The Fourth Judicial District, serving Hennepin County, in a press release today announced an immediate hiring freeze along with changes in court hours and operations in response to an anticipated budget shortfall. The court projects a $1.4 million budget deficit for its current fiscal year which ends in June 2008.
The hiring freeze reportedly will result in staff shortages throughout the court, requiring a reduction in services. Some of the changes that will impact the public include:
-- Walk-in counter and telephone services will be curtailed Wednesday afternoons, 1:30-4:30 pm, beginning Jan. 2, 2008. For example, citizens will no longer be able to pay traffic tickets in person, request copies of court files, or receive updates on the status of cases via telephone on Wednesday afternoons at all locations. Court hearings and trials will not be affected and will continue as usual.
-- Conciliation Court calendars will be reduced by one-third, resulting in some delay in scheduling hearings.
-- A program that provides supervised visitation services to noncustodial parents and their children in Family Court will be halted.
-- The court will no longer provide arbitrators for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Civil Court.
-- The court will no longer conduct criminal record checks for the public; members of the public will be referred to the public access website where this information is available.
Several factors are contributing to the anticipated shortfall, according to the release. The Hennepin County Court received $900,000 less than its budget required to cover salary and fringe benefit increases and funding for positions required by a new information system. Some of the new money that was appropriated to the state’s trial courts for the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 biennium was earmarked for special purposes, making it unavailable to cover increases in basic operating costs like employee salaries and insurance.
The District had hoped to rely on vacancy savings to help cover its shortfall. However, year-to-date vacancy rates have been much lower than expected, the release said.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A Window on Microsoft's legal fees
If you’ve ever wondered why a new copy of Microsoft’s Vista operating systems costs $300, a clue might lie in the size of the war chest the software giant must maintain for its legal fees.
A Wisconsin judge ruled this week that Minneapolis attorneys with national law firm Zelle, Hoffman, Voelbel, Mason & Gette were entitled to $4.2 million in legal fees and expenses stemming from its work in an antitrust suit against Microsoft that was settled in 2006. Microsoft challenged the fees, saying the Zelle firm had misrepresented the hours they spent working on the case.
The Wisconsin class action suit was settled for $223.8 million. A similar suit based in Minnesota was settled for $174.5 million.
Earlier this year, the Software Freedom Law Center did a projection of how much Microsoft users are being asked to share in the company’s legal costs. The group took the total of $4.3 billion dollars in legal costs incurred by Microsoft from 2001 to 2004 and divided it by estimated sales of the Windows XP operating system over the same period — about 200 million copies — to come up with a figure of $21.50 per user that goes toward Microsoft’s defense of patent suits and other legal costs.
A Wisconsin judge ruled this week that Minneapolis attorneys with national law firm Zelle, Hoffman, Voelbel, Mason & Gette were entitled to $4.2 million in legal fees and expenses stemming from its work in an antitrust suit against Microsoft that was settled in 2006. Microsoft challenged the fees, saying the Zelle firm had misrepresented the hours they spent working on the case.
The Wisconsin class action suit was settled for $223.8 million. A similar suit based in Minnesota was settled for $174.5 million.
Earlier this year, the Software Freedom Law Center did a projection of how much Microsoft users are being asked to share in the company’s legal costs. The group took the total of $4.3 billion dollars in legal costs incurred by Microsoft from 2001 to 2004 and divided it by estimated sales of the Windows XP operating system over the same period — about 200 million copies — to come up with a figure of $21.50 per user that goes toward Microsoft’s defense of patent suits and other legal costs.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Pawlenty taps Dietzen for high court opening
Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Dietzen is to be elevated to the state Supreme Court to replace departing Justice Sam Hanson. Gov. Tim Pawlenty made the announcement at a press conference earlier this afternoon.
Dietzen, who formerly served as legal counsel for Pawlenty, was an attorney with Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren in Bloomington for 16 years, where Dietzen specialized in complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on real estate and valuation disputes.
Pawlenty opted not to appoint a screening committee to vet candidates for the high court seat.
Dietzen, who formerly served as legal counsel for Pawlenty, was an attorney with Larkin Hoffman Daly & Lindgren in Bloomington for 16 years, where Dietzen specialized in complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on real estate and valuation disputes.
Pawlenty opted not to appoint a screening committee to vet candidates for the high court seat.
