Legal Ethics
Group Files Ethics Complaints Over DOJ Political Hiring
Posted Jul 9, 2008, 04:37 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A watchdog group has filed ethics complaints against two former Justice Department lawyers accused of making hiring decisions based on politics.
Named in the complaints are Michael Elston, a McGuireWoods partner, and Esther Slater McDonald, an associate at Seyfarth Shaw, Legal Times reports. Elston was former chief of staff to the deputy attorney general and McDonald served as counsel to the associate attorney general. Both were mentioned in an investigative report that said the department focused on hiring conservative lawyers and eschewed liberals in an honors program for law graduates.
The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics filed the complaints, the story says. One alleges Elston may have violated ethics rules barring dishonesty and acts that reflect adversely on a lawyer’s fitness to practice law. Another says McDonald may have violated an ethics rule that bars conduct that seriously interferes with the administration of justice.