District of Columbia

Judge Orders Cheney to Preserve Official Records

A federal judge has ordered Vice President Dick Cheney to preserve all his official records pending resolution of a lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a preliminary injunction to bar destruction of the records in a lawsuit filed by a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington,…

Sep 22, 2008 11:32 AM CDT

Four Gibson Dunn Associates Represent McCain in Citizenship Suits

Four associates at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., have racked up a string of victories as they fight for John McCain’s right to be president. The associates are volunteering their time to defend claims that McCain’s birth to a Navy officer in the Panama Canal Zone makes him…

Sep 19, 2008 11:36 AM CDT

Lawyers Ask Va. Bar to Investigate Monica Goodling

About a dozen lawyers are asking the Virginia State Bar to conduct an ethics investigation of former Justice Department lawyer Monica Goodling, accused in a report this summer of illegally considering politics in hiring decisions. Lawyer William R. Wilder drafted the complaint, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports. He told the…

Sep 16, 2008 2:05 PM CDT

6-Lawyer Pillsbury Team Launches New Public Policy Practice at Crowell

After moving in 2006 from Patton Boggs to Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, a six-lawyer public policy group has now shifted its operations to Crowell & Mooring. They are establishing a new public policy and political law practice at the Washington, D.C., law firm, which is also bringing C&M Capitolink, its…

Sep 15, 2008 5:21 PM CDT

$54M Pant Suit Appeal Set for October

The former administrative law judge who lost a $54 million case against a dry cleaners that lost his pants will argue his appeal on Oct. 22. The judge, Roy Pearson, will argue before the D.C. Court of Appeals, Legal Times reports. He is appealing a superior court judge’s decision that…

Sep 15, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

Former ACLU Lawyer Disbarred After Child Porn Plea

The former president of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has been disbarred after his guilty plea last year to child porn charges. In July 2007, Charles Rust-Tierney pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography, The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times reported. A statement of facts filed with the…

Sep 5, 2008 2:37 PM CDT

Law School Offers Re-Entry Course for Those Returning to Law

American University’s Washington College of Law will help lawyers who have left legal careers with a new course that helps them get back into the job market. The six-day re-entry program has four parts, executive director Linda Mercurio told The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. First, participants set goals.…

Aug 29, 2008 1:45 PM CDT

Successful Second Amendment Legal Team Seeks $3.5M in Fees

The legal team that won a U.S. Supreme Court Second Amendment ruling is seeking $3.5 million in legal fees. Lawyer Alan Gura says in a motion filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., that he and two other lawyers worked more than 3,000 hours on the case, Legal Times reports.…

Aug 27, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

Suit Claims Phillips & Cohen Failed to Pursue Whistle-Blower Case

A malpractice suit claims Washington, D.C.-based law firm Phillips & Cohen failed to pursue a whistle-blower case against a contractor for a Massachusetts highway project. The plaintiff says he didn’t realize he suffered damages from the law firm’s lack of action until September 2006; the law firm claims the statute…

Aug 27, 2008 2:21 PM CDT

Fish & Richardson Sends Kids to Space Camp

Thirty-three children will be going to NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., courtesy of Fish & Richardson. Each of the patent law firm’s 11 offices chooses three underprivileged children each year to send to the camp, Legal Times reports. James “Tripp” Fussell, an associate who leads the firm’s scholarship committee…

Aug 21, 2008 3:24 PM CDT

Interpreter Shortage Could Delay Detainee Hearings in U.S. Courts

Lawyers representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay are rushing to meet with their clients who are challenging their detention in federal lawsuits, but a shortage of interpreters could create a logjam. About a dozen interpreters who live throughout the United States and visit Guantanamo have handled much of the critical work…

Aug 20, 2008 2:45 PM CDT

Researcher Testifies Job Offer Rescinded After Sex Change Disclosed

A terrorism researcher testified yesterday that her job offer with the Library of Congress was rescinded after she disclosed she was planning to undergo a sex change. Diane Schroer choked back tears during her testimony in a Washington, D.C., federal courtroom, the Washington Post reports. “I honestly felt a little…

Aug 20, 2008 1:02 PM CDT

Fried Frank Cuts Administrative Staff

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has cut its administrative staff in New York and Washington, D.C. The firm says the layoffs amount to less than 10 percent of its 730 administrative staffers firmwide, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. The cuts are primarily hitting floating secretaries, part-time assistants,…

Aug 19, 2008 2:20 PM CDT

Law Firms Find Going ‘Green’ is Easy, and a Client-Pleaser

From sending rejection letters by e-mail instead of regular mail to eliminating bottled water and investigating alternative energy sources, a growing number of law firms throughout New Jersey are increasingly focused on “green” alternatives to traditional practices that waste resources. Doing so not only cuts costs over time but is…

Aug 18, 2008 4:11 PM CDT

Court Says Lawyer’s ‘Go to Hell’ Letters Not Enough for Additional Sanction

A lawyer will face an ethics hearing in Washington, D.C., after an appeals court gave him the benefit of the doubt for writing two letters telling bar counsel and a judge to go to hell. Lawyer Michael H. Ditton had been suspended for five years in Virginia. The District of…

Aug 15, 2008 5:12 PM CDT