Police shooting case achieved pre-litigation goals
The $4.5 million settlement that the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay Duy Ngo to compensate him for the injuries he received at the hands of a fellow police officer while working undercover comes after the city reviewed and changed its procedures regarding critical incidents, according to Ngo's attorney, Robert Bennett (photo on right). The changes were not part of the settlement, but happened at the department after the incident, allowing Ngo to feel he had done some good, Bennett said. “[Police Chief Tim] Dolan walked the walk, and we achieved some pre-litigation goals, he added.
The city also instituted training involving plain clothes police officers, which will benefit the many agencies who have officers working undercover, said Bennett.
The settlement is the largest civil rights payment involving a Minnesota police department in the state’s history, and the largest in Minneapolis by a factor of four, according to Bennett. Bennett is Minnesota’s go-to guy on police civil rights cases, having handled about 100 over his career. There are only about five reported cases in the federal system involving police on police shootings, and none other than this in the 8th Circuit, he said.
“The city council stepped up and did the right thing,” Bennett said. “It took an act of political courage.” The city was aided in its decision by a real-time animation of the shooting and some deposition testimony on disks, which allowed it to see what the jury would see, Bennett added. The city also reviewed voluminous medical documents of the injuries Ngo sustained when he was shot six times after radioing for help while working undercover.
The city also instituted training involving plain clothes police officers, which will benefit the many agencies who have officers working undercover, said Bennett.
The settlement is the largest civil rights payment involving a Minnesota police department in the state’s history, and the largest in Minneapolis by a factor of four, according to Bennett. Bennett is Minnesota’s go-to guy on police civil rights cases, having handled about 100 over his career. There are only about five reported cases in the federal system involving police on police shootings, and none other than this in the 8th Circuit, he said.
“The city council stepped up and did the right thing,” Bennett said. “It took an act of political courage.” The city was aided in its decision by a real-time animation of the shooting and some deposition testimony on disks, which allowed it to see what the jury would see, Bennett added. The city also reviewed voluminous medical documents of the injuries Ngo sustained when he was shot six times after radioing for help while working undercover.
New justice to be named today
Gov. Pawlenty will announce his pick for the Minnesota Supreme Court this afternoon. Not a lot of process, not that there has to be. Many in the legal community expect a prominent attorney, not a sitting judge, to be Pawlenty's pick. One name that has been frequently mentioned is Eric Magnuson, head of the judicial selection commission, but we'll see. The governor will also name judges to district courts in Carver, Dakota, Rice and Scott counties.
Monday, November 26, 2007
U.S. high court declines to hear search case
The Associated Press reports that the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a challenge to a California county's practice of routinely searching welfare applicants' homes without warrants.
Local U.S. Attorney's Office; Where do we go from here?
While I am not completely comfortable with the hang-the-mutineers-from-the-yardarm approach of the Wall Street Journal’s recent editorial, I don't think that Rachel Paulose’s decision to leave the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office should end the inquiry into what happened there.
In a highly public uprising last April, three of Paulose’s then-deputies and an administrator stepped down from their leadership roles. (All four opted to stay in that office rather than leave, creating a management situation for Paulose that was awkward to say the least.) The move – which came at the height of the furor over the national U.S. Attorneys scandal – appears to have been calculated to dislodge Paulose from her post. Predictably, the self-demotions led to a firestorm of round-the-clock negative media coverage focused on Paulose. However, Paulose was left standing after media attempts to tie her actions into the national scandal failed.
There are, of course, exceptional circumstances that would justify a mutiny like the one staged by these deputies. So far, I have not seen anything like that on the public record – just allegations Paulose wasn’t a good manager. I think it is something that definitely needs to be explored now – particularly if, as Senators Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar recommend, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is to choose an internal candidate as Paulose’s successor. (At least one of those deputies has been named as a possible candidate in the local press.) As a corollary, such an inquiry should also consider how these each of these individuals acted after they stepped down and went back to nonmangement roles.
The other thing that concerns me deeply is that a person or persons in the office leaked highly sensitive personnel information over the Internet, including selected details of a retaliation and a discrimination complaint. This leaking was done in a manner to stoke the negative media coverage and to compromise Paulose’s ability to effectively carry out her job. The divulging of this personnel-related information was not only clearly in violation of Department of Justice policy, but also threatened the integrity of the investigative process for those complaints. I think people working in a public office have to follow the rules – if we learned anything from the Gonzales era it should be that.
