DAVID B. ISBELL, ESQUIRE Oral History Project The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit Oral History Project United States Courts The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit District of Columbia Circuit DAVID B. ISBELL, ESQUIRE Interviews conducted by: William N. Sinclair, Esquire June 26, July 17, August 14, September 4, October 7, November 24, 2008; February 24, March 17, April 14, 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ...................................................................... i Oral History Agreements David B. Isbell, Esquire.................................................. iii William N. Sinclair, Esquire................................................v Oral History Transcript of Interviews: Interview No. 1, June 26, 2008..............................................1 Interview No. 2, July 17, 2008..............................................3 9 Interview No. 3, August 14, 2008...........................................8 4 Interview No. 4, September 4, 2008........................................116 Interview No. 5, October 7, 2008...........................................149 Interview No. 6, November 24, 2008........................................169 Interview No. 7, February 24, 2009.........................................180 Interview No. 8, March 17, 2009...........................................203 Interview No. 9, April 14, 2009............................................236 Index..................................................................... A-1 Table of Cases...............................................................B-1 Statutes ? Biographical Sketches David B. Isbell, Esquire..................................................C-1 William N. Sinclair, Esquire..............................................C-6 List of photographs of David Isbell posted on the Historical Society’s Web site with his oral history. D-1 NOTE The following pages record interviews conducted on the dates indicated. The interviews were electronically recorded, and the transcription was subsequently reviewed and edited by the interviewee. The contents hereof and all literary rights pertaining hereto are governed by, and are subject to, the Oral History Agreements included herewith. © 2010 Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit. All rights reserved. PREFACE The goal of the Oral History Project of the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit is to preserve the recollections of the judges who sat on the Courts of the District of Columbia Circuit and lawyers, court staff, and others who played important roles in the history of the Circuit. The Project began in 1991. Interviews are conducted by volunteers, trained by the Society, who are members of the Bar of the District of Columbia. Indexed transcripts of these interviews and related documents are available in the Judges' Library in the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress, and the library of the Historical Society of the District of Columbia. With the permission of the person being interviewed, oral histories are also available on the internet through the Society's web site, www.dcchs.org. Such original audio tapes of the interviews as exist, as well as the original diskettes of the transcripts (in WordPerfect format) are in the custody of the Society. i The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit Oral History Agreementof David B. Isbell 1. In consideration of the recording and preservation of my oral history memoir by the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, Washington, D.C., and its employees and agents (hereinafter "the Society"), I, David B. Isbell, do hereby grant andconvey to the Society and its successors and assigns all of my rights, title and interest in the edited transcriptof my interviews by WilliamH. Sinclair and the computer disk containing the same, including literary rights and copy rights thereto. 2. I also reserve formyself and to the executor of my estate the right to use the said transcriptand computer disk containing it as a resource for any book, pamphlet, article, or other writing of which I or my executor maybe the author or co-author. 3. I authorize the Society to duplicate, edit, publish, including publication on the internet,and permit the use of said transcript and computer disk in any manner that the Society considers appropriate,and I waive any claims I may have or acquire to any royalties fromsuch use. TO AND SUBSCRIBED before me this My Commission expires: � -'o)-ID j ACCEPTED THIS :> � DAY OF \'\f\61>ttl 201.e_, by Stephen J. Pollak, President of the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, Stephen DC: 3480515-1 111 Schedule A Transcript resulting from nine interviewsof David B. Isbell, conducted on the following dates: Date Pages of Transcript June 26, 2008 1-38 July 17, 2008 39-83 August 14, 2008 84-115 September4, 2008 116-148 October 7, 2008 149-168 November 24, 2008 169-179 February24, 2009 180-202 March17, 2009 203-235 April14, 2009 236-263 The transcriptof the nine interviewsis contained on one compact disk. IV The Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit Oral History Agreement of William N. Sinclair I. Having agreed to conduct an oral history interview with David B. Isbell for the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit, Washington, D.C., and its employees and agents (hereinafter, "the Society"), I, William N. Sinclair, do hereby grant and convey to the Society and its successors and assigns, all of my right, title, and interest in the transcript and computer disk of my interviews with Mr. Isbell, as described in Schedule A hereto, including literaryrights and copyrights. 