Bingham ConsultingNewsroom
Spaulding Quoted on Domestic-Spying Legislation, Moderates Due Process Panel
The Wall Street Journal, June 20, 2008 — Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding was quoted in the Wall Street Journal on the Senate's rewrite of legislation surrounding domestic-spying powers, a move the WSJ termed the most "sweeping rewrite of U.S. domestic-spying powers in three decades." The WSJ noted that the legislation, if passed into law, would solidify the Bush administration's controversial surveillance scheme, but also carve out a greater role for the courts. Spaulding, former counsel for the CIA, said it represents "a step in the direction of reasserting Congress's role and the importance of checks and balances, even in the area of national security."
Earlier in the week, Spaulding moderated a panel discussion on the implications of the Supreme Court's historic 5-4 decision in Boumediene that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have constitutional rights to challenge their detention in U.S. courts. The panel was sponsored by the Standing Committee on Law and National Security and the Reserve Officers Association. Members of the panel included Susan Baker Manning, a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP, who has served as counsel in cases involving due process and terrorism, including Qassim v. Bushs.
Bingham Consulting Represents Merck in Multistate Vioxx Settlement
June 2, 2008 — Bingham Consulting Group was part of the legal team representing Merck & Co. in its $58 million multistate settlement relating to claims over ads for its Vioxx painkiller. Merck agreed to settle claims with 29 states and the District of Columbia that it used deceptive advertising for the drug, which was withdrawn from the marketplace in 2004 after certain studies raised safety concerns. Bingham Consulting, led by principal Nicholas Gess of the Washington office and Tim Shea of the Boston office, facilitated discussions between Merck and the state attorneys general.
Spaulding: Bush’s Order Diminishes Role of Intelligence Oversight Board
The Boston Globe, March 14, 2008 — Almost 32 years to the day after President Ford created an independent Intelligence Oversight Board made up of private citizens with top-level clearances to ferret out illegal spying activities, President Bush has issued an executive order stripping the board of much of its authority, reports the Boston Globe. While the White House did not say why it was necessary to change the rules governing the board when it issued Bush's order late last month, the order is consistent with a pattern of steps by the administration to systematically scale back Watergate-era intelligence reforms. Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, a former deputy counsel at the CIA who has worked as a congressional staff member on intelligence committees for members of both parties, said the order “really diminishes the language that calls on the Intelligence Oversight Board to conduct independent inquiries,” and leaves the panel as potentially little more than “paper pushers.” According to the Boston Globe, Ford created the board following a 1975–76 investigation by Congress into domestic spying, assassination operations and other abuses by intelligence agencies. The probe prompted fierce battles between Congress and the Ford administration, whose top officials included current vice president Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the current president's father, George H. W. Bush.
Spaulding Recommends Congress Create Surveillance Panel
The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2008 — House leaders are assembling a three-part proposal to address concerns they have with a foreign intelligence bill that they passed in November, reports the Wall Street Journal. The first part of the proposal would create a new commission to examine the warrantless surveillance program. The measure builds off a recommendation from Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, a former CIA counsel, who suggested that Congress establish a panel to assess the threat inside the country and assess the government's current domestic surveillance efforts. The second and third parts of the proposal would loosen some of the judicial oversight components in the earlier House bill and address the issue of immunity by permitting phone companies to defend themselves without disclosing security secrets.
Spaulding: Order Establishes Greater Presidential Control Over Intelligence Board
The Associated Press, Feb. 29, 2008 — The White House has bolstered national intelligence director Mike McConnell’s responsibilities in relation to the 16 agencies he oversees, reports the Associated Press. Congress created the intelligence director position in 2004 to oversee and coordinate the work of the agencies. According to the Associated Press, a new White House executive order splits the watchdog duties of the Intelligence Oversight Board, a five-member panel of private citizens, with McConnell. Rather than report their activities to the board for review, intelligence agencies will now report them to McConnell. The executive order also gives the president the power to hand pick the chairman and members of the board, a duty previously held by the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. “The order seems to establish greater presidential control over the board,” said Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, who is a former assistant CIA general counsel. “It is less independent. That is the president's prerogative. But it is a trade off. I think it reduces the credibility of the board to some degree.”
