Law Firm Backs Out Of Agreement To Defend DOMA
– April 25, 2011
Posted in: Politics
WASHINGTON — The law firm King & Spalding announced on Monday that it will not continue to represent the U.S. House of Representatives in defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
“Today the firm filed a motion to withdraw from its engagement to represent the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the House of Representatives on the constitutional issues regarding Section III of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act,” firm chairman Robert D. Hays, Jr. said in a statement. “Last week we worked diligently through the process required for withdrawal.”
In reviewing this assignment further, I determined that the process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate,” he continued. “Ultimately I am responsible for any mistakes that occurred and apologize for the challenges this may have created.”
The law firm came under intense criticism from LGBT rights advocates last week after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that former Bush solicitor general Paul Clement, a partner in the firm, would be defending the law that defines federal marriage as between one man and one woman. The contract for the deal said that the firm would receive as much as $500,000 for their work on the case.
Boehner’s decision to have the House intervene and defend DOMA came after Attorney General Eric Holder announced in February that the administration would no longer argue in support of the law after it concluded that the law is unconstitutional.
Last month, a five-person House Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group voted along party lines (3-2) to direct the House General Counsel to initiate a legal defense of DOMA.
http://maxinity.info/2011/04/law-firm-backs-out-of-agreement-to-defend-doma/
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