District of Columbia

SEC Says DC Lawyer Helped Bilk Investors of $2M, Spent on Jimmy Choos, Bahamas Trip

A Washington, D.C., lawyer has been accused by the feds of helping a convicted felon bilk 13 would-be investors of $2.1 million in an alleged scheme that used her status as an attorney to cloak it in legitimacy. Name partner Brynee K. Baylor, 37, of Baylor & Jackson also helped…

Dec 6, 2011 11:57 PM CST

Arnold & Porter to Acquire San Francisco’s 80-Attorney Howard Rice

Arnold & Porter will be adding 80 lawyers and a San Francisco office to its letterhead Jan. 1 with the acquisition of Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin. The two firms announced today that they have agreed to a merger, the Daily Journal (sub. req.) reports. Arnold & Porter…

Dec 6, 2011 9:16 PM CST

DC Agency Tosses Law Prof’s Bias Complaint over Same-Sex Dorms, Cites ‘Absurd Results’

George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf has lost his case contending same-sex dorms at the Catholic University of America violate discrimination laws. The D.C. Office of Human Rights dismissed Banzhaf’s complaint in an order issued Tuesday, according to a Catholic University press release and the Associated Press. Banzhaf had…

Nov 30, 2011 3:35 PM CST

Despite Feds’ ‘Pervasive’ Concealment of Evidence, No Contempt Charges in Sen. Stevens Case

Despite a special prosecutor’s finding that a federal prosecution of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens was “permeated” by the government’s concealment of evidence favorable to the defense, no criminal contempt charges will be brought against the prosecutors involved. Reiterating what had been leaked earlier by unidentified sources, an order today…

Nov 22, 2011 12:13 AM CST

More Women Than Men Make Partner at Wachtell; King & Spalding; Cleary Gottlieb

Corrected: It’s old news that women attorneys often find it harder to make partner, especially at BigLaw firms, than male counterparts. But three major firms have created a new ending for that once-sad story this year, the Careerist reports. Women actually outnumber men among the class of new partners at…

Nov 17, 2011 12:34 AM CST

Federal Judge Says Tobacco Companies Don’t Have to Use Graphic Warning Labels Until Courts Rule

Nixing, at least for now, new Food and Drug Administration rules that would have required tobacco companies to put graphic warning labels prominently on cigarette packages, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has issued a temporary restraining order. Judge Richard Leon said the plaintiffs likely would prevail in their First…

Nov 8, 2011 12:10 AM CST

DC Law Firms Flock to LEED-Certified Offices

Law firms in Washington, D.C., are increasingly moving to office buildings that have been certified for environmentally friendly LEED construction—a designation that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The Washington Post lists several firms in the District that recently moved to LEED-certified buildings, or that are planning such…

Nov 7, 2011 10:59 AM CST

DOJ Has No Plan to Investigate Former SEC Gen’l Counsel David M. Becker, His Lawyer Says

A lawyer for former general counsel David M. Becker of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says he has been told by Department of Justice prosecutors that they don’t plan to investigate his client, Bloomberg reports. H. David Kotz, who serves as inspector general of the SEC, had called for…

Nov 4, 2011 6:17 PM CDT

Ex-Nixon Peabody Lawyer Gets Probation in SEC False-Information Case

A former lawyer with Nixon Peabody who earlier settled an insider-trading complaint without admitting liability has been sentenced to two years of probation for providing false information to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Melissa Mahler was credited by a federal prosecutor in a court hearing today in the District of…

Nov 3, 2011 8:46 PM CDT

DC Psych Hospital Tells Court It’s Not a Hotel, Seeks Order Requiring County or Mom to Pick Up Boy

A 10-year-old boy known as L.F. who stabbed his cousin in the eye with a pencil has overstayed his welcome at Children’s National Medical Center. According to court papers filed by lawyers for the psychiatric hospital, L.F. has been a patient since Sept. 15 and no one is willing to…

Oct 27, 2011 2:13 PM CDT

Retired BigLaw Attorneys Embrace New Clients in People-Oriented Public Service Jobs

When he left Dickstein Shapiro in 2004, James Springer was a top antitrust lawyer. Now, working part-time for the D.C. Legal Aid Society, the 77-year-old attorney handles benefits claims. Working on Social Security claims is every bit as complex as his former practice area, he tells the National Law Journal.…

Oct 24, 2011 8:00 PM CDT

Outside Lawyer Censured for ‘Intimate Contact’ with Detroit Mayor While Monitoring City Police

A Washington, D.C., lawyer has been censured for having “intimate contact” one night with Detroit’s then-mayor while she was serving as independent police monitor for the city. Sheryl Robinson Wood said during a disciplinary hearing that she considered the incident a moral and personal lapse and later realized it also…

Oct 22, 2011 1:11 AM CDT

PI Shop Sues 3 Ex-Employee Attorneys, Seeks $4.5M, Says They Set Up New Firm With 32 Slocumb Clients

An Alabama-based personal injury law firm has sued three attorneys formerly employed in its Washington, D.C., office in federal court there. Zeke Roeser, Morgan Whitlock and Kevin Gracie allegedly used confidential information obtained at the Slocumb Law Office, it contends, to set up their own Roeser & Whitlock firm with…

Oct 18, 2011 11:56 PM CDT

Longtime Administrative Lawyer, 88, Once a Pilot Shot Down in World War II, Now Looks to the Stars

A former U.S. Air Force pilot who lost a leg after being shot down over Germany in World War II, Bill Kraham survived, although he lost part of a leg as a result of the crash, and went on to become a lawyer. He worked for the Federal Aviation Administration…

Oct 5, 2011 6:28 PM CDT

BigLaw Attorney Is Accused by Client of Stealing $2.5M in Escrowed Funds

A counsel for Crowell & Moring no longer listed on the Washington, D.C., law firm’s website has been accused by a client of embezzling some $2.5 million of escrowed funds. Douglas R. Arntsen has been arrested and is being held in Hong Kong, where he is awaiting extradition to the…

Sep 22, 2011 7:22 PM CDT