Spaulding: Problems Arise From Conducting Secret Data Surveillance
The Wall Street Journal, March 10, 2008 — A debate is brewing among legal and technology scholars over whether there should be privacy protections for Americans, as it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between domestic and international communications when investigating foreign security threats, reports the Wall Street Journal. A number of National Security Agency (NSA) employees have expressed concerns that the agency may be overstepping its authority by intercepting phone calls and e-mails between the United States and overseas. The constitutional question of whether the government can examine such a large array of information without violating an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy “has never really been resolved,” said Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, a national-security lawyer. Multiple laws require a court order for so-called “transactional” records of electronic communications, but the 2001 Patriot Act lowered this standard and in some cases makes records accessible using FBI administrative subpoenas called “national security letters.” According to Spaulding, it is “extremely questionable” to assume Americans do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for data such as the subject header of an e-mail or a Web address from an Internet search simply because those are more like the content of a communication than a phone number. “These are questions that require discussion and debate,” said Spaulding. “This is one of the problems with doing it all in secret.”
Spaulding, Other Officials Respond to Lapse in Protect America Act
The New York Times, Feb. 27, 2008 — Intelligence officials fielded calls last week from nervous lawyers who were concerned following the Feb. 16 expiration of the six-month Protect America Act, which gave the U.S. government a freer hand in deciding whom to wiretap without court approval, reports the New York Times. In response to the lapse, and coupled with the Bush administration’s warning that the U.S. is vulnerable without the law in place, the lawyers were uncertain about what they should do if the government comes to them with a wiretapping order. According to the New York Times, a group of former intelligence officials, including Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, have since responded by writing a letter to Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence. According to the officials, the administration’s recent comments about wiretapping tools “have distorted rather than enhanced” the debate over the law. The officials said that the expiration of the temporary law “does not put America at greater risk,” adding that “America’s security cannot be captive to partisan bickering and distortions.” A similar article on the wiretapping law ran in the Austin American-Statesman.
Spaulding Interviewed on NPR, Comments on Liability Protection for Telcoms
NPR News, Jan. 28, 2008 — Bingham Consulting principal Suzanne Spaulding responded to a statement in President Bush’s State of the Union address regarding liability protection for phone companies involved in wiretapping, during an interview with Robert Siegel on NPR News. President Bush challenged Congress to pass new legislation that would assist the U.S. government monitor the communication activities of suspected terrorists who are overseas. The authority to do so is part of the Protect America Act, a six-month measure that was set to expire Jan. 29. “The law has always provided liability protection for telecommunications carriers," said Spaulding. "As long as they get that certification, telephone companies are guaranteed liability from lawsuits. What apparently happened here is that they did not get that certification and yet they provided assistance anyway. And now, they are seeking retroactive immunity, a broader immunity . . . that would let them off the hook, even if they did not receive the kind of assurances that the law requires.” Spaulding added, “These things are done in secret, so these telecommunications companies are our last line of defense in ensuring that the government’s intrusion is lawful.”
Reznek, Rockett, Young Author Alert on Limits of State Regs of National Banks
Lexology, Dec. 11, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group senior consultant Sarah Reznek and San Francisco partners James Rockett and Maureen Young authored the alert, “Second Circuit Further Limits State Regulation of National Banks,” detailing the court’s decision in a case stemming from former New York Attorney General (AG) Eliot Spitzer’s attempt to investigate race discrimination in residential mortgage lending practices by national banks. In 2005 the AG sent “letters of inquiry” to national banks requesting lending practice data, under suspicion of discriminatory lending practices towards minorities based on data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) asserted that it held exclusive visitorial authority over national banks and moved to enjoin the AG’s investigation. The AG countered by saying it could bring an action against a national bank asserting a violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The Second Circuit cited Watters v. Wachovia declaring, “investigation and enforcement by state officials are just as much aspects of visitorial authority as registration and other forms of administrative supervision,” and because such exercise of state authority hampers federally-permitted activities, such state actions are preempted. The court remanded the FHA matter to the district court, ruling the issue was not yet ripe because the suit had not been filed.
