Lawyers Weigh In in Watts' Judge-Buying

Originally posted over at overlawyered, lawyers and the law community are now weighing in about Mikal Watts' judge-buying scandal.

Invoking these comments:

If I ever received a letter like that, invoking either friendship or donations, it would go straight to the disciplinary committee. (Eric @ New York Personal Injury Law Blog)

My first stop would be every newspaper office I could think of. Then the disciplinary committee. (John Burgess)

But with a letter making such threats, to actually leave written eveidence of such things: could you give Mr. Watts a poke from something beyond the (in Texas, completely useless, see previous post) disciplinary comittee? Is there no "judge tampering" equivalent of the jury tampering charge? (Griffin3)

This strikes me as a fairly clear violation of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. See Rule 8.04(a)(5) (prohibiting lawyers from "stat[ing] or imply[ing] an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official"). Watts's comments concerning his firm's contributions to the justices logically could serve no other purpose than to imply improper influence. (The Curmudgeonly Ex-Clerk)

It's also since been picked up by other law blogs:
Another reason not to popularly elect judges--ever, anywhere. - What About Clients
If you're not reading Overlawyered... - Point of Law

Watts' Judge-Buying Shows Need for Judicial Reform

According to an Express News article, a statewide 1999 survey commissioned by the Texas Supreme Court and the State Bar of Texas found that 48 percent of judges said campaign contributions "have a fairly significant influence on judicial decisions."

Some 69 percent of court personnel and 79 percent of lawyers surveyed said they believed campaign contributions affect judicial decisions.

Of course, this was brought to light with Mikal Watts' touting of "heavy" financial support for area judges, convincing at least one legal opponent to settle out of court.

Mikal Watts' Judge Buying - Grounds For Disbarment?

According to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct:

8.04 (a) A lawyer shall not... (5) state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official

If we backtrack to see where Watts has claimed an advantage because of his and his firm's "heavy" financial support to court judges, how can that NOT be a grounds for at least some sort of action.

Recently unearthed, though, is a new series of emails between Watts and his chums about how to meet, and how to coordinate their millions to best buy seats on the court. In "A Plot To Control The Bench," El Defenzor posts full emails between Mikal Watts and other area attorneys. With a subject line of Keeping Our Power Dry on the 148, the attorneys collude to hand-pick the best candidates:

What does everyone think about a meeting two Fridays from now to discuss a plan of action? - Mikal Watts, Watts Law Firm

We operate with a lot more clout and effectiveness when we operate together. - Mikal Watts, Watts Law Firm

I am also in trial and also agree entirely. - William Edwards, Edwards Law Firm

I want everyone to be spending money on the same candidate for the 148^th. - Doug Allison, Law Offices of Doug Allison

Sounds good. - Jim Ragan, Law Office of Jim Ragan

By the way, it is my understanding that both Elbert Ocanas and David Huerta would only run for the 148^th if Marisela did NOT. - David Bright, Watts Law Firm

sounds good. - David Rumley, Wigington Rumley LLP

Which makes me wonder about...

col·lu·sion /kəˈluʒən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuh-loo-zhuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a secret agreement, esp. for fraudulent or treacherous purposes; conspiracy: Some of his employees were acting in collusion to rob him.

2.	Law. a secret understanding between two or more persons to gain something illegally, to defraud another of his or her rights, or to appear as adversaries though in agreement: collusion of husband and wife to obtain a divorce.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

So at the very least, a solid group of affluent Corpus Christi lawyers are working together to get judges elected, and at least one, Mikal Watts, has used that fact to persuade legal opponents to settle out of court. If not illegal, it's unethical at best. Trial lawyers typically claim they stand for the common guy against large corporations, but at the cost of justice in our courts, I'm not sure that's a fair trade.

Mikal Watts Thinks Money Buys Everything

As bloggers wake up this morning, we're all checking our emails and noticing the Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express News articles from last night, and not only finding out about Watts' significant contributions to justices that hear his appeals cases, but also that he's using that fact to pressure courtroom opponents into out of court settlements. This may be a bigger story than I originally thought at 2am...

