‘Stevens Six’ Hiring BigLaw Counsel; DOJ to Chip In

[BlueJessamine]

Source: American Bar Association

The six prosecutors under investigation for their roles in the reversed conviction of former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens have started lawyering up.

And they are “drawing some of Washington’s heaviest hitters into the fray,” according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times.

But the DOJ’s retention agreement (PDF) indicates that these lawyers will only be reimbursed up to $200 per hour, not exceeding 120 hours per month.

“Now, $200/hr is roughly a paralegal’s rate at many top firms, but, still, all works is good work in this economy, especially such a high-profile assignment,” the Wall Street Journal Law Blog writes.


Read more: http://www.abajournal.com/news/stevens_six_hiring_biglaw_counsel_doj_to_chip_in/

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The Blog of Legal Times:

Stevens Six Lawyering Up -- Big Time

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/04/stevens-six-lawyering-up-big-time.html

[Ian David]

1. I bet Gonzo ordered them to botch the case. n/t

[AZ Criminal JD]

2. How could he?

They were career civil service employees of the DoJ. They aren't political appointees. No one can "order" them to do anything if you know anything about the DoJ.

[Ian David]

3. You missed the whole "AttorneyGate" thing, didn't you?

Focus on the ones who were NOT fired.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

5. Again,

these are career employees at DOJ. The lawyers to whom you are referring were political appointees.

[Ian David]

6. SUPPOSED to be career employees. n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. Again .........

There are political appointees and there are career employees. There is nothing in between. One serves at the pleasure of the President; the others are Civil Service employees.

I think, perhaps, you don't understand how the bureaucracy works. Your obtuse comments certainly indicate that you don't. If you knew anything about the understaffed and overworked staff at the Washington office of the Department of Justice's litigation departments, and if you understood how these things work, you would know that Ted Stevens' s attorney did a very savvy strategic thing in demanding a speedy trial, which caught the DOJ off-guard and with far less time to prepare, so they were operating ab iniitio at a disadvantage.

They tried to take shortcuts with discovery and then they flat-out cheated. Politics has nothing to do with it. It was simply very poor, certainly unethical, and perhaps criminal behavior on the part of the Justice people.

Now you're informed, and if you choose to disregard facts and reality, you are certainly free to continue on your merry, delusional, paranoid way, but you'll be acting the fool and you'll have to admit to yourself that not all your crackpot theories conform to reality.

Best of luck to you and make sure you don't run out of foil ................

[Ian David]

9. This has nothing to do with Gonzo turning career positions into political appointments? n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. Sweetheart,

you cannot "turn" a career position into a political appointment. The AG can't do it, the President can't do it. It was be akin to you turning a dog into a cat; it can't be done.

Your education in America's schools has utterly, utterly failed you. That you do not understand this most basic concept is sad..............

[Ian David]

12. Well, maybe you know more than I do about this particular topic.

But you're also really being a dick about it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. Honey,

that's another bit of misinformation you're harboring. I'm not being a dick - you are.

With your insistence on events that never happened, could never happen, even when it's patiently, and rather generously, explained to you by people who know better, you are clearly not educable and, alas, you're touchy about your ignorance.

Not the sign of an open and welcoming mind.

Good luck, dear. You'll need it .....................

[AZ Criminal JD]

14. They are. They have civil service protection.

Can't be fired. You are in an area you know nothing about obviously.

[No Elephants]

15. They can be fired, but they must get due process.

[AZ Criminal JD]

16. Agreed.

I say they can't be fired because as a practical matter it is extremely difficult to fire a federal civil service employee.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

4. Civilians ..........

They like to assume a certain kind of corruption when they don't understand the lay of the land (who is not, contrary to public opinion, Lynne Cheney). They hear "Department of Justice" and they like to assume that the fix is always in.

It's a matter of pushing a rock uphill to try to convince them otherwise, so save yourself, my brother or sister, save yourself ..................

[onenote]

8. yup.

And I wonder if it ever occurs to those who think that the mishandling of the Stevens case was a repub plot that the prosecution team could've "thrown" the case a lot more easily, and without putting their own careers in jeopoardy. It was a jury trial. Its pretty easy for a prosecutor to convey, without saying it outright, that they don't believe in the guilt of the person they are trying. Its truly absurd to think that these prosecutors intentionally "threw" this case by going so far overboard in seeking a conviction that they destroyed their own careers.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

11. How about this?

Why would these devious prosecutors - who are seen by some as GOPig operatives - want to derail a REPUBLICAN SENATOR?

It's sort of like the teabaggers protesting Obama's having raised taxes on the wealthy, isn't it?