Walsh Quoted on Progress of Sacramento Kings Arena Project
Sacramento Bee, Dec. 8, 2007 — In the month since Bingham Consulting Group principal and former California Gov. Pete Wilson was hired to negotiate with the NBA for a new Sacramento Kings arena at the Cal Expo fairgrounds, both sides have been doing their homework, reports the Sacramento Bee. This includes putting together a needs list, updating the cost of the proposed work and investigating how to financially make the project pencil out. “What makes sense is to sit down at the table with a set of facts and data that helps move a meaningful negotiation forward,” said Bingham Consulting Group senior counsel, Sean Walsh, who is working with Wilson on the negotiations. According to the Sacramento Bee, the basic concept of the arena plan is to craft a commercial and housing development on the state-owned site that would produce enough profit to pay for an arena and revamp the 40-year-old fairgrounds. Walsh said he, Wilson and other consultants from Bingham have been in regular communication with Cal Expo and the NBA. “We’re pleased with the progress that’s being made on our end, and we feel in our communication with the NBA that they’re also making good progress on their analysis,” said Walsh.
P. Wilson Recognized in Sacramento Bee’s “History Spotlight”
The Sacramento Bee, Nov. 25, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group principal and former two-term governor of California Pete Wilson was noted in the Sacramento Bee’s “In History’s Spotlight; A Look at Those Who Made Headlines in the Past 150 Years.” Wilson, who served as governor of California from 1991-1999, is an Illinois native who attended Yale University and served in the Marine Corps. After earning his law degree at the University of California, he began his political career in 1960 when he served as an advance man for Richard Nixon during the 1960 presidential campaign. Wilson went on to serve as state assemblyman, mayor of San Diego and a U.S. senator before defeating Dianne Feinstein in the 1990 gubernatorial election. Wilson grappled with California's economic recession in the early 90s and battled with the Legislature during a record 64-day budget deadlock in 1992, before rebounding, in 1994, to easily win re-election over Democrat Kathleen Brown. Most recently, Wilson was tapped to help negotiate a deal with the NBA for a new Sacramento Kings arena at Cal Expo. “It's difficult to summarize Wilson's governorship in a few words, simply because so much has happened,” wrote Sacramento Bee political columnist Dan Walter, in 1998. “[Wilson's] had his successes and failures, but he's always been engaged in the battle, easily the most activist governor of recent vintage.”
P. Wilson Expresses Optimism About Sacramento Kings Arena Deal
ABC News 10, Nov. 14, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group principal and former California Governor Pete Wilson is on a mission to achieve what many local Sacramento politicians have attempted and failed to do — create a new arena deal for the Sacramento Kings, reports ABC News 10. “I think that there is a really ample opportunity for a win-win situation," said Wilson. The California Exposition and State Fair hired Bingham Consulting to negotiate the framework for an arena deal with the NBA. They are looking at the possibility of creating a new commercial development on the state fairgrounds property to help generate private funding for an arena. According to Wilson, the project “should be something that can be independently financed.” Sacramento voters have been reluctant to use tax dollars to construct a new arena and rejected a sales tax hike proposal in 2006. “What we see here is an opportunity that would benefit the NBA, it would benefit Cal Expo, it would benefit the city and I think the state,” said Wilson.
P. Wilson, Bingham Consulting Hired to Negotiate Arena Project With NBA
Sacramento Business Journal, November 1, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group and former California Gov. Pete Wilson have been hired by the California Exposition & State Fair board of directors to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with the NBA, possibly paving the way for a new arena for the Sacramento Kings, reports the Sacramento Business Journal. Wilson will be joined on the high-profile proposal by Bingham Sports Consulting special consultant Gregory Clark and two other members of Bingham Consulting: Sean Walsh, former press secretary to Wilson and a senior policy adviser and director of the state Office of Planning and Research for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Tom Gede, former executive director of the Conference of Western Attorneys General. According to Bond Buyer, hotels, housing, offices and retail space could be part of the project as a way to pay for the arena and redevelopment. The initial agreement with Bingham is for two months, with the possibility of further extensions. News of Bingham’s participation in the negotiations also was reported by the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, the Contra Costa Times and the Monterey County (Calif.) Herald, and on ESPN.com and The Capitol Morning Report.
