(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 3/30/15)
Justice's Fashion Trend:
'Free Holder' Bracelets
A new fashion trend is sweeping the halls of the Justice
Department -- "Free Eric Holder" wristbands, an inside joke among
Attorney General Eric Holder's top aides and supporters about the
monthslong political standoff over his successor.
The black rubber bracelets -- like the ones people wear to
support various charities or causes -- started appearing on
staffers' wrists a couple of weeks ago, when it became clear there
was no end in sight to the standoff over the nomination of Loretta
Lynch.
Mr. Holder, one of President Barack Obama's longest-serving
cabinet members, announced last year that he would leave the post
as soon as a successor was confirmed.
But a Senate floor vote on Ms. Lynch is weeks, if not months,
away because of a standoff between Democrats and Republicans over
an abortion provision in a human trafficking bill.
"I think it's just gotten to the point where it's ridiculous how
long this has been going on and friends and supporters of the
attorney general want to be able to show their support and also
have a laugh," said his former spokeswoman Adora Jenkins.
-- Devlin Barrett
Judge Rebukes Attorneys
For Excessive Wordiness
The judicial revolt against legal verbosity spilled into a
federal court in Manhattan where a judge presiding over a business
dispute scolded lawyers on both sides of the case for "choking the
docket" with "behemoth" pleadings.
For months U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III, a Clinton
appointee who joined the bench in 1998, asked the attorneys
involved to keep their written statements to the court simple and
concise.
In a ruling handed down last week, Judge Pauley reprimanded the
lawyers for not listening to him.
"A troubling trend toward prolixity in pleading is infecting
court dockets in this district and elsewhere," he wrote.
The case is a contract and trademark dispute between United
Parcel Service Inc. and former franchise operators, Robert and
Thomas Hagan. Both sides accuse each other of deceptive business
practices.
In his 22-page ruling, Judge Pauley ordered the plaintiffs and
defendants to amend their claims and counterclaims, granting some
motions and dismissing others.
But before getting to the legal questions, he spent pages
recounting what he characterized as the lawyers' willful defiance
of his instructions.
A lawyer for UPS didn't respond to a request for comment.
A co-counsel for the defendants, William A. Brewer III, who
recently joined the case, responded with a statement expressing
sympathy for the judge's position.
-- Jacob Gershman
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