PS. Here's the letter in PDF

Here's more Commentary from refinish69 at DMPFTL about Watts' appeals court buying:

Mikal Watts wants to buy a US Senate Seat. He has no experience in politics but thinks his money entitles him to one of the highest elected positions that of US Senator from Texas. What is worse than his stances on Choice (womens or the fact that he thinks Gays and Lesbian chose to be gay) and his touting of Republican speaking points when calling for "Clean" steam cell research is his touting that he bought Justices.

Mikal is starting to sound more and more like Cornyn or -god forbid, Shrub everyday. Texas deserves better than this.

PDiddie at Brains and Eggs seems to agree:

The only qualification Mikal Watts seems to have in standing for public office is that he has millions of dollars to spend getting himself elected. I just can't see much difference between him and John "Bush's Box Turtle" Cornyn.

Pretty hideous if that's our two choices in 2008.

Vince Leibowitz at Capitol Annex on how Watts has opened himself up to attacks by the GOP:

Admittedly, Watts’ defense isn’t totally illegitimate, although I disagree that the [Texas Supreme Court] rarely up cases on appeal when the plaintiff prevails at the intermediate appellate level. However, the letter is a pretty tough smoking gun for a candidate who, should he win the party’s nomination, will be relentlessly attacked by the GOP because he is a trial lawyer. Having that added piece of baggage won’t help.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme:

It seems that Mikal likes to throw his money around to gain personal power. Okay, that's not news. What is news, is that Mikal claimed in a letter to an opposing attorney that he had bought the Democratic appeals courts judges. Of course, the opposing attorney noted that the Texas Supreme Court was a bunch of Republican corporate puppets.

Do you want someone with that kind of arrogance to win the Democratic primary? Do you want someone that politically tone deaf to win? Do you want such a poor excuse for a politician to officially carry the Democratic label?

I say no. (oops, were those rhetorical questions?)

Check out a new posts:
Paul Burka from BurkaBlog at Texas Monthly: Don't Put It in Writing
MyDD by Texas Nate: Wanna Be Bush Dog Practices Law the Way He Campaigns
Burnt Orange Report, also by Texas Nate:Mikal Watts: A Pattern of Buying Influence
Daily Kos by Kos himself: TX-Sen: Watts used campaign donations to threaten foe

Watts Sways Appeals Court With Campaign Contributions (Or So He Claims)...

Millionaire Mikal Watts' and his law firm have contributed over $2.6M to candidates and political action committees since 2000. That's not a problem, but $82,500 of that amount was spent in 2001 for the election of several justices on the 13th Court of Appeals.

Why is this important? Because the same justices that Watts is making contributions to are also the same justices that Watts and his law firm stand before with appeals cases. It's buying influence and tilting the scales of justice in the favor of Watts Law Firm.

In fact, during 2001, Watts used the contribution issue to pressure a legal opponent during a $60M case, claiming that his firm would have advantage on appeal because of his firm's "heavy" financial support to the court's justices. He even wrote a letter to that effect.

The Houston Chronicle:

What made the letter unusual was the linking of campaign contributions to sitting justices and the potential of an appeal. The letter then noted that if the case went to appeal, it would go to the 13th Court of Appeals.

"This court is comprised of six justices, all of whom are good Democrats," Watts wrote. "The Chief Justice, Hon. Rogelio Valdez, was recently elected with our firm's heavy support, and is a man who believes in the sanctity of jury verdicts."

The letter goes on to name Justices Errlinda Castillo, Nelda Rodriguez, J. Bonner Dorsey, Federico Hinojosa and Linda Yanez, and says his firm also has financially supported them. Hinojosa, Castillo and Dorsey are no longer on the court.

"Justice Bonner Dorsey, is more conservative than the others, but has been a friend of mine and the sanctity of jury verdicts for many years," Watts wrote.

Watts and his law firm in 1999 donated $5,000 to Valdez and $2,500 to Rodriguez; in 2000, $15,000 to Hinojosa; and in January 2001, $10,000 to Castillo. The firm donated $50,000 to Yanez in 2002.