Bingham Receives Frederick Douglass Award for Guantanamo Representation
November 1, 2007 – Bingham was one of several recipients of the 2007 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights for its representation of detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The award, presented at the annual Awards Dinner at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, recognized Bingham lawyers and attorneys at other firms, public interest organizations and in the military for their work to represent prisoners detained by the military. Bingham has been involved in Guantanamo litigation since March 2005, representing several Uighur detainees. The U.S. government determined those prisoners were not a threat to national security, but they remain incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay. Washington-based partner Susan Baker Manning and Washington associate Catherine Murphy attended the dinner and accepted the award on behalf of Bingham. Other Bingham lawyers who attended the dinner included Washington partners Tony Fitch and Gary Slaiman and Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding. The Southern Center for Human Rights is a nationally recognized public interest law firm that represents people facing the death penalty and brings class action litigation to protect the civil and human rights of people in the criminal justice system.
Bingham Noted for Building California Practices
The Deal, November 1, 2007 — Bingham, which kicked off its most recent West Coast expansion with its combination with Santa Monica litigation boutique Alschuler Grossman in May, is "still California dreamin,’” reports The Deal. The firm recently hired Robert Funsten, who previously chaired the licensing and intellectual property group at Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, to build the West Coast life science team in Orange County. According to The Deal, Bingham’s life sciences practice has 51 lawyers spread throughout the firm’s six California offices, and recently advised biotech Amicus Therapeutics Inc. on its $75 million initial public offering in May. The firm also recently hired Scott Bluni, former cardiovascular chief patent counsel at Boston Scientific Corp., to join its intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution practice group in Boston. In addition to the Alschuler Grossman combination, which added 40 lawyers to Bingham’s Southern California offices, the firm has recently hired Stephanie Siegel Brecher as a private equity partner in Orange County, Rose Shiner and Ronald Sittler as film finance partners in Los Angeles, and Sean Walsh, former director of the Governor Schwarzenegger’s Office of Planning and Research, as a senior consultant in Bingham Consulting Group's new Sacramento office.
R. Martin Co-Authors Globe Column on Diversity in the Workplace
The Boston Globe, October 31, 2007 — A Boston Globe op-ed column titled “Diversity and Attitude,” co-authored by Boston partner and Bingham Consulting Group managing principal Ralph Martin, said African Americans can become successful professionally without forgetting, or veiling, where they came from. According to Martin and his co-author, Damian Wilmot, an associate at Goodwin Procter, the history of the United States is marked by African Americans who have achieved success because they are focused, disciplined, prepared, dedicated and uniquely themselves. “To suggest that black men should shrink from visibility or not advance new and bold ideas, simply to appease colleagues who many be unfamiliar or uncomfortable with our presence and personas, is disabling to a black person,” said Martin and Wilmot. They added, while African Americans do face unique challenges in the workforce, compromising ones’ identity will only encourage race-driven barriers. Many companies are now adopting mentoring and modeling programs to integrate and embrace employees who have different work styles and cultures. “Great leaders understand that these differences, when harnessed, create a total of greater magnitude than any of the individual parts,” said Martin and Wilmot. They added, two African American men who have been praised for successfully steering their companies through difficult times are Dick Parsons of Time Warner and Ken Chenault of American Express. “As successful CEOs, they have not been any “less black” and neither should any black male seeking to be successful,” said Martin and Wilmot.
P. Wilson, Bingham Tapped To Handle Sacramento Kings Arena Negotiations
The Sacramento Bee, October 27, 2007 - Bingham Consulting Group and Bingham Sports Consulting have been selected to negotiate a deal for Cal Expo with the NBA to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings at the state fairgrounds. Cal Expo's executive committee voted unanimously on October 26 to retain Bingham Consulting Group principal and former California Gov. Pete Wilson and Bingham Sports Consulting special consultant Gregory Clark to negotiate a memorandum of understanding between Cal Expo and the NBA. The memorandum would resolve major deal points, such as how much land will be used, laying the foundation for a project that would replace the 19-year-old Arco Arena and revitalize the state fairgrounds. "If we are successful, we will have done something that will be good for the city and good for the state; that is our hope and purpose," Wilson said. "Bingham has a long tradition of public service and pro bono work, and we consider our assistance to the State of California a significant endeavor that should reap benefits for millions of Californians who will utilize the State Fair grounds. We are obviously honored that Cal Expo reached out to us and engaged us to do that for them." Working with Wilson and Clark will be Sean Walsh, former press secretary to Wilson, and Tom Gede, both of Bingham Consulting. If the Bingham team succeeds in the initial negotiations, Cal Expo could retain the group to complete the arena deal, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Bingham Hosts an Evening with Calif. Attorney General Jerry Brown
More than 120 Bingham clients and friends attended an evening with California Attorney General Jerry Brown in Los Angeles on Oct. 24. Rick Welch, managing partner of Bingham's Los Angeles office, welcomed the crowd of business clients and partners from Bingham's many practice groups, such as environmental, land use, private equity, and the firm's subsidiary business, Bingham Consulting Group. Former California Gov. Pete Wilson, currently with Bingham Consulting Group, introduced the attorney general. Relaxed, engaging and candid, Brown reflected on his life in the public eye, saying that "there is no substitute for experience." He shared his views on his current role as the state's top lawyer, stressing his commitment to "vigorously enforcing" environmental initiatives, such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Global Warming Solutions Act, known as AB 32.
