Afternoon Briefs: Youths' climate-change suit tossed; Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz join Trump legal team
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9th Circuit tosses youths’ climate-change suit on standing grounds
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco dismissed Friday a climate-change lawsuit filed on behalf of 21 youths who claim a constitutional right to a climate capable of sustaining human life. The court said in the 2-1 decision the evidentiary record shows that failure to change current environmental policy “may hasten an environmental apocalypse.” But the panel majority concluded that the youths didn’t have standing because federal courts did not have power to order and supervise a remedial plan. (Law360, 9th Circuit decision)
Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz join Trump’s impeachment defense team
Former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth Starr and Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz have joined the legal team defending President Donald Trump at his impeachment trial. The team is led by White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Trump’s personal lawyer Jay Sekulow. Dershowitz and Starr have both defended Trump in appearances on Fox News. (The New York Times, Law.com)
Harvard Law students interrupt Paul Weiss recruitment event to protest one of its clients
A group of 30 Harvard Law students interrupted a recruiting reception hosted by Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison on Wednesday. The students were protesting the law firm’s representation of the ExxonMobil Corp. (Law.com, Law360)
Lawyer disbarred for practicing after suspension
A Menands, New York, lawyer has been disbarred for continuing to practice law after she was suspended for failing to register and pay fees. In its disbarment opinion, the Appellate Division’s Third Judicial Department of the New York State Supreme Court said lawyer Laurie Anne Campito continued to represent clients in real-estate transactions and displayed a sign at her office identifying herself as an attorney. Campito told the Albany Times Union that she was unaware that she had been suspended but would not challenge the decision. Campito was part of a mass suspension of lawyers in the state in 2014. (The Albany Times Union, Jan. 16 opinion)
