high outside counsel costs, and firms are trying to react. Ursula Furi-Perry discusses responses such as McDermott Will & Emery's use of permanent staff associates.

Morning Wrap

Investigation Dispute: The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Broadcom Corp.’s general counsel and chief executive in a stock-option backdating scheme alongside its chief financial officer and co-founder, despite an internal investigation that cleared the two officials. General counsel David Dull and co-founder Henry Samueli were implicated in a backdating scheme that occurred between 1998 and 2003 and led to a $2.2 billion restatement last year, The Recorder reports via Law.com. The dispute between the company's investigation, led by Kaye Scholer, which held former CEO Henry Nicholas and former CFO William Ruehle responsible and the SEC's marks an unusual inconsistency along backdating cases where the two usually match.

IRS Investigations: Under an obscure law originally aimed at catching drug money launderers, the Internal Revenue Service is requiring U.S. residents and citizens to disclose any foreign accounts foreign bank or financial accounts holding a total of $10,000 or more, The New York Times reports. Using the almost 40-year-old law comes as part of the IRS’s ongoing hunt for wealthy Americans who have evaded taxes on undisclosed assets.

Guns in Restaurants: Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law legislation that allows Georgians with carry licenses to carry concealed guns on public transportation, in restaurants that serve alcohol and in state parks. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the gun bill debate was one of the most heated and strongly lobbied issues of the 2008 session.

Polar Bear Protection: The polar bear will be protected under the Endangered Species Act, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced Wednesday, but the listing will not provide the weight environmental groups hoped it would to combat greenhouse-gas reducing legislation. Kempthorne told The New York Times, “when the Endangered Species Act was adopted in 1973, I don’t think terms like ‘climate change’ were part of our vernacular.”

Energy Tops DLA Piper Clients' Wishlist

Today DLA Piper is hosting a 2008 election analysis event featuring Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report. As part of the show, the firm’s unveiling the results of an economic and legislative survey it conducted of its corporate clients. The data “gives us a sense of where existing and potential clients are going to need our help,” says Thomas Boyd, co-chairman of DLA Piper’s government affairs group.

Drawn from a client list including such names as Kraft Foods, Lockheed Martin, Lehman Brothers, and Marriott International, some of the data mirrors other business and consumer sentiment surveys. For instance, DLA’s clients are of the opinion that the American economy will continue going to pot, and they’re not wild about the sudden jumps in the price of oil. But Jim Blanchard, the other co-chairman of the firm’s government affairs group, says he was surprised to find that a few big-ticket Washington policy issues — like the flow of money from so-called sovereign wealth funds into the U.S. economy — weren’t more pressing.

“There wasn’t much concern about trade and foreign investment,” he says. He was also surprised to find that energy policy trumped topics like health care, tax, and financial regulation policies.

The firm intends to follow up on the report, once the party conventions are over, with a more policy-specific survey, Blanchard said.

Venable Grabs Trent Lott's Ex-Policy Director

Venable’s Washington office has recruited a new partner from Capitol Hill for its legislative and government affairs practice. John O’Neill was previously policy director and counsel in the office of then-Republican whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who resigned from the Senate late last year.

O’Neill specializes in tax, health care, pension, and ERISA issues. While in Lott’s office, he helped develop the Republican leadership floor strategy in the Senate, and was the primary staffer supporting Lott’s leadership of the Senate Republican Health Care Working Group.

In a press release, O’Neill said he was attracted by Venable’s reputation on the Hill as a highly regarded, full-service firm.

Paul Clement Leaving DOJ

Solicitor General Paul Clement announced today that he's resigning effective June 2.

“Paul Clement is one of the nation’s finest appellate lawyers,” said Attorney General Michael Mukasey in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to Paul for his service to the department and to the nation during his seven-year tenure. ...I will miss not only Paul’s superb advocacy on behalf of the United States, but also his wise counsel and keen legal analysis.”

The Justice Department did not say where Clement is headed. Recruiting experts last month speculated to Legal Times that Clement and other DOJ division chiefs could earn between $2 million and $3 million annually in the private sector. Legal Times' Tony Mauro has the latest here.

Clement becomes the second high-ranking official to announce his departure from Main Justice in recent weeks. Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher of the Criminal Division is leaving on May 23 to spend more time with her family.

Formerly a principal deputy solicitor general and acting solicitor general, Clement was named and confirmed as solicitor general in March 2005.

During his time in office, Clement argued 49 cases before the Supreme Court, prevailing in most. Cases include Tennessee v. Lane, McConnell v. FEC, Rumsfeld v. Padilla, Gonzales v. Raich, and Gonzales v. Carhart.

"He also argued many other significant cases in both the Supreme Court and the lower courts involving novel and important legal issues concerning the conduct of the war on terror," the Justice Department said in a news release.

New Survey Links Market Differentiation to Law Firm Revenue Growth

The BTI Consulting Group released its 2008 Survey of National Market Awareness today. The new study evaluates the link between market differentiation and law firm revenue. BTI defines market differentiation as a measure of how many corporate counsel have an opinion—positive or negative—about the law firm.

The group finds that a 10 percent rise in market differentiation leads to a more than 17 percent jump in revenue, while a 10 percent increase in positive differentiation typically leads to a 28.5 percent hike in revenue.

For the study, BTI interviewed more than 1,700 corporate counsel at publicly and privately held organizations. Based on those interviews, BTI finds that Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Sullivan & Cromwell; DLA Piper; Baker Botts; Fulbright & Jaworski; Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Foley & Lardner; and Kirkland & Ellis are the firms with the top revenue growth prospects based on their market differentiation.

Willkie Farr Gets Foley Securities Litigation Trio

Willkie Farr & Gallagher scored three new litigators for its Washington office this week from Foley & Lardner. Gregory Bruch and Elizabeth Gray join Willkie as partners, and Julie Smith joins as of counsel. The trio has practiced together for years, starting at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement.

At Willkie, they will continue to focus on securities law enforcement, compliance, and litigation. Bruch says their practice includes work stemming from investigations by state attorneys general, the Justice Department, and the SEC. In the past, Bruch has represented Time Warner and Adelphia Communications Corp. He adds that it’s “safe to say” his current clients will also make the move over from Foley.

Bruch says he’s known several lawyers at Willkie for years and has served as co-counsel with some of them. He says his group was attracted to Willkie’s strong New York presence. It’s also notable that in this year’s Am Law 100 rankings, Foley reported profits per partner of $915,000 and Willkie reported PPP of $2.235 million.

Foley’s Washington managing partner, Jay Freedman, says his firm is committed to having a “vibrant” securities litigation and enforcement practice. “There’s a lot of movement that goes on in law firms these days,” he says, adding that he wishes the departed lawyers well.