Legal News

GOP Delays Holder Confirmation, Paul Weiss Gets Fannie GC and More

By Dan Slater

A morning round-up of comings and goings:

A holding pattern for Holder: When it came to shuttering Gitmo, Obama was quick out of the gate. But he’ll have to give his nominee for Attorney General a few days to catch up. Yesterday, Senate Republicans, reports the Times, forced a one-week delay in a vote on the nomination of Eric H. Holder.

Holder’s ultimate confirmation still appears all but assured, notes the Times. But the procedural delay led Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse each other of souring the spirit of bipartisanship that Obama’s inauguration was supposed to signal. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the committee, has led the opposition.

From the Army to Latham to Fannie to Paul Weiss: Beth Wilkinson, most recently the general counsel at Fannie Mae, is heading to Paul Weiss. Prior to Fannie, Wilkinson (UVA Law), a former prosecutor, worked in Latham’s white-collar crime practice. She began her legal career as a captain in the U.S. Army and as assistant to the general counsel of the Department of the Army. In 2000, Wilkinson married TV reporter David Gregory, of NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Here’s the NLJ report.

DOJ’s former #3 heading to Bracewell & Giuliani: Former U.S. Associate Attorney General Kevin J. O’Connor (UConn Law) joined Bracewell & Giuliani as a litigation partner in the law firm’s Hartford, Conn., office. Here’s the NLJ report on O’Connor’s move.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 22, 2009 (boomark / email).