R. Martin Quoted on Mass. Senate Leader’s Appearance Before Boston Chamber of Commerce
The Boston Globe, October 25, 2007 — In her first appearance before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce at its monthly meeting October 24, Massachusetts Senate President Therese Murray not only avoided commenting on Gov. Deval Patrick's frustration with the legislature but also passed up the chance to address the hottest topic before the legislature, casino gambling, reports the Boston Globe. Instead, Murray spoke about legislation the Senate is working on to improve the economy, including policy on housing, healthcare, energy and agriculture, before taking questions from the press. Murray repeated her support for resort casinos, but she deflected the opportunity to contrast her position with House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, who opposes gambling. Bingham Consulting Group managing principal and Boston partner Ralph Martin, who attended the breakfast, praised Murray’s tone. “You might say, given the crescendo of things recently, that her deliberative approach to things could be helpful," he said, referring to the recent escalation of tension between DiMasi and the governor.
Gess Quoted on Backlog of FISA Applications, Shortage of Attorneys
Legal Times, October 10, 2007 — A year has passed since the Department of Justice’s National Security Division was created, bringing key criminal and intelligence units under one roof to take on the top priority: preventing terrorism, reports Legal Times. While the division gets high marks for its progress, there is a persistent problem with a backlog of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications due to a shortage of attorneys and an expanding workload. According to Legal Times, records show that court-approved FISA applications have steadily increased from 934 in 2001 to 2,176 last year, and Justice officials said the number of pending FISA requests has been reduced by 65 percent since 2004. This backlog rankles some former Justice officials, such as Bingham Consulting Group principal Nicholas Gess, who served under Attorney General Janet Reno as an associate deputy attorney general. “Anytime there’s a FISA backlog, it’s inexcusable if you don’t have enough people,” says Gess.
Bingham Consulting Group Assists Purdue Pharma in N.Y. State Settlement
September 24, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group advised Purdue Pharma, maker of the painkiller OxyContin, on settlements with state attorneys general, including its $7.3 million agreement with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The settlement was part of a larger federal agreement involving criminal and civil claims that concluded from a two-and-a-half-year investigation into the company’s marketing and business practices surrounding OxyContin. Tim Shea, Ralph Martin and Sarah Reznek worked on this matter.
Wilson Honored with Statue in Downtown San Diego
The Union-Tribune (San Diego, CA), August 26, 2007 — Bingham Consulting principal and former California governor Pete Wilson was honored in downtown San Diego on August 25 with the unveiling of a lifelike statue of himself, reports the Union-Tribune. The bronze statue shows a younger Wilson smiling down at the city sidewalk and joins similar statues of Ernest Hahn and Alonzo Horton, on what has been dubbed the San Diego Walk of Fame. According to the Union-Tribune, Wilson, a former three-term mayor of San Diego, two-term U.S. senator and two-term California governor, made improving downtown San Diego a priority while in office. “View this statue, as I will, as a surrogate recipient of the tribute that’s deserved by all of you who shared the dream, who made it come true and gave all the proud neighborhoods of San Diego the vibrant heart they needed,” Wilson said.