I urge the new AG not to rush to pick an internal candidate as U.S. attorney without first sorting out his or her role in the recent events in the office. I think the vast majority of those in the office kept their heads down and went about their business despite the intrusive controversies. A few people in the office appear to have become disruptive forces who made it their business to stir those controversies up. If our new U.S. attorney is indeed to be drawn from the internal ranks, I, for one, would like to make sure that he or she is drawn from the former group.
In a highly public uprising last April, three of Paulose’s then-deputies and an administrator stepped down from their leadership roles. (All four opted to stay in that office rather than leave, creating a management situation for Paulose that was awkward to say the least.) The move – which came at the height of the furor over the national U.S. Attorneys scandal – appears to have been calculated to dislodge Paulose from her post. Predictably, the self-demotions led to a firestorm of round-the-clock negative media coverage focused on Paulose. However, Paulose was left standing after media attempts to tie her actions into the national scandal failed.
There are, of course, exceptional circumstances that would justify a mutiny like the one staged by these deputies. So far, I have not seen anything like that on the public record – just allegations Paulose wasn’t a good manager. I think it is something that definitely needs to be explored now – particularly if, as Senators Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar recommend, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey is to choose an internal candidate as Paulose’s successor. (At least one of those deputies has been named as a possible candidate in the local press.) As a corollary, such an inquiry should also consider how these each of these individuals acted after they stepped down and went back to nonmangement roles.
The other thing that concerns me deeply is that a person or persons in the office leaked highly sensitive personnel information over the Internet, including selected details of a retaliation and a discrimination complaint. This leaking was done in a manner to stoke the negative media coverage and to compromise Paulose’s ability to effectively carry out her job. The divulging of this personnel-related information was not only clearly in violation of Department of Justice policy, but also threatened the integrity of the investigative process for those complaints. I think people working in a public office have to follow the rules – if we learned anything from the Gonzales era it should be that.
I urge the new AG not to rush to pick an internal candidate as U.S. attorney without first sorting out his or her role in the recent events in the office. I think the vast majority of those in the office kept their heads down and went about their business despite the intrusive controversies. A few people in the office appear to have become disruptive forces who made it their business to stir those controversies up. If our new U.S. attorney is indeed to be drawn from the internal ranks, I, for one, would like to make sure that he or she is drawn from the former group.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
WSJ on Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office: 'Clean out the whiners'
If U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey heeds the advice of the Wall Street Journal, disgruntled staff members who lobbied for Rachel Paulose to depart from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office may soon wish they hadn't.
In a weekend editorial entitled "Scandalette" (password required), the heavy-hitting business daily weighed in squarely behind Paulose, who recently announced that she would leave the state at the end of the year to take a policy job at main Justice in Washington, D.C.
The WSJ opinion piece characterized most of the criticism against Paulose as amounting to an accusation that she can be a difficult boss. "If that's a hanging offense, then most of Congress would be out of a job," the WSJ says.
The editorial also refers to Paulose as an "innocent bystander" drawn into a "Beltway bloodletting" by a Congress wanting to take public hostages, a media playing up the controversy and a career staff that "took the chance to trash a political appointee they don't like."
The WSJ goes on to give the following piece of advice to Mukasey: "As for replacing Ms. Paulose in Minnesota, the AG ought to send to that office someone who'll take no grief and clean out the whiners."
In a weekend editorial entitled "Scandalette" (password required), the heavy-hitting business daily weighed in squarely behind Paulose, who recently announced that she would leave the state at the end of the year to take a policy job at main Justice in Washington, D.C.
The WSJ opinion piece characterized most of the criticism against Paulose as amounting to an accusation that she can be a difficult boss. "If that's a hanging offense, then most of Congress would be out of a job," the WSJ says.
The editorial also refers to Paulose as an "innocent bystander" drawn into a "Beltway bloodletting" by a Congress wanting to take public hostages, a media playing up the controversy and a career staff that "took the chance to trash a political appointee they don't like."
The WSJ goes on to give the following piece of advice to Mukasey: "As for replacing Ms. Paulose in Minnesota, the AG ought to send to that office someone who'll take no grief and clean out the whiners."
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
The cost of compliance
Many in-house types have been worried about the cost of compliance since Sarbanes-Oxley, and recent data on accounting salaries show that there may be cause for continuing concern.According to the 2008 Salary Guide from Robert Half, public accountants are expected to see a bump in pay anywhere from 5.5 percent to 7.7 percent — several percentage points higher than the projected salary hikes for corporate accountants.
