Legal News

Interviews Under Way for Pennsylvania's Three U.S. Atty Posts

By Brian Harris

By Shannon P. Duffy
U.S. Courthouse Correspondent

The first round of in-person interviews was held Friday in Harrisburg for lawyers seeking to be appointed to the post of U.S. attorney in one of Pennsylvania's three federal districts.

Among the candidates for the Eastern District slot were Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham and three former federal prosecutors -- Elizabeth K. Ainslie and James J. Eisenhower, both of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, and A. Roy DeCaro of Raynes McCarty.

One source said the candidates were interviewed by a committee of more than a dozen that was chaired by attorneys Robert Ross of Ross Feller Casey and Thomas Kline of Kline & Specter. Ross and Kline are also the co-chairmen of the commission that screens candidates for federal judgeships.

Also on the interviewing committee, sources said, were former Eastern District U.S. Attorney Michael R. Stiles, (now a top executive with the Philadelphia Phillies); former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Baldwin; former Middle District U.S. Attorney David Barasch; and current Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

Neither Sen. Bob Casey nor Sen. Arlen Specter were present for the interviews, several sources said, and candidates were not told when and a second round of interviews will be held.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).