DonP
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Check this out ..
First Singer quits now they fire the experienced lawyer that was supposed to present the case in favor of a buddy of Fentys!
Next question, will they use this as an excuse to ask for a continuance, "just to be fair", and allow the new lawyer to properly prepare?
http://extra.examiner.com/linker/?u...2008/01/02/AR2008010201116.html?nav=rss_metro
D.C. Lawyer Preparing to Defend City's Gun Ban Fired
Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has fired the city lawyer who had been preparing to defend the longtime District ban on handguns in the high-stakes Supreme Court case this spring.
Alan B. Morrison, who has argued roughly 20 cases before the high court, was asked to leave his post as special counsel by the end of this week, Morrison said today. Morrison had been hired by former Attorney General Linda Singer, who resigned two weeks ago, and put in charge of arguing the handgun case.
The city has appealed to the Supreme Court to maintain the handgun ban after a lower court overturned the ban in the spring. The high court agreed to hear the case, probably in March, which would mark the first time the Supreme Court has examined a Second Amendment case in nearly 70 years.
Singer cited frustration that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) had relied more heavily on Nickles, who had been his general counsel, to make key legal decisions. Upon Singer's resignation, Fenty replaced her with Nickles, a former high-powered corporate litigator at Covington & Burling and friend of Fenty's family.
Nickles met with Morrison on Dec. 21, but did not tell him that he would be fired, Morrison said. Last week, Nickles asked Deputy Attorney General Eugene A. Adams to inform Morrison of his decision.
"I've been asked to tell you that Peter has decided that he will not be relying on you to make the . . . argument before the Supreme Court," Adams wrote in an e-mail to Morrison, which Morrison provided to The Washington Post. "It's a decision he's been wrestling with since you met with him last week. He thought it only fair that you be informed sooner rather than later."
Morrison had taken an active hand, along with a team of lawyers from the city and two private firms, in writing the 15,000-word brief that is scheduled to be filed with the high court on Friday. It is not clear whom Nickles will select to replace Morrison.
In a statement, Fenty declined to talk about specifics regarding Morrison's firing.
"Peter Nickles' expertise in litigation is going to greatly benefit residents of the District of Columbia in our handgun case pending before the Supreme Court," Fenty said. "It is important that he move quickly to build a team and a strategy to maximize our chances of winning this important case."
David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown Law School, said Morrison's departure would be a major blow to the D.C. team that has been preparing the case.
"This is a case that requires an unusual amount of preparation because one of the issues comes back to, 'What did those folks who wrote the Bill of Rights really mean when they wrote the Second Amendment,' " said Vladeck, who is friends with Morrison and had been consulting on the case. "In addition to needing a good lawyer and appellate advocate, you need someone who has immersed himself in very complex historical sources. Alan has been doing that for two or three months by now. Whoever takes over this case will start many, many, many laps behind where we ought to be."
First Singer quits now they fire the experienced lawyer that was supposed to present the case in favor of a buddy of Fentys!
Next question, will they use this as an excuse to ask for a continuance, "just to be fair", and allow the new lawyer to properly prepare?
http://extra.examiner.com/linker/?u...2008/01/02/AR2008010201116.html?nav=rss_metro
D.C. Lawyer Preparing to Defend City's Gun Ban Fired
Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has fired the city lawyer who had been preparing to defend the longtime District ban on handguns in the high-stakes Supreme Court case this spring.
Alan B. Morrison, who has argued roughly 20 cases before the high court, was asked to leave his post as special counsel by the end of this week, Morrison said today. Morrison had been hired by former Attorney General Linda Singer, who resigned two weeks ago, and put in charge of arguing the handgun case.
The city has appealed to the Supreme Court to maintain the handgun ban after a lower court overturned the ban in the spring. The high court agreed to hear the case, probably in March, which would mark the first time the Supreme Court has examined a Second Amendment case in nearly 70 years.
Singer cited frustration that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) had relied more heavily on Nickles, who had been his general counsel, to make key legal decisions. Upon Singer's resignation, Fenty replaced her with Nickles, a former high-powered corporate litigator at Covington & Burling and friend of Fenty's family.
Nickles met with Morrison on Dec. 21, but did not tell him that he would be fired, Morrison said. Last week, Nickles asked Deputy Attorney General Eugene A. Adams to inform Morrison of his decision.
"I've been asked to tell you that Peter has decided that he will not be relying on you to make the . . . argument before the Supreme Court," Adams wrote in an e-mail to Morrison, which Morrison provided to The Washington Post. "It's a decision he's been wrestling with since you met with him last week. He thought it only fair that you be informed sooner rather than later."
Morrison had taken an active hand, along with a team of lawyers from the city and two private firms, in writing the 15,000-word brief that is scheduled to be filed with the high court on Friday. It is not clear whom Nickles will select to replace Morrison.
In a statement, Fenty declined to talk about specifics regarding Morrison's firing.
"Peter Nickles' expertise in litigation is going to greatly benefit residents of the District of Columbia in our handgun case pending before the Supreme Court," Fenty said. "It is important that he move quickly to build a team and a strategy to maximize our chances of winning this important case."
David Vladeck, a professor at Georgetown Law School, said Morrison's departure would be a major blow to the D.C. team that has been preparing the case.
"This is a case that requires an unusual amount of preparation because one of the issues comes back to, 'What did those folks who wrote the Bill of Rights really mean when they wrote the Second Amendment,' " said Vladeck, who is friends with Morrison and had been consulting on the case. "In addition to needing a good lawyer and appellate advocate, you need someone who has immersed himself in very complex historical sources. Alan has been doing that for two or three months by now. Whoever takes over this case will start many, many, many laps behind where we ought to be."
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