Will this translate into higher bills for those internal control reports? Here’s the numbers:
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
Audit, tax and management services
Large firms
Senior manager/director: +7.4%
Manager: +7%
Senior: +6.1%
1 to 3 years: +5.7%
Up to 1 year: +5.5%
Midsize firms
Senior manager/director: +7.7%
Manager: +7%
Senior: +6.2%
1 to 3 years: +6.4%
Up to 1 year: +6.3%
Small firms
Senior manager/director: +7%
Manager: +7.6%
Senior: +6%
1 to 3 years: +7.7%
Up to 1 year: +6.4%
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
A perspective on Paulose: A tough tenure draws to a close
The news that Rachel Paulose would be leaving as U.S. attorney was hardly shocking. (See "Minnesota's embattled U.S. attorney steps down" in the Star Tribune.) And I am sure that there are many in the U.S. Attorney’s Office rejoicing. The gulf that had grown between our 34-year-old U.S. attorney and her staff was wide, and, in the end, proved insurmountable.
I believe that Paulose made the right choice in opting to end her often stormy tenure and accept a policy job in main Justice in Washington, D.C.
It has always been my belief that it was a management situation causing the disruptions at the office. Paulose has sterling academic credentials and a highly impressive resume for her age. But she had little real management experience.
Intent on impressing her bosses and no doubt deeply believing in her priorities, she plowed ahead and redirected the office without getting buy-in from the troops. She was also reportedly sometimes dictatorial in manner and abrasive toward subordinates. These are rookie mistakes frequently made by inexperienced managers. But when that manager is in charge of 100 talented individuals at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and operating in a fishbowl, there is little room for error.
While I am not adverse to occasionally giving an important role to a highly talented young person and giving them a chance to grow into it, such a person needs guidance and support. As far as I can tell, such support was completely lacking from the problem-riddled Department of Justice.
While I did not agree with all the actions taken by some in Paulose’s office (particularly those leaking information), I believe that their motivations arose out of the difficult employment situation they found themselves in rather than race or gender animus.
And I likewise don't believe the charge bandied around the Web that Paulose somehow has racist tendencies. As a woman from an immigrant family from India, she found that speculation particularly hurtful. I know that she is willing at the drop of a hat to give a long list of past accomplishments showing her interest and commitment to the Civil Rights area, including her recent work in human trafficking, which often involves woman from foreign cultures.
So what are we left to think of Paulose?
I had the pleasure of getting to spend some time speaking with and getting to know Paulose while I was covering the various management-related controversies in her office. The Paulose I got to know was neither the Wicked Witch of the West that some of her detractors made her out to be nor the “St. Rachel” of some conservative blogs (and for that matter, of Katherine Kerstin’s somewhat over-the-top salute in the Star Tribune last May, “The Real Rachel Paulose.”)
I found Paulose to be a highly driven and even at times charming individual who also is a fallible human being. She is definitely conservative, but not very political. (Ironically, had she cared more about politics, she might have been able to rally some political support when she needed it so badly.) She is a brilliant woman with encyclopedic knowledge. Most surprising of all was the fact that Paulose has a keen sense of humor – albeit a wryly dry one.
Unfortunately, most of Paulose’s subordinates apparently never got to see this side of her. Because of her poorly developed management skills, she came across as aloof, condescending and inflexible. She was apparently so busy being defensive after being thrown in at the deep end of the pool that she never let her personality shine through.
Sadly, I think Paulose was starting to improve in recent months. She was no longer micromanaging, but instead was spending a lot of time on the road on outreach projects and delegating the day-to-day operations to her experienced deputies. Had she adopted this approach from the beginning, we would likely not be at this point now.
Then Paulose made her final misstep -- issuing a public comment online about the internal dispute in her office. It is ironic that that was the nail in Paulose’s coffin. She was generally very shy about talking on the record about anything for public consumption, no doubt due in part to her inexperience dealing with the media. I suppose the battering she was taking in the media and on the Internet finally got the best of her. Understandable, but unfortunate.
It is my hope that Paulose will view this as a learning experience rather than accept some of the easy excuses some of her more vocal supporters have been offering her. She was only 32 when she was thrust into a management situation that most 50 year olds couldn’t handle. She was given little or no good support from an incredibly dysfunctional DOJ. She struggled mightily, but was unable to pull it off in the end. No shame in that.
