By Mark Singer (Washington DC) APR 23 | In a tersely worded statement released this morning, Robert D. Hays, Jr., chairman of the Washington D. C. law firm King & Spalding, announced that it will not continue to represent the U.S. House of Representatives in efending 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," Hays said. "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 King & Spalding firm came under intense fire from LGBT rights advocates after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced last week that former Bush Administration Solicitor General Paul Clement, a senior partner, would be representing the House in court defending the Defense of Marriage Act.
LGBTQNation reports that today’s announcement by King & Spalding to withdraw from representing the U.S. House prompted Clement’s resignation:
LGBTQNation reports that today’s announcement by King & Spalding to withdraw from representing the U.S. House prompted Clement’s resignation:
“I resign out of the firmly held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client’s legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters. Defending unpopular clients is what lawyers do,” Clement wrote to King & Spalding chairman Robert Hays.
“I recognized from the outset that this statute implicates very sensitive issues that prompt strong views on both sides. But having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it.”
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1 comments:
I agree, lawyers should, and must, defend unpopular cases otherwise we all lose. If the law is beholden to pressure groups of any stripe then the law is useless, take a look at the Supreme Court Justices being removed in the Midwest. Regardless of what you feel about Clement, his position has merit.
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