Gess Co-Authors Op-Ed Piece on Gonzales’ Resignation
Legal Times, September 3, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group principal and Washington, D.C., of counsel Nick Gess co-authored the Legal Times op-ed piece "Listen to Career Lawyers," along with James Tierney, director of the National State Attorneys General Program at Columbia Law School and former attorney general of Maine. According to Gess, a former associate deputy attorney general in the Justice Department under Janet Reno, and Tierney, “the next attorney general of the United States will inherit a Department of Justice demoralized by the sidelining of career lawyers who have dedicated their lives to fair law enforcement.” They explain that too many senior lawyers — those who have guided former attorneys general of both parties — have “retired” after being replaced by “inexperienced political appointees.” Gess and Tierney wrote that changes need to be made immediately, including restoring the career hiring and promotion process, filling empty prosecutor positions, and renewing state and local relationships. They also wrote that the next attorney general should listen to career lawyers, who hold a “deep reservoir of knowledge and experience,” and respect the rule of law. “There can be no delay in returning honor to the Department of Justice,” wrote Gess and Tierney.
Spaulding Testifies Before Congress on Surveillance Methods
U.S. News & World Report, September 10, 2007 — Just days into the start of the fall session, members of Congress are already gearing up for a serious overhaul of the newly passed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, reports U.S. News & World Report. At a September 5 hearing on warrantless surveillance before a House Judiciary subcommittee, there was clear tension surrounding the debate of balancing individual privacy rights with national security concerns. Former CIA Deputy General Counsel Suzanne Spaulding, now a principal at Bingham Consulting Group, testified at the hearing and said the biggest problem was not just that the proposed changes allow the government to listen to a suspected terrorist talk to someone in the United States without a warrant, but that the revisions “provide neither clear guidance nor the mechanisms to ensure careful oversight.” She added, the law’s broad terms could even allow the government to open private letters and emails exchanged between Americans inside the United States, reports the Guardian. Spaulding said the United States will not effectively decrease the threat of terrorism by using intrusive intelligence methods. “Our best hope lies in working closely with communities, particularly Muslim-American communities,” she said. “Yet, many of our policies and practices since 9/11, that unnecessarily compromise civil liberties or seem to reflect a lack of respect for the rule of law, risk alienating those very communities. In this regard, [our polices and practices] make us less secure.”
R. Martin Comments on DA's Decision on MBTA Homicide Investigations
The Boston Globe, September 14, 2007 — According to Boston Globe columnist Adrian Walker, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley’s September 12 decision that all homicides on MBTA property will now be investigated by the state police, under his direction, rather than by Boston police, is his “latest attempt at flexing muscle” in his running battle with the department and Police Commissioner Edward Davis. Conley said his decision was based on the city’s need for more resources and the fact that Davis violated an understanding dating back more than four decades, by declining to run his choice of homicide chief by the district attorney. “I don’t understand why taking what would be a fractional number of homicides and transferring them to the State Police will make the overall homicide effort better,” said Conley’s predecessor Ralph Martin, a Boston partner and managing principal of Bingham Consulting Group. Walker agreed. “The problem [Conley] professes to be addressing, murder on the T, barely exists,” he said.
Spaulding Participates in Freedom of the Press Panel; National Security Conference
WAMU 88.5 FM, September 11, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group principal and former CIA Deputy General Counsel Suzanne Spaulding was a panelist on September 10 in the American University-sponsored forum “Freedom of the Press in a Post 9/11 Age.” With mounting fears of terrorism and increased government secrecy, the unpopularity of the Iraq war, and recent attacks on the news media for breaking stories about U.S. intelligence-gathering, the program examined a number of questions related to freedom of the press. The program aired on National Public Radio’s WAMU 88.5 and on C-SPAN. Spaulding also spoke at a Liberty and National Security conference, “Building Freedom, Building Security: America’s Challenge for the Next Five Years,” on September 7 at New York University School of Law. She participated in the discussion “Building Checks and Balances for National Security Police: The Role of Congress.”
Zimmerman, R. Martin Named to Mass. Lawyers Weekly “Most Influential” List
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, September 24, 2007 — Chairman Jay Zimmerman and Boston partner and Bingham Consulting Group managing principal Ralph Martin were named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s list of the 35 most influential judges and lawyers in the state over the past 35 years. According to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Zimmerman, who was elected chairman of Bingham McCutchen in 1994 after seven years as managing partner of the firm’s London office, has “built [Bingham] into a behemoth . . . and, in so doing, [has] developed a reputation as a leader in the development of U.S.-based international law firms.” Zimmerman was noted for presiding over several acquisitions in recent years, with the 2002 merger with West Coast litigation firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen being the key to expanding the firm’s national reach. Martin, former Suffolk County district attorney who is African-American and a Republican, was noted for demonstrating that “one need not be white and a Democrat to advance in Boston’s political-legal community.” According to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Martin joined Bingham after serving as district attorney for 10 years and has remained in the public eye, most notably as a chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission.