In short, Paulose is a remarkable young woman with a lot to offer. While I think higher-ups in the Administration did her a disservice by moving her along too far, too fast, I am equally sure she has already begun contemplating how she can get the seasoning she needs to make sure she is properly prepared for her next great challenge – be that in public service or the private sector. In the near term, I am glad to hear the people of the United States will continue to benefit from her extensive talents as she moves on to a role that is, for the present, better suited for her.
In closing, I would like to point out that Paulose’s tenure in Minnesota has not been wasted. Despite the internal problems, the office did some great work in investigating and prosecuting child-porn and human trafficking cases. I would not have that forgotten due to the recent turbulence. Minnesotans can truly be grateful to Paulose and the entire staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their Herculean efforts in those areas. It’s a legacy worth having.
I believe that Paulose made the right choice in opting to end her often stormy tenure and accept a policy job in main Justice in Washington, D.C.
It has always been my belief that it was a management situation causing the disruptions at the office. Paulose has sterling academic credentials and a highly impressive resume for her age. But she had little real management experience.
Intent on impressing her bosses and no doubt deeply believing in her priorities, she plowed ahead and redirected the office without getting buy-in from the troops. She was also reportedly sometimes dictatorial in manner and abrasive toward subordinates. These are rookie mistakes frequently made by inexperienced managers. But when that manager is in charge of 100 talented individuals at the U.S. Attorney’s Office and operating in a fishbowl, there is little room for error.
While I am not adverse to occasionally giving an important role to a highly talented young person and giving them a chance to grow into it, such a person needs guidance and support. As far as I can tell, such support was completely lacking from the problem-riddled Department of Justice.
While I did not agree with all the actions taken by some in Paulose’s office (particularly those leaking information), I believe that their motivations arose out of the difficult employment situation they found themselves in rather than race or gender animus.
And I likewise don't believe the charge bandied around the Web that Paulose somehow has racist tendencies. As a woman from an immigrant family from India, she found that speculation particularly hurtful. I know that she is willing at the drop of a hat to give a long list of past accomplishments showing her interest and commitment to the Civil Rights area, including her recent work in human trafficking, which often involves woman from foreign cultures.
So what are we left to think of Paulose?
I had the pleasure of getting to spend some time speaking with and getting to know Paulose while I was covering the various management-related controversies in her office. The Paulose I got to know was neither the Wicked Witch of the West that some of her detractors made her out to be nor the “St. Rachel” of some conservative blogs (and for that matter, of Katherine Kerstin’s somewhat over-the-top salute in the Star Tribune last May, “The Real Rachel Paulose.”)
I found Paulose to be a highly driven and even at times charming individual who also is a fallible human being. She is definitely conservative, but not very political. (Ironically, had she cared more about politics, she might have been able to rally some political support when she needed it so badly.) She is a brilliant woman with encyclopedic knowledge. Most surprising of all was the fact that Paulose has a keen sense of humor – albeit a wryly dry one.
Unfortunately, most of Paulose’s subordinates apparently never got to see this side of her. Because of her poorly developed management skills, she came across as aloof, condescending and inflexible. She was apparently so busy being defensive after being thrown in at the deep end of the pool that she never let her personality shine through.
Sadly, I think Paulose was starting to improve in recent months. She was no longer micromanaging, but instead was spending a lot of time on the road on outreach projects and delegating the day-to-day operations to her experienced deputies. Had she adopted this approach from the beginning, we would likely not be at this point now.
Then Paulose made her final misstep -- issuing a public comment online about the internal dispute in her office. It is ironic that that was the nail in Paulose’s coffin. She was generally very shy about talking on the record about anything for public consumption, no doubt due in part to her inexperience dealing with the media. I suppose the battering she was taking in the media and on the Internet finally got the best of her. Understandable, but unfortunate.
It is my hope that Paulose will view this as a learning experience rather than accept some of the easy excuses some of her more vocal supporters have been offering her. She was only 32 when she was thrust into a management situation that most 50 year olds couldn’t handle. She was given little or no good support from an incredibly dysfunctional DOJ. She struggled mightily, but was unable to pull it off in the end. No shame in that.
In short, Paulose is a remarkable young woman with a lot to offer. While I think higher-ups in the Administration did her a disservice by moving her along too far, too fast, I am equally sure she has already begun contemplating how she can get the seasoning she needs to make sure she is properly prepared for her next great challenge – be that in public service or the private sector. In the near term, I am glad to hear the people of the United States will continue to benefit from her extensive talents as she moves on to a role that is, for the present, better suited for her.
