1 Forty-Fourth Street Notes

Forty-Fourth Street Notes Highlights: THE TRUE HEROES March 2007 By Barry Kamins, President The Trial of Saddam he name of Charles “Cully” Stimson has begun to ters and suggested that companies should reconsider fade into history and will be a footnote in the doing business with them. In response, we wrote to Hussein: A Retrospective: Tnot-too-distant future. As you may remember, members of Congress to urge the Armed Services March 6, Page 5 Mr. Stimson was the administration’s point person for Committee to conduct hearings on the efforts of the detainee policy for the last year as deputy assistant sec- Executive Branch, including those of Mr. Stimson, to Professional Development: retary for detainee affairs. He gained substantial noto- harass and intimidate attorneys providing this repre- Acting Ethically – riety on January 11th when, during an interview with a sentation and to interfere with the attorney-client Incorporating Professional local Washington-based station, he expressed dismay relationship. Responsibility into that attorneys at many of the nation’s top law firms Faced with an avalanche of criticism, Stimson offered Professional Development: were representing prisoners at an “apology” six days later, and resigned on February March 8, Page 6 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and 2nd. However, in his statement, he still did not accept that the firms’ corporate clients any responsibility for trying to drive a wedge between should consider ending their The Annual Justice attorneys representing the detainees and the firms’ business ties with those firms. corporate clients. As a senior public official who sets Ruth Bader Ginsburg While an almost universal criti- Distinguished Lecture on policy on the detainees, and as an attorney, Stimson’s cal response silenced his remarks are unprofessional and possibly unethical, in Women and the Law: remarks, unfortunately the poli- that they are prejudicial to the administration of jus- March 13, Page 7 cies of the administration with tice. It is ironic that it is the attorneys who are repre- regard to the detainees have not senting the Guantanamo detainees who are acting in The Legal Clinic for the changed over the past five years. the best traditions of the legal profession. Homeless at Columbia Mr. Stimson, an attorney and former federal and state What is most disturbing however is the bigger pic- Law School: prosecutor, teaches as an adjunct law professor at ture. Stimson’s comments are only a microcosm of Page 11 George Mason and at the Naval Justice School in Rhode the administration’s views and policies with respect to Island. He was also a criminal defense attorney as a JAG the detainees. First, the administration has continued CLE: Negotiating officer. In his comments, he expressed his "shock" that to characterize the detainees as terrorists (as did major American law firms (some of which he men- Private Equity Limited Stimson), although there has never been any proof of tioned on the radio) would represent terrorism sus- that assumption. Every study done by the government Partnership Agreements: pects, hinted that they were paid by unsavory charac- March 22, Page 14 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 CLE: Are You in ALBANY IN TRANSITION Compliance with the New Attorney Advertising n November 7, 2006, Eliot Spitzer was elected Justice Center, the horror and poignancy of this issue Rules? Practical & in a landslide to become the 58th governor of cannot be overstated. Human trafficking is one of Ethical Insights: ONew York State. Governor Spitzer’s election is the great stains on our society, as we have learned March 14, Page 16 a rare opportunity for the City Bar: this is the first through the City Bar Justice Center’s advocacy work transition period in the New York State Governor’s for trafficking victims. This experience has led the CLE: Forming & Advising office in over a decade, and only the second since 1983. Sex and Law Committee to urge Governor Spitzer to Charitable Organizations: Many City Bar committees sought to take advantage of support strong anti-trafficking legislation. In addi- Understanding & this transition by writing to the Governor, identifying tion to the law enforcement provisions, the commit- Complying with key issues from their perspective that merit the tee stressed the importance of social services for Governor’s attention. We note some of those issues escaped victims, as these services are essential Federal & State Laws: below. They represent only some of the issues the because many victims have absolutely no place to go. March 16, Page 20 Association will be addressing in Albany this year. The threat of homelessness is indeed one of the most effective means by which traffickers can Vol. 22, No. 3 Human Trafficking One of the City Bar’s premiere activities is advocacy control their victims. on behalf