S. Merrill Quoted on Mismanagement of Nonprofits
ABA Journal, August 2007 — The downfall of Hawaii’s powerful Bishop Estate, a charitable trust that maintains the “Kamehameha Schools” in Hawaii, is a story of greed, mismanagement and political manipulation, according to Samuel King and Randall Roth, co-authors of a 2006 book on the topic. In 1999, all five of the Estate’s trustees were removed from office after the Internal Revenue Service threatened to strip the estate, which has been tabbed as the wealthiest charity in the United States, of its status as a tax-free charitable organization. Stephen Merrill, president of Bingham Consulting Group, said he was surprised by the wrongdoings he encountered at nonprofits while he was New Hampshire’s attorney general. “I was stunned,” he said, at a program on nonprofits held during the 2006 ABA Annual Meeting. “I thought people who were attracted to nonprofits were people who wanted to do the right thing.” He added, “The IRS and states are going to be increasingly pugnacious [of nonprofits]. This wave has not yet crested.”
Bingham Consulting Opens Sacramento Office; Walsh Joins Group
San Francisco Daily Journal, August 9, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group, a subsidiary of Bingham McCutchen, has announced the opening of a Sacramento office and the addition of Sean Walsh, former director of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Office of Planning and Research, as a senior consultant, reports the San Francisco Daily Journal. Walsh joins former U.S. senator and California governor Pete Wilson; former Deputy Attorney General Tom Gede; and William Kissinger, former senior deputy legal affairs secretary to former California governor Gray Davis. Bingham’s consulting business is headed up by President Stephen Merrill, former governor and attorney general of New Hampshire, and managing principal Ralph Martin, a Bingham partner and former Suffolk County district attorney, both of whom are based in Boston. According to the San Francisco Daily Journal, the new office will be used as a hub for consultants based in the group’s San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston offices. “We exist to try and keep companies out of regulatory trouble, said Wilson, who has been a principal at Bingham Consulting since 2004. “It’s impossible to do business in California without complying with federal, state and local regulations.” News of Walsh’s move to Bingham and the opening of Bingham’s Sacramento office was also reported by Capitol Weekly, the Daily Deal and Jaffe Legal News.
Bingham Consulting Group Expands with Sacramento Office
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, August 27, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group, a subsidiary of Bingham McCutchen, which has an office in Boston, is opening an office in Sacramento, Calif. The office is intended to be a hub for consultants in the firm’s San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston offices. News of the Sacramento office opening has also been reported by the Recorder, Capitol Weekly, the San Francisco Daily Journal, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Politico and the Daily Deal.
Spaulding Featured on PBS Television Program
Bingham Consulting principal Suzanne Spaulding was featured in Spying on the Home Front, presented by FRONTLINE on PBS on May 15. The program addressed how everyday citizens can be affected as the U.S. government shifts from prosecution of known terrorists to pre-emptive searches for potential suspects. “So many people in America think this does not affect them. They’ve been convinced that these programs are only targeted at suspected terrorists...I think that’s wrong,” Spaulding said. “Our programs are not perfect and it is inevitable that totally innocent Americans are going to be affected.”
Gede Serving as Vice Chair at ABA Water Law Conference
Bingham Consulting Group principal Tom Gede is serving as a vice-chair of the 2008 American Bar Association's (ABA) Water Law Conference, the ABA's annual meeting held for water law practitioners, water resource managers and public officials involved in water quality, quantity and allocation issues. Gede is also helping to plan the conference, which will be held February 21-22, 2008, at the Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego, and will feature speakers covering a range of topics from conflicts over shared groundwater basins to hydrologic continuity, endangered species and tribal issues.
Spaulding Keeping Busy with Speaking Engagements
Bingham Consulting principal Suzanne Spaulding spoke before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on May 1. Later that week, on May 4, Spaulding spoke about electronic surveillance at the ABA International Law Section’s Annual Meeting, before moderating an American Bar Association’s Standing Committee of Law and National Security meeting on May 10-11. The title of the program was “International Networks and Homeland Security: Challenge and Opportunity.”