In closing, I would like to point out that Paulose’s tenure in Minnesota has not been wasted. Despite the internal problems, the office did some great work in investigating and prosecuting child-porn and human trafficking cases. I would not have that forgotten due to the recent turbulence. Minnesotans can truly be grateful to Paulose and the entire staff of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their Herculean efforts in those areas. It’s a legacy worth having.
Growing income gap for women lawyers
More bad news about gender equity in the law from the National Association of Women Lawyers' second national Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms.
Among its findings, the survey shows that there is a growing income gap
between men and women lawyers as they move up the partnership ranks, that
the large majority of women who start as associates in firms are not
promoted to equity positions or law firm leadership roles, and that law
firm governance is overwhelmingly male, with fully 15 percent of the surveyed
firms lacking a female on its top committee.
A news release from NAWL is available here, and ABA coverage of the survey is available here.
NAWL offers an interesting resource for women relative to these issues. It offers the "Connect, Listen and Learn" series, an teleconference book club that includes the author. December's book is "Tripping The Prom Queen: The Truth About Women and Rivalry" with Susan Shapiro Barash.
The site states, "As more women join law firms we need to think about ways to maximize the ways we work together. This book explores the world of women to women competition and how we often undermine each others efforts. ...Barash discusses the “underworld” of female relationships and ends with outlining ways that we can turn this competition into strength.
Also on NAWL's website is a picture of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar with Holly English, NAWL's president. English visited Minnesota last month for the Minnesota Women Lawyers Rosalie Wahl Leadership Lecture, where she warned attendees this bad news on gender equity was coming, and emphasized the need for women lawyers to support and mentor each other.
Among its findings, the survey shows that there is a growing income gap
between men and women lawyers as they move up the partnership ranks, that
the large majority of women who start as associates in firms are not
promoted to equity positions or law firm leadership roles, and that law
firm governance is overwhelmingly male, with fully 15 percent of the surveyed
firms lacking a female on its top committee.
A news release from NAWL is available here, and ABA coverage of the survey is available here.
NAWL offers an interesting resource for women relative to these issues. It offers the "Connect, Listen and Learn" series, an teleconference book club that includes the author. December's book is "Tripping The Prom Queen: The Truth About Women and Rivalry" with Susan Shapiro Barash.
The site states, "As more women join law firms we need to think about ways to maximize the ways we work together. This book explores the world of women to women competition and how we often undermine each others efforts. ...Barash discusses the “underworld” of female relationships and ends with outlining ways that we can turn this competition into strength.
Also on NAWL's website is a picture of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar with Holly English, NAWL's president. English visited Minnesota last month for the Minnesota Women Lawyers Rosalie Wahl Leadership Lecture, where she warned attendees this bad news on gender equity was coming, and emphasized the need for women lawyers to support and mentor each other.
Monday, November 19, 2007
By speaking out, has Paulose has stoked a dying fire?
As Minnesota Lawyer editor Mark Cohen mentioned on Friday, after months of keeping a relatively low profile, U.S. Attorney Rachel Paulose has stepped back into the spotlight. But after all is said and done, she might wish she hadn’t.
Local conservative blogger Scott Johnson wrote an essay for the National Review’s blog dismantled Johnson’s article in a lengthy essay that went online today. MNPublius maintained that it was a curious strategy for Paulose to counter charges of partisanship by giving an exclusive to a strongly conservative blogger. And Steve Sack’s Star Tribune cartoon Monday made no bones about the lingering talk that Paulose got and has kept her post thanks mostly to loyalty toward the Bush administration (click on cartoon 2 in the ST’s Sack gallery).
In trying to defend herself, Paulose seems to be only leaving herself open for more criticism, all but erasing memories of her positive accomplishments.
UPDATE: The news has just broken that Paulose has resigned her post as U.S. Attorney to go to work for new U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Local conservative blogger Scott Johnson wrote an essay for the National Review’s blog dismantled Johnson’s article in a lengthy essay that went online today. MNPublius maintained that it was a curious strategy for Paulose to counter charges of partisanship by giving an exclusive to a strongly conservative blogger. And Steve Sack’s Star Tribune cartoon Monday made no bones about the lingering talk that Paulose got and has kept her post thanks mostly to loyalty toward the Bush administration (click on cartoon 2 in the ST’s Sack gallery).
In trying to defend herself, Paulose seems to be only leaving herself open for more criticism, all but erasing memories of her positive accomplishments.
UPDATE: The news has just broken that Paulose has resigned her post as U.S. Attorney to go to work for new U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
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