Legal News

Facing a Mountain of Trouble, N.Y. Governor Taps Legal Eagle

By Ashby Jones

Political scandals stymie effective government, corrode public trust, and can ruin lives. But they’re a lifeblood for others, like comedy writers, journalists and, yes, lawyers.

The latest lawyer to benefit from a politician’s woes is Paul Weiss’s ubiquitous Ted Wells. The embattled New York governor David Paterson has tapped Wells to help him find a way through an ever-growing mountain of troubles. Click here for the NYT story; here for a story from the WSJ Friday on Paterson’s battles.

Wells is ridiculously experienced in these types of matters, having represented Eliot Spitzer, Scooter Libby, and Robert Torricelli during their own dustups. People who’ve seen Wells work his way around a trial say he seems like he was born in a courtroom.

That said, Wells is going to have his work cut out for him with Paterson. A Paterson resignation might be forthcoming. A top aide is convening an urgent meeting of the administration’s entire New York City staff on Friday afternoon, according to a senior administration aide.

Paterson has been battling intense pressure to resign after the New York Times broke a story alleging that he tried to influence witness testimony in a domestic-violence dispute involving one of his closest aides. On Wednesday, a state commission accused the governor of lying under oath that he intended to pay for several World Series tickets he received for free last fall.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 05, 2010 (boomark / email).