District of Columbia

White House Announces Top DOJ Picks

Five new nominees were named today by the White House as desired appointees to top jobs at the U.S. Department of Justice. For the department’s No. 2 post, newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has selected a federal district court judge in Chicago, Mark Filip, to be his deputy…

Nov 15, 2007 6:52 PM CST

BBC: No Judges in Many Pakistan Courts

As hundreds of lawyers in cities throughout the U.S. joined in peaceful protests today to support fellow attorneys in Pakistan, the legal system there continues in a chaotic state, particularly at the appellate level. “More than half the courtrooms have no judges. Most lawyers who are still free are refusing…

Nov 14, 2007 10:27 PM CST

It’s Confirmed: Judge Who Sued Over Lost Pants Lost His Job

The administrative judge who sued a dry cleaners for $54 million for losing his pants will not be reappointed, a Washington, D.C., lawyer has confirmed. Sources had told the Washington Post and the Examiner last month that Judge Roy Pearson will not be reappointed. Now the city’s general counsel, responding…

Nov 14, 2007 2:57 PM CST

Iraq Prison-Abuse Suit Against Contractor Allowed

A federal judge is allowing a civil lawsuit that claims employees of a U.S. military contractor took part in abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Judge James Robertson of Washington, D.C., refused to grant a motion to dismiss the suit yesterday, the Washington Post reports. The defendant,…

Nov 7, 2007 3:41 PM CST

Former Gonzales Chief of Staff Takes on Food & Drug Practice

The former chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has landed in the private sector. D. Kyle Sampson, a Utah native who resigned amid growing controversy over the firing of at least eight U.S. attorneys, will join the food and drug practice at Hunton & Williams, the Salt…

Oct 31, 2007 6:45 PM CDT

Black Counsel Scarce at US Supreme Court

For the first time in more than a year, an African-American lawyer should be arguing before the U.S Supreme Court today. Even more unusual, Drew Days III is representing a corporate client. The argument will be his 24th before the nation’s highest court, reports the Associated Press, solidly establishing Days…

Oct 29, 2007 6:16 PM CDT

Panel: $680K Bill Inaccurate, Unreasonable

A legal bill of nearly $680,000 allegedly owed by Nassau County in New York to a Washington, D.C., law firm for work performed in 2002 doesn’t have to be paid, an arbitration panel says. That’s because the bill was “not accurate, not reasonable and not credible.” Zorc & Chase billed…

Oct 26, 2007 12:30 AM CDT

$54M Pants Suit Takes Judge to the Cleaners

Uproar over a Washington, D.C., judge’s unsuccessful $54 million lawsuit against his local dry cleaner for allegedly losing a pair of suit trousers is apparently going to cost Roy L. Pearson Jr. his job. In a story today relying on unnamed sources, the Washington Post says a city commission voted…

Oct 23, 2007 7:33 PM CDT

Lawyer for Alleged DC Madam Targets Gonzales in Seventh Dismissal Motion

The lawyer for alleged D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey claims in a new legal pleading that the charges against his client were brought to bolster the political agenda of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But the proof was less sensational than the charge, Dana Milbank reports in his Washington Sketch…

Oct 23, 2007 1:52 PM CDT

$50M Malpractice Suit re 92 Parking Spaces

A malpractice suit has been filed against Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and two of the law firm’s partners by a former client over its handling of a Washington, D.C., zoning appeal. At issue in the case was the number of parking spaces then-client Capitol Hill Group was required to provide…

Oct 19, 2007 10:55 PM CDT

Merit, Not Lockstep, Pay at Jones Day

Despite the attention paid in recent months to Howrey’s announcement that it would no longer implement a so-called lockstep pay schedule for associate attorneys, merit-based salary schedules are by no means unprecedented at major firms. Jones Day has had such a salary system for associates for decades, paying young attorneys…

Oct 15, 2007 8:03 PM CDT

Detainee’s Tunisian Transfer Blocked

A federal judge has barred the government from transferring a Guantanamo detainee to his home country of Tunisia, where he says he could be tortured or killed. Judge Gladys Kessler of Washington, D.C., issued an injunction barring the transfer of Mohammed Abdul Rahman until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in…

Oct 10, 2007 11:36 AM CDT

Covington Poised to Grow With New Chairman

Covington & Burling has a new chairman who is touting an expansion program for the law firm. Antitrust litigator Timothy Hester is the firm’s new chairman, Legal Times reports. Hester told Legal Times to watch for a big expansion in a few of the law firm’s offices. “We’re especially focusing…

Oct 2, 2007 12:29 PM CDT

Partnership Harder to Get, Easier to Lose

Just in case associates at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner haven’t already noticed, the Washington, D.C.-based intellectual property boutique called a meeting recently to announce that it’s harder than it used to be to make partner. Among other changes that are now being formally codified, the partnership track is…

Sep 28, 2007 7:18 PM CDT

Survey: Skadden #1 in Corporate Realm

In the corporate arena, one law firm clearly is the top of the list, a survey says: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. There isn’t a category where Skadden isn’t a lead player,” Michael Rynowecer, president of BTI Consulting Group, tells Legal Times, in a story reprinted by New York…

Sep 28, 2007 6:52 PM CDT