Lawyers Poised To Rule The World

The ABA Journal has sounded the starting gun on speculation about the lawyers ready to take prominent roles in the new administration. Depending on the presidential victor, names you know will become names that everybody knows.

Let’s jump into the ABA speculation on an Obama Administration. For U.S.A.G:

Eric Holder: Partner, Covington & Burling.

Holder and Obama have been friends since they hit it off at a dinner party in 2004. He is the consummate Washington insider–a familiar fixture in the Clinton administration, but well-known to Republican administrations as well. Best known as a prosecutor, Holder was fresh out of law school when he was assigned to the newly formed public integrity section of the Justice Department.

ATL’s dark horse pick: Andrew Cuomo. It’s the only way to save the Democratic party in New York, otherwise 2010 will be a bloodbath.

White House Counsel:

Robert Bauer: Partner, Perkins Coie.

He helped represent Minority Leader Tom Daschle during the Senate impeachment trial of Bill Clinton and was general counsel to Bill Bradley’s presidential campaign. He’s considered one of the nation’s top experts on the intricacies of campaign finance and writes about it regularly on More Soft Money Hard Law, a law blog devoted to campaign finance.

ATL says: No brainer. Remember, most of Obama’s Senate staff came from Daschle’s staff after Daschle lost his seat.

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And the next SCOTUS justice:

Elena Kagan: Dean, Harvard Law School.

In 1999, President Clinton tapped Kagan for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, only to have the nomination blocked by the Senate Judiciary Committee, then controlled by Republicans. But many think an Obama administration wouldn’t hesitate to tap her for a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court.

OR:

Sonia Sotomayor: Judge, 2nd Circuit.

She was first appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, then to the appeals court by President Clinton. In 1995, she won the gratitude of baseball fans by issuing an injunction against team owners, setting the stage for the end of the eight-month strike that led to the cancellation of the 1994 World Series.

ATL’s pick: Dean Kagan. Sotomayor would be an easier confirmation to be sure. But we once suffered a Socratic demolition at the hands of then Professor Kagan in a 1L CivPro class, earning her enduring respect. More substantively Sotomayor has an excellent chance to pull a Justice Souter once she’s on the Court. She’s maybe the appropriate choice if Kennedy moves on, but if Obama is replacing Stevens he’d better tap Kagan.

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McCain’s administration after the jump.


A McCain administration would be even more studded with Biglaw stars than Obama’s.

U.S.A.G:

A.B. Culvahouse Jr.: Chair, O’Melveny & Myers.

Culvahouse moves behind the scenes on the inside of insiders’ Washington. He was President Reagan’s White House counsel from 1987 to 1989 and advised the president during the Iran-Contra investigation. He was Robert Bork’s handler in his unsuccessful bid for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. He headed the search for McCain’s running mate, and he was agile enough to handle last-minute vetting of Sarah Palin and win a hotly contested third four-year term as chair of O’Melveny & Myers.

ATL’s dark horse pick: Rudy Giuliani. He’s been robo-calling for McCain, he brings a tenacity to the office, and he needs a job. Plus, Giuliani seems mavericky.

White House Counsel:

Ted Olson: Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

[W]hen Republicans feared the march of conservative jurists might end with a maverick McCain in the White House, Olson came to the rescue at McCain’s request. The Federalist Society stalwart was named co-chair of McCain’s justice advisory committee, a clear signal that McCain’s judicial picks would stick with the program. As a result, Olson will be a serious candidate for White House counsel, at least for the first two years. He was assistant attorney general heading the Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan administration.

ATL says: His conservative credentials are strong, but more than that he’s an excellent attorney. David Boies got famous off of Bush v. Gore, Olson won.

And the next SCOTUS justice:

Lillian BeVier: Professor, University of Virginia Law School.

BeVier teaches constitutional law at the University of Virginia, and she’s vice chair of the Legal Services Corp. She was mentioned as a replacement for Justice O’Connor, but the nomination ultimately went to John G. Roberts Jr.

OR

Miguel Estrada: Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

In 2001, Estrada was the first federal appellate court nominee to get filibustered by Democratic senators worried about tipping the balance of power on the Supreme Court. Estrada had not been named to the high court–just to the powerful D.C. Circuit. But so sure were Democrats that Estrada was being primed to be the first Hispanic justice, they decided to defeat his nomination before it was too late.

At Harvard, the Honduran-born Estrada was editor of the law review. He clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and joined the Clinton administration in 1992 as an assistant to the solicitor general. He’s argued 18 cases before the Supreme Court and is co-chair of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher’s appellate and constitutional law prac­tice group.

ATL’s pick: Estrada. Not withstanding the current focus on Joe the Occupation, if McCain wins it will be in no small part due to high Hispanic turnout in Florida, in Colorado, and in Nevada. Aside from identity politics, Estrada has many of the same qualifications that helped Roberts breeze through the confirmation process. The Democrats were only able to stop him at the Circuit Court level because of a ridiculous filibuster that didn’t get the press coverage it deserved. But he’s going to be a very tough person for a Democratically controlled Senate to vote “no” on.

What are your thoughts?

The Lawyers Who May Run America (Dems)

The Lawyers Who May Run America (GOP)