Watts sent the letter to a lawyer representing American Electric Power in an automobile accident case, and it seemed to work, as the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

That is exactly the sort of shady business that the Democrats are working against. We're backing legislation that makes the back-scratching in Washington more transparent. Watts represents just more of the same. More influence-buying, more cronieism, and more murkiness in how political dealings are made.

We want accountability. We want experience. We want Rick Noriega for US Senate.

A Semi-Comprehensive List of Republican Scandals, Corruption Cases, etc.

From ccmask at Firedoglake:

Jack Abramoff -prison
Bob Allen -Veteran Park sex scandal
George Allen -called an American voter a Macaca
Michael Ray Aquino -involved in espionage thru Cheney’s office
Dan Bartlett -DOJ Investigation
Michael Battle -Resigned after informing usa’s of their firing
Ken Blackwell- Election Theft
John Bolton - Resigned. Encouraged the words Yellowcake uranium in Bush’s SOTUS
Michael Brown -Resigned over his handling of Katrina and aftermath.
Conrad Burns –dropped out
George W. Bush -Invaded countries under false pretences
Ken Calvert’s - land deal scrutiny
Andy Card - Resigned. Played a critical role in justifying the Iraq war.
Tucker Carlson -Tracked & beat up a gay man with a buddy
Dick Cheney -Involved in Plame affair; said troops would be greeted with flowers
Susan Collins - Incorrectly claimed a dem tracker acted inappropriately towards her
Ann Coulter -Voter Fraud
Larry Craig -resigns over public toilet sex scandal
Duke Cunningham -prison
Tom DeLay -dropped out – Under indictment
Lorita Doan - Hatch Act violations
Pete Domenici -Iglesias firing investigation
John Doolittle -Entangled with the Jack Abramoff Affair
Lance Dutson - Susan Collins campaign staffer, called FDL a “foul mouth femblog”
Barry S. Edward -Rudy fundraiser steps down wrt sex & stolen computers
Michael Elston -Resigned after urging 4 fired attorneys to keep quiet
Alan B. Fabian -Romney co-chairman indicted fraud, obstruction & laundering
Italia Federici - Resigned. Convicted of obstruction of justice/Abramoff
Tom Feeney -focus Abramoff investigation
Douglas Feith -Resigned OSP. Manipulated intelligence to bolster war in Iraq
Ari Fleisher - Resigned; Involved in Plame Affair
Dusty Kyle Foggo -Indicted for fraud, conspiracy & money laundering
Mark Foley -sex scandal
Jeff Gannon -Illegal White House entry
Steven Griles - Resigned. Convicted of obstruction of justice/Abramoff
Alberto Gonzales- Cut & Run on heels of investigation
Monica Goodling - Heavily involved in planning USA’s dismissals
J. Timothy Griffin - Resigns after Palast turns over 500 RNC emails sent by Griffin
Ted Haggard -removed for sex and drug abuse scandal
Katherine Harris -dropped out; Gave Florida to GW Bush
Duncan Hunter -Involved in ongoing Abramoff investigation
Bernard Kerik -Under scrutiny for tax invasion
Won Kim-Resigns amid DOJ scandal
Doug Lamborn -Left threatening voicemails to locals questioning his fundraising
Ken Lay -Bush’s biggest contributor scams millions
Jerry Lewis -under federal investigation
Scooter Libby -Guilty by his peers; Innocent by his Prez
Rush Limbaugh - Illegal drug use and Importation
Mary Matalan -Attended meetings of the secretive Iraq Study Group
Paul McNulty -Resigned after saying the WH not involved in DOJ scandal
Harriet Miers -DOJ Investigation Subpeona Refusal
Gary Miller -FBI investigation on tax evasion; Withdrew DHS nomination
Lisa Murkowski -land deal scandal
Bob Ney -prison
Wally O’Dell -Bush fundraiser and CEO of Diebold; Insider trading suspicion
Richard Perle -Resigned. Bribery accusations and conflicts of interest.
Richard Pombo -Allegation of corruption and misuse of official resources
Susan Ralston -Resigned. Testified that Rove used RNC email system always
Thomas Ravenel -Indicted on Cocaine charges
Ralph Reed - investigation for his part in Abramoff scandal
Rick Renzi -home raided
Mitt Romney-Lack of oversight of Big Dig causes death of Milena Delvalle
Karl Rove -Resigned for involvement of AG scandal; Hatch Act; Outed CIA agent
John Rowland - convicted and sent to jail for bribe-taking and kickbacks.
Don Rumsfeld -Resigned. Failed to plan for a post-war Iraq.
David Safavian -convicted in Jack Abramoff scandal
Kyle Sampson - Resigned over the AG Scandal
Michael Scanlon -Guilty of corruption charges in Abramoff scandal
Brad Schlozman -resigned amid charges of politicizing DoJ
Jean Schmidt -Called Jack Murtha a coward during an Iraq debate.
Ted Stevens -under investigation
Sara Taylor -resigns amid DOJ scandal, not recalling anything.
David Vitter -sex scandals
David Wurmser -Questioned by FBI about passing classified info to Chalabi
Curt Weldon -dropped out
Heather Wilson -Iglesias firing investigation
Paul Wolfowitz -Resigned as Pres. Of World Bank for a companions’ promotion.
Don Young -under investigation