2. I authorize the Society to duplicate, edit, publish, including publication on the internet, or permit the use of said transcript and compact disk in any manner that the Society considers appropriate, and I waive any claims I may have or acquire to any royalties from such use. 3. I agree that I will make no use of the interview or the information contained thereinuntil it is concluded and edited, or until I receive permissionfrom the Society. William N. Sinclair Date SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED beforeme this 22nd day of February, 2010. «. n/h;;1 ™�NotaryPublic My commissionexpires: t{,/ 'ifI /iJ ACCEPTED this 3d day of �uk 2010, by Stephen J. Pollak, President of the Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit. V ScheduleA Transcriptresulting from nine interviews of David B. Isbell, conducted on thefollowing dates: Date Pages of Transcript June 26, 2008 1-38 July 17, 2008 39-83 August 14, 2008 84-115 September4, 2008 116-148 October 7, 2008 149-168 November24, 2008 169-179 February24, 2009 180-202 March17, 2009 203-235 April 14,2009 236-263 Thetr anscriptof thenine interviewsis contained on one compact disk. vi Oral History of DAVID B. ISBELL FIRST SESSION - JUNE 26, 2008 Sinclair: It’s June 26, 2008. My name is Bill Sinclair. I’m an associate at Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. I am at the law offices of Covington & Burling LLP at 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C., and I’m speaking with David Isbell. We are going to begin recording his life biography for the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit. Please tell us your full name and the name of the firm in which you are senior counsel. Isbell: My full name is David Bradford Isbell, and I am indeed senior counsel at Covington, a position I’ve been in for the last twelve years. Sinclair: Very good. Let’s get on the record with a few essential facts about your immediate family. Isbell: Sure. Sinclair: Your wife’s name? Isbell: It’s Florence Bachrach Isbell. Sinclair: Your children’s names? Isbell: I have three children. The oldest is Pascal. His full name is Christopher Pascal Isbell, but he’s generally just known as Pascal. He has just turned fifty. I also have a daughter, Virginia Isbell, who is forty-eight, and a son, Nicholas Isbell, who is forty-six. Sinclair: Any grandchildren? Isbell: I have seven of those. Pascal has three sons, one of whom, unfortunately, is autistic. The oldest of his sons is Mark Antonin Isbell, who is sixteen. The middle son is Alexander Bradford Isbell, who’s fifteen; it’s he who is autistic. The youngest one is Matthew Isbell, who’s fourteen. -1- Sinclair: The oldest was Mark Antonin? Isbell: Yes. That second name is spelled A-n-t-o-n-i-n, and that’s a name he happens to share with Justice Scalia, though there is absolutely no other connection there. Then my daughter has a daughter, Alice Topaloff, who’s eighteen, and then twins who are seventeen, a girl and a boy, Lucy and Gabriel Topaloff. Finally, my son, Nicholas, has just one child, a daughter, Sophie, who’s eight. Sinclair: Okay. Where does everyone live? Isbell: Most of my descendants live in Europe, unfortunately for me. My son Pascal and his three kids live in London; my daughter and her three live in Paris; and only Nicholas is here. He lives in the District of Columbia. Florence has two children. We are both retreads, so we each brought children to the marriage. She’s got a daughter, Peggy, and a son, Richard, and each of them has two daughters; and happily for us they all—children and grandchildren—live in the District of Columbia, so we see them frequently. Sinclair: What was your wife’s maiden name? Isbell: It was Bachrach. Sinclair: Okay, good. We’ll talk more about Florence later, but for now, let’s start in the beginning, learning about your parents, your childhood family, and your childhood. Isbell: My father, whose name was Percy Ernest Isbell, generally known as Peter or Pete, was an architect. He went to Yale College and then the Yale School of Architecture. At the start of his career, he was quite successful and had a good job with a large architectural firm, James Gamble Rogers. The firm designed and supervised the building of a large number of new buildings at Yale, including residential colleges, the library, the graduate school, and the law -2- school. My father also was allowed to have a practice of his own, in which he designed several private houses and a fraternity house at Yale.