K-Romulus
Member
UPDATE: Replacement named
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303853_pf.html
And the requisite ComPost editorial:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303595_pf.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303853_pf.html
City Picks Head of Team for Supreme Court Case
By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 4, 2008; B04
Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles has selected former acting U.S. solicitor general Walter E. Dellinger to defend the District's handgun ban in a high-stakes Supreme Court case.
Dellinger, now with the private firm of O'Melveny & Myers, had been working on the handgun case with a team of more than a dozen lawyers under the direction of D.C. special counsel Alan B. Morrison. Nickles fired Morrison late last week, however, in what Morrison has called a politically motivated act.
Nickles said Dellinger, will assume the lead role in the case without a hiccup because he helped Morrison write the 15,000-word brief that is due to the high court today. The Supreme Court is likely to hear the case in March.
Among the cases Dellinger has argued before the high court are ones dealing with physician-assisted suicide and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
"I have confidence in Walter Dellinger," Nickles said. "He has argued a huge number of great cases."
Nickles also said he has brought on Robert Long, a former colleague of Nickles's from Covington & Burling, to assist the team. D.C. Solicitor General Todd Kim and Thomas Goldstein of Akin Gump, who also were part of Morrison's team, will remain on the case in key positions, Nickles said.
After Morrison was fired, some city leaders expressed concern that the District would not have a government lawyer in charge of the high-profile handgun-ban case. The city appealed to the Supreme Court to maintain the ban after a lower court overturned it in the spring. The court has not examined a Second Amendment case in 70 years.
Nickles said that he considered handing the reins to Kim, who has never argued before the Supreme Court, but that Kim was concerned that his time would be limited because of a family matter.
Ultimately, Nickles said, "Dellinger was the most experienced guy."
Dellinger served three years as U.S. assistant attorney general and head of the Office of Legal Counsel under President Bill Clinton. He currently is special counsel to the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, according to O'Melveny & Myers's Web site.
Nickles was Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's general counsel until two weeks ago, when Attorney General Linda Singer resigned in frustration, saying Fenty (D) relied more heavily on Nickles to make key legal decisions. Fenty replaced her with Nickles, who met with Morrison on Dec. 21 and chose to dismiss him last Friday.
Morrison, who has argued 20 Supreme Court cases and is highly regarded in the city's legal community, has complained that Nickles removed him as a way to purge Singer's allies from the attorney general's office. But a government source said Nickles was upset when Morrison failed to heed some suggestions Nickles made about the handgun brief.
"Bottom line: I did not have confidence in Morrison," Nickles said.
Morrison said yesterday that he had one conversation with Nickles about a relatively "tiny point" in the brief and that the matter was resolved after discussions between them and several other lawyers.
"That can't be the basis of why he lost confidence in me," Morrison said.
Morrison is well-regarded in the city's legal community, but so is Dellinger, who has argued 17 cases before the Supreme Court and compiled a record of 12 wins and 5 loses. He has two other cases scheduled before the high court before the D.C. gun ban case will be heard.
Dellinger said he had never met Nickles before Nickles offered him the lead role Wednesday evening. Although Dellinger said he thinks highly of Morrison, he said that ultimately, "my obligation is to the District and to do what is best in the case. Therefore, in these circumstances, I agreed to do the arguments."
His work for the city has been pro bono.
And the requisite ComPost editorial:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010303595_pf.html
Mr. Dellinger at Bat
The city gets a top lawyer to argue its gun control case, but the process wasn't pretty.
Friday, January 4, 2008; A20
THE DISTRICT is expected to announce today that Walter E. Dellinger will become its lead lawyer on the landmark gun rights case before the Supreme Court. This is terrific news for the residents of the city and the effort to revive the District's gun ban, which was struck down earlier this year.
Mr. Dellinger, who served as acting solicitor general during the Clinton administration, is a top-notch appellate advocate with an impressive record of Supreme Court appearances. He has ably argued cases across the legal spectrum, including those involving civil rights, corporate affairs and, most relevant, gun control. Just as important, Mr. Dellinger has been steeped in the D.C. gun rights case since the beginning and was instrumental in shaping the District's opening brief, which is to be filed today. He'll be able to hit the ground running in preparation for the likely oral argument in March -- a distinct plus, since Mr. Dellinger already has two Supreme Court cases scheduled for February.
While Mr. Dellinger's appointment is welcome, it is unfortunate that it coincides with the District's shoddy treatment of its former lawyer, Alan B. Morrison. Last Friday, Mr. Morrison received an e-mail kicking him off the case; he was also instructed to clean out his District office by next Monday. The e-mail came one week before Mr. Morrison and the D.C. team were scheduled to file their opening brief, and it was sent not by General Counsel Peter J. Nickles, who made the decision to fire Mr. Morrison, but by Mr. Nickles's deputy.
Mr. Morrison believes he was let go because he was hired by former attorney general Linda Singer, who resigned last month after expressing frustration with Mr. Nickles. Mr. Nickles said Mr. Morrison's allegations are "absolutely" not true and that he simply came to believe that Mr. Morrison was not the best lawyer to represent the District in the landmark gun case. As for the e-mail pink slip, Mr. Nickles said that he could not have sent it because he is not scheduled to take over as acting attorney general until Sunday. He said he asked his deputy to deliver the bad news early to give Mr. Morrison as much notice as possible.
This kind of public personnel turmoil in advance of a Supreme Court argument doesn't exactly show the District in its best light. And it was unfair to Mr. Morrison, a highly qualified lawyer who made significant contributions to the District's legal case. But it's reassuring that the District has ended with able representation.