Will Cornyn Keep $10,000 From Larry Craig?

Here's a List of Senate Candidates and their contributions from Larry Craig's "Alliance For The West" PAC in the 2oo2 election cycle. [opensecrets]

Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) $5,000
Allard, Wayne (R-CO) $10,000
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) $10,000
Coleman, Norm (R-MN) $10,000
Collins, Susan M (R-ME) $1,000
Cornyn, John (R-TX) $10,000
Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) $10,000
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) $5,000
Ganske, Greg (R-IA) $10,000
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) $10,000
Hutchinson, Tim (R-AR) $5,000
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR) $2,500
Sununu, John E (R-NH) $5,000
Talent, James M (R-MO) $6,845
Terrell, Suzanne (R-LA) $1,000
Thune, John (R-SD) $10,000

Total to Republican Senate Candidates: $111,345

Craig only made contributions to Republicans (apparently, Democrats can't support the west?), but has made sizable contributions across the country. Norm Coleman redonated Craig's money to a local charity. Susan Collins did the same thing. Pete Domenici (different election cycle, not on the list above) donated his as well.

So what happened to the $10,000 John Cornyn received from Craig? There's been no comments from the Junior Senator's office yet. I'll be waiting.

Cornyn Stands Up for Larry Craig?

Junior Senator John Cornyn said that Mr. Craig's political future "is best left up to Senator Craig and his constituents. I make it a point not to comment on the personal problems of other senators." [DMN]

This comes after not signing a letter drafted by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stripping Craig of his committee assignments and opening an ethics investigation. Cornyn couldn't sign the letter, as he is a member of the ethics committee that may be investigating the "allegations," but his rhetoric makes it pretty clear that Cornyn sees no issue with Craig's dealings last month.

Although Hutchison signed the letter, [DMN] "She never said publicly if she thought he should resign. Repeated queries last week to aides yielded only extra copies of the McConnell news release."

Craig is Gone!

It's official!

After calls from both sides of the isle for disgraced Idaho Senator Larry Craig to step down, he announced earlier today that he will be. Check out a great post by Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake.

Craig Resigns?

Just heard on NPR that said disgraced Republican Idaho Senator Larry Craig has called a press conference for tomorrow probably in Boise. At least one credible source says Craig plans to resign, amid calls from colleagues on both sides of the isle... More to come I'm sure!

UPDATE: I wrote that posting from my iPhone while driving down the highway... Here's the scoop from NPR:

Embattled Idaho Sen. Larry Craig will announce Saturday what he plans to do in the wake of a chorus of calls from fellow Republicans to step down from the post he has held for 16 years. He has faced increasing pressure to resign in the wake of the news that he was caught in June in an undercover vice operation at the Minneapolis airport.