of victims of human trafficking. A place The Sex and Law Committee also wrote to Governor where the City Bar’s legislative work dovetails with the Spitzer on several other topics, including the right of legal advocacy for trafficking victims by the City Bar nursing mothers to express breast milk at work, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 A publication of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York 1 COMMITTEE REPORTS–MARCH, 2007 As Eliot Spitzer took office as governor, many City Bar states, has made clear that those detained at Committees wrote to him offering their expertise on Guantanamo are entitled to counsel and that the pertinent issues in state government. These commit- above actions by officials indicate a bias inconsistent tees' work is highlighted in the article on page 1, with their responsibilities. "Albany in Transition." Committees writing to the Non-Profit Organizations Governor were: the AIDS Committee, Art Law Letter to the New York State Bar Association offering Contents Committee, Corrections Committee, Health Law comments on its Business Law Section’s proposal to Committee, Mental Health Law Committee, Civil revise the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law. The True Heroes 1 Rights Committee, Estate and Gift Taxation Though the committee agrees that the Not-for-Profit Committee, Council on Children, Social Welfare Law Albany in Transition 1 Corporation Law warrants substantial revision, it Committee, Energy Committee, Environmental Law does not agree with many of the proposed changes Committee Reports 2 Committee, Animal Law Committee, Sex and Law and modifications in the Business Law Section’s pro- Committee, Social Welfare Law Committee, and State This Month In City Bar posal. History 2 Affairs Committee. Professional Responsibility Environmental Law Comments on the New York State Bar Association’s Calendar of Events 5-9 Letter to the New York State Department of Proposed Amendments to the New York Code of Environmental Conservation generally supporting the Women of Color Attorneys: Professional Responsibility Rules 1.11, 1.12, 2.1, 2.3, implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Breaking Through the 2.4, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, and 6.1 – 6.5. “Concrete Ceiling” 10 Initiative (RGGI) in New York. The letter expresses some concerns that the initiative lacks sufficient detail Amicus Brief: Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc. v. Intuit Inc. The Legal Clinic for the regarding how the proceeds of the annual auction will filed with the New York State Court of Appeals. This Homeless at Columbia be used. case, the brief notes, requires the Court to determine Law School 11 whether a corporate "party" within the context of DR Military Affairs and Justice 7-104 includes a former employee who had access to City Bar Center for CLE 13-23 Letters to Congress and to Secretary of Defense Robert attorney-client information about the matter in dis- Gates expressing concern that Executive Branch offi- Nominees Named 22 pute. In an earlier decision the Court determined cials and military personnel have made the representa- that former employees do not fall within the defini- Professional Development: tion of Guantanamo detainees difficult by: discourag- tion of "party" and therefore may be contacted by the Defining Success for Yourself, ing detainees from seeking and utilizing legal assis- opposing counsel without notice to the corporate Setting Your Own Course 24 tance; intimidating lawyers providing pro bono repre- party’s attorney. The brief urges the Court to follow sentation; interfering with the attorney-client relation- the same reasoning in this case and not alter the ship; and encouraging clients of the law firms who rep- bright line rule that has been in place for over 15 resent detainees to pressure the firms to drop these years. cases. The letter focuses on statements made by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs Reports are available on the Association’s website, Stimson. The United States Supreme Court, the letter www.nycbar.org, or by calling 212-382-6624. Forty-Fourth Street Notes Jayne Bigelsen Editor Matt Kovary Associate Editor THIS MONTH IN CITY BAR HISTORY Curtis&Company Graphic Design Michael Silverstein he Legal History Committee of the City Bar will be ately rewarded for his efforts; eight days after his Production Assistant a regular contributor to the Forty-Fourth Street inauguration, Hayes appointed Evarts Secretary of Adele Lemlek Notes. They will offer us anecdotes and describe State. Marketing Director T key moments from the history of the New York City Bar Seventy-Five Years Ago . In the depths of the Great Alison Fidler Advertising and the practice of law in New York and beyond. (212) 382-6753 Depression, the Alumni Association of

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