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Six-figure Cabinet jobs sometimes mean a pay cut
Opinions |
2009/01/27 23:15
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| Jobs in President Barack Obama's Cabinet come with a pay cut for some of his appointees, who made millions from investments and lucrative careers in law, lobbying and business before joining his administration, according to financial reports the government released Tuesday. At least one must sell stock to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Obama's choice for deputy defense secretary, William J. Lynn, until recently a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon, holds Raytheon incentive stock valued at $500,001 to $1 million, the documents show. The stock is due to vest next month. He has Raytheon "unvested restricted stock" worth $250,001 to $500,000. Lynn has said he will sell the stock. He received a salary of $369,615 last year as a Raytheon senior vice president, and is expecting a 2008 cash bonus of $100,001 to $250,000 to be paid this March, his report shows. Obama has given Lynn a waiver from ethics rules banning employees from taking part in decisions related to their former employers for two years and prohibiting them from taking jobs in agencies they recently lobbied. If he is confirmed as expected, Lynn will be subject to ethics reviews for one year. Government ethics rules require senior administration officials to provide details annually on their personal finances. The reports include descriptions of assets, income and debt — typically given in ranges rather than exact amounts — and lists of gifts and any outside positions. The disclosures are intended to shine a light on and help avoid any potential conflicts of interest. The report for Obama's nominee to become attorney general, Eric Holder, shows he received $3.3 million, including deferred compensation, as a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, far more than the $196,700 he would make as a member of Obama's Cabinet. He anticipates receiving a $1 million to $5 million partner separation payment when he leaves the firm. |
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FBI: Long Island investment firm boss surrenders
Top Legal News |
2009/01/26 23:15
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| The owner of a Long Island investment firm accused of cheating people out of more than $100 million is expected to appear in court Tuesday. FBI spokesman Jim Margolin says Nicholas Cosmo surrendered at a U.S. Postal Inspection Service office in Hicksville on Monday night. Cosmo runs Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge (HAW'-pawg). He's accused of taking in $300 million from investors and cheating them out of about $140 million. A letter hanging in Cosmo's office window denies there was any Ponzi scheme, the type of fraud Bernard Madoff (MAY'-dawf) is accused of committing. A Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme promises unusually high returns and pays early investors with money from later investors. Defense attorneys at the Herrick Feinstein law firm haven't returned telephone calls seeking comment. |
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Matthew Steinhilber Elected to Board of Center for Watershed Protection
Firm News/Delaware |
2009/01/21 22:29
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Matthew G. Steinhilber, an associate in the Baltimore office of the law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, has been elected to the board of directors of the Center for Watershed Protection.
The Center for Watershed Protection works to minimize the effects of urbanization and other land use on drainage basins in order to provide communities with clean water and conserve natural resources.
Mr. Steinhilber is a member of Ballard’s Real Estate Department, where he regularly represents lenders and borrowers in a variety of commercial and real estate finance transactions, including health care matters involving the financing and refinancing of continuing-care retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing homes. He also has served as underwriter’s counsel and bond counsel in several tax-exempt and taxable bond financings. Mr. Steinhilber’s diverse practice also includes representing public housing authorities in mixed-finance and Capital Fund Financing Program transactions. |
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Gary Scott of Hirst Applegate Obtains Judgement
Firm News/Wyoming |
2009/01/21 19:13
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Gary Scott recently was successful in obtaining summary judgment in a state court medical malpractice action filed against a nursing home client of Hirst Applegate. The case arose from an incident in which a resident of the nursing home was inadvertently administered the wrong medication, causing the resident to be hospitalized. Subsequently, after discharge from the hospital the resident passed away, with the immediate cause of death being cancer. However during discovery plaintiff`s expert witness testified that it was his opinion within a reasonable degree of medical probability that the medication error hastened the resident`s death to some extent. Based upon that testimony a motion for summary judgment was filed, which argued that under Wyoming law if a person`s death is caused by the alleged wrongful act of another, the sole remedy is an action for wrongful death. The plaintiff in this instance had not brought a wrongful death case, but instead had filed a survival action. The Court found that since the plaintiff`s proof was that the former resident`s death had been hastened by the medication error, the sole remedy was a wrongful death action. The Court dismissed the plaintiff`s complaint with prejudice.
