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Times vows to fill legal slot . . . eventually

By Mark Obbie

Nine Tuesdays ago, Adam Liptak's Sidebar column on legal affairs in the Times ran with this note:Since then, the Times has said nothing publicly (that I'm aware of) about its plans to fill Liptak's vacancy on the national desk's New York-based legal affairs beat -- a vacancy it has known about since at least early April, when it picked Liptak to replace Linda Greenhouse. Where I come from, lengthy vacancies and publication hiatuses -- especially when the cause of the vacancy was a veteran staffer taking a buyout -- spell trouble in one of two forms: a hiring freeze or a position on the chopping block. A third option, I suppose, is a drastically rethought beat. I asked the Times and Liptak for an update. A PR person did nothing to dampen my speculation that a treasured legal affairs beat -- one unburdened with daily courthouse obligations and previously staffed with distinction by William Glaberson and David Margolick -- was in danger. "At this time no decisions have been made," was all she'd say. But, via Liptak, Times editors are more reassuring, telling him, he says, that he "will definitely be replaced, but personnel decisions take a little longer than they used to, for obvious reasons." I'll buy that, but I promise to stomp my little blogger feet in frustration if it turns out that the Times budget gods yank away the money before it can be spent. Meantime, Liptak is doing more than packing his family for the move to D.C. He promises "a couple more articles" in his fabulous American Exception series before the first Monday in October.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on July 08, 2008 (boomark / email).