Gede Moderates Public Safety/Counterterrorism Conference
Bingham Consulting Group principal Tom Gede moderated the 6th International Public Safety/Counterterrorism Conference on April 23-24 in Quebec, Canada. The conference, which featured experts on border security, intelligence sharing and transportation security, is an outgrowth of Gede’s service as co-chair of the justice and public safety conference held in California in the 1990s. This year’s program attracted participants from the U.K., Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and other countries.
Gess: Current Policy Fosters Close Link Between White House, DOJ
Legal Times, April 23, 2007 — Last week’s hearing between Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Senate Judiciary Committee has shed light on a policy that appears to have allowed the Justice Department and the White House to become more closely linked during the Bush administration, reports Legal Times. According to a recently highlighted memo, written in 1992 by then-Attorney General Janet Reno, only the highest-ranking officials from the Justice Department, those being the attorney general, the deputy attorney general and the associate general, were authorized to speak about criminal or civil investigations with the president, vice president, White House counsel and deputy counsel. But, Bingham Consulting Group principal Nick Gess, who was an associate deputy attorney under Reno, said that memo merely memorialized tradition. “The Clinton policy is not really a Clinton policy,” said Gess. “It's a historical policy going back as far as anyone remembers.” The policy was changed in 2002 when then-Attorney General John Ashcroft dramatically expanded the number of White House and Justice Department employees who could discuss criminal investigations. For example at the White House, this number went from four to 100 and included lower-ranking officials and junior political aides. “The way this policy reads, an intern in the office of the deputy attorney general could be communicating about case-related information to an intern at the White House Counsel’s office,” Gess said.
Gess Quoted on U.S. Attorney Positions
LA Daily Journal, April 12, 2007 — Senate confirmation is usually a formality for U.S. attorney nominees but that’s about to change, reports the LA Daily Journal. Washington insiders say all future Bush administration nominees will find themselves under a sharp microscope as a result of the recent firing of eight U.S. attorneys, including Carol Lam in San Diego and Kevin Ryan in San Francisco. The three as-yet-unknown candidates for the vacant positions in San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles, where Bush appointee Debra Wong Yang stepped down as U.S. attorney in the fall, can expect uncomfortable rides. Senators will also have a major role to play before nominees are named, which according to Nick Gess, a principal in Bingham Consulting Group, would be a return to the Justice Department's traditional approach of largely deferring to home-state senators. “U.S. attorneys are certainly the president's nominee,” he said. "But the reality is the senators from the party in power have always played a significant role.” Gess said the Bush White House would do well to listen closely to the recommendations made by the selection committees in each district and that the administration should take a careful look at nonpartisan career prosecutors. “All four districts in California have superb career people,” Gess said.
Spaulding Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee
CQ Congressional Testimony, April 11, 2007 — Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution in a hearing following-up on the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s use of National Security Letters. Spaulding, who has more than 20 years of experience working on national security issues, urged the subcommittee to go beyond the lessons learned from the report and take a broader approach to the United States’ domestic counterterrorism efforts. “A joint inquiry or task force could be established by the Senate leadership with representation from the most relevant committees to carefully examine the nature of the threat inside the United States and the most effective strategies for countering it,” Spaulding said. She added, other areas that need clearer guidance include data retention and the need to tag National Security Letter information as it moves through the system and makes its way into intelligence products and criminal proceedings. “Nearly six years after 9/11, it is time to more carefully craft an effective and sustainable framework for this long-term challenge, rather than relying on a patchwork built on fear and in haste,” Spaulding said. “We owe it to the men and women who undertake this vital and sensitive work on our behalf to make sure to get it right.”
Spaulding Quoted on Need for NSL Investigation
TR Daily, April 11, 2007 — The Electronic Freedom Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, asking a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction requiring the FBI to immediately release records about alleged abuse of national security letters (NSLs) to gather Americans' personal data. At the same time, TR Daily reports, lawmakers are being asked to step up their oversight of the FBI in response to a recent report by the Justice Department’s inspector general on the issue. Bingham Consulting Group principal Suzanne Spaulding, who recently testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on national security issues, said an investigation is needed into nine NSLs that allowed the FBI to gather information on 11,000 different phone numbers. “NSLs should not become a mechanism to gather vast amounts of information on those with no known connections to terrorism for data-mining purposes,” said Spaulding. She added that lawmakers should consider transferring NSL issuing authority from FBI to Department of Justice attorneys.