Monday, May 2, 2011

The NRA drops King & Spalding over the DOMA case


I guess this will be a trend with these people. The NRA (the Gun Club for Men) dumped King and Spalding because... You guessed it. The DOMA case. Here's their letter of concern:
We are writing to notify you of our decision to terminate our legal services agreement with King & Spalding, effective immediately, due to the firm's decision to bow to political pressure and abandon a client in the midst of a legal representation. Specifically, our decision is motivated by your withdrawal as counsel for the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives in defense of Section III of the Defense of Marriage Act.
We believe King & Spalding's decision is indefensible and raises serious concerns about its ability to be a reliable and effective advocate for any client facing potentially controversial litigation.
To be clear, our decision is not motivated by any position on the statute itself. As you know, the National Rifle Association is a single-issue organization dedicated to the protection of the Second Amendment. We are, however, often involved in controversial issues on which emotions can run high. This is as true in the legal arena as it is in the legislative. It goes without saying that in situations in which we retain outside counsel, we expect them to zealously advocate for our interests and not abandon the representation due to pressure from those who may disagree with us.
The representation we have received to date from King & Spalding, specifically by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, has been outstanding. Given your firm's recent conduct, we cannot continue to rely on King & Spalding to represent the NRA. Indeed, your decision only serves to embolden ideological organizations to protest the legal representation of other organizations with which they disagree, with the goal of freezing their opponents out of legal representation entirely. That, in turn, threatens the very principles on which our legal system is based.
Therefore, we hereby terminate our legal services agreement with King & Spalding.
Interesting. I see that these fallouts will show us who's really on our side.

source

1 comment:

Bob said...

What does the NRA care about DOMA.
Oh, it has the word DEFENSE in there and they think it has something to do with guns.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.