Hirst Applegate Website |
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Ballard Lawyers Recognized For Pro Bono Work
Firm News/Delaware |
2009/01/20 22:29
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37 Selected For 2008 First Judicial District of Pennsylvania Honor Roll
Thirty-seven attorneys from Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP will be honored Thursday, January 22, for their 2008 pro bono work in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, which comprises the courts in the Philadelphia County system.
The annual Pro Bono Publico Award Ceremony is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Alex Bonavitacola Law Library, City Hall. Ballard attorneys being named to the Pro Bono Roll of Honor are Raheemah F. Abdulaleem, Taimarie Adams, Sapna K. Anderson, Alexandra Bak-Boychuk, Aisha M. Barbour, Barbara R. Beckman, Tamar J. Cerafici, Frederic W. Clark, Colleen F. Coonelly, Katharine A. Crawford, Marc E. Davies, Eric Diaz, Shannon D. Farmer, Adiah I. Ferron, Adam M. Finkelstein, David S. Fryman, Farrah I. Gold, Henry E. Hockeimer, Jr., William B. Igoe, Cecilia Isaacs-Blundin, Leslie E. John, Edward I. Leeds, Melissa J. Lore, Aldie Jennings Loubier, Jeffrey Meyers, Donna D. Page, Eileen B. Quigley, Thomas D. Rethage, Charles L. Rombeau, Mary Gay Scanlon, Amy Shellhammer, Gina M. Smith, Mark S. Stewart, Marc J. Weinstein, Sandra Wintner, Dena Zakaria, and Lynn G. Zeitlin.
To be included on the annual Roll of Honor, a lawyer must be in private practice, not employed by an organization that provides free legal services, and have rendered legal services to a low-income client without any fee, or expectation of fee, in the First Judicial District. |
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Cheney Has Discretion Over Records
Politics & Law |
2009/01/20 17:16
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A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that, despite the government's "constantly shifting positions," a coalition of historians and archivists were unable to prove that outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney and his office staff intended to illegally destroy records at the end of his eight-year term.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said she was "bound to apply the Presidential Records Act (PRA) as Congress enacted it, which provides only narrow areas of oversight relating to the Vice President's document preservation decisions."
Plaintiffs, led by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, accused Cheney of changing the definition of vice-presidential records, which would allow his office to destroy records that were supposed to be preserved.
Judge Kollar-Kotelly first determined that the PRA does not preclude judicial review of the plaintiffs' claims.
"The court finds that it 'borders on the absurd' to believe that Congress statutorily defined Vice-Presidential records and required the Vice President to implement steps to preserve them, but denied any judicial review to prevent the Vice President from using a different definition for Vice-Presidential records," Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
She then ruled that although the plaintiffs brought "legally cognizable" claims under the Mandamus Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act, she was required to rule for the defendants.
The plaintiffs deposed a senior White House aide, who testified that Cheney and his office were fully complying with their obligations under the PRA.
"Plaintiffs were unable to rebut this representation through their discovery," Kollar-Kotelly wrote. "The Court therefore has no basis on which to award Plaintiffs relief against the Vice President and the Office of the Vice President."
She dismissed claims against the Executive Office of the President, because it was not in charge of document classification or preservation.
"It is clear, as Defendants emphasize, that the Vice President has discretion concerning the decision to create or dispose of Vice-Presidential records, and even how he chooses to preserve them."
Kollar-Kotelly also dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against the U.S. Archivist and the National Archives & Records Administration, because they have limited roles during the vice president's term in office.
The decision vacates a September 2008 order requiring the defendants to preserve the records while the case was pending. |
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Ken Swindle Receives the Distinguished Service Award
Firm News/Alabama |
2009/01/18 19:28
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| Ken Swindle received the Distinguished Service Award from the West Alabama Chamber of Commerce for the service he provided to them during his entire career in law enforcement. Ken Swindle worked in law enforcement for 34 years and served as the Tuscaloosa Police Chief for 20 years before coming to work as an investigator with Prince Glover Law. |
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