Shirley, your attorneys are on line one! Crowell & Moring, perhaps?
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Stacking the deck???
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2009/federal-appointments/person/ramona-emilia-romero/
Ramona Emilia Romero
[Agriculture Department logo]
Agriculture Department
General Counsel
Announced: June 25, 2010
Bio
* Education: Barnard College, BA; Harvard University, JD
* Ethnicity: Hispanic
* Gender: Female
Last Job
* DuPont
Other Job
* Crowell & Moring, litigator
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http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=search&case=/data2/circs/DC/025052a.html
97cv01978). In response, lawyers from the Pro Bono Com- mittee and the firms of Arnold & Porter and Crowell & Moring recruited some of Washington’s largest law firms: Covington & Burling; Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood; Step- toe & Johnson; Swidler, Berlin, Shereff & Friedman; and Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering. The district court, recogniz- ing the competing demands on class counsel arising out of their representation of multiple claimants in both tracks and at various stages of the claims resolution process, hoped that this added assistance would lift the “heavy burden of Track B litigation from the shoulders of Class Counsel,” enabling them to “focus on the petition [for monitor review] process.” Pig- ford, 143 F. Supp. 2d at 30 n.1.
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February 18, 2010
Government Announces $1.25 Billion Settlement in Black Farmer Litigation
EXCERPT
Crowell & Moring partner Andrew Marks, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he looks forward to working with the administration to ensure the necessary funding is provided. “We are very pleased that we have been able to reach a settlement that will at long last provide meaningful relief to tens of thousands of black farmers who were the victims of decades of race discrimination by the government,” Marks said.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/us/26farmers.html
Then in February, the farmers and the Obama administration reached a settlement to pay out an additional $1.15 billion, and President Obama, who co-sponsored the 2008 measure as a senator, included the money in his proposed budget for the 2011 fiscal year.
The amount each farmer will receive will not be determined until all the claims have been vetted, said Andrew Marks, a lawyer with Crowell & Moring in Washington, one of the firms representing the farmers. Some 30,000 claims have been filed, he said, and lawyers expect a “significant” number of additional claims.
In the 1999 settlement, successful plaintiffs filing basic claims received $50,000 tax free. The money is half what the farmers sought, but the administration’s promise of a quick resolution prompted them to accept the deal, Mr. Boyd said.
Congress missed a March 31 deadline set by the administration to provide financing, which would have allowed payments to start by the summer of 2011.
The farmers agreed to give the government an extension through May 31. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a bill that includes the settlement.
The settlement has strong support across party lines, but some lawmakers are worried that the bill’s costs have not been offset by corresponding cuts in spending.
If Congress misses another deadline, the farmers can withdraw from the settlement, which most are reluctant to do.
Mr. Boyd suggested that Mr. Obama circumvent Congress and pay farmers out of the same special Treasury Department fund used to pay Pigford claims.
So far, Mr. Obama has deferred to Congress. Some farmers have speculated that the president is shying away from the issue because it involves race. The White House said that was untrue.
“The president’s approach to this is not based on the color of skin but because of what is right,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this story. I think they’ll hire her back and the other shoe will drop.