Holland & Knight Partner to Head Impeachment Inquiry

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October 16, 2008 4:19 PM

Holland & Knight Partner to Head Impeachment Inquiry

Posted by Rachel Breitman

Holland & Knight partner Alan Baron has been tapped as special counsel to an impeachment inquiry into bribery and perjury charges against a New Orleans federal judge, the House Judiciary Committee announced Wednesday.

The committee is investigating allegations that Judge G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., appointed to the U.S. district court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President Clinton in 1994, hid cash payments from lawyers and lied about his personal assets when he filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

Baron, cochair of his firm's white-collar criminal defense and congressional investigations teams, has two decades of experience investigating government scandals. Among other posts, he served as special impeachment counsel to the House from 1987 to 1989, advising on the examination and removal of federal judges Alcee Hastings and Walter Nixon on corruption and perjury charges.

But Baron says he was not familiar with Porteous or the accusations against him before he was approached for this probe. "The first time I heard of him was when the House committee approached me about leading the investigation," Baron tells The Am Law Daily. The House authorized the investigation September 17.

Baron was also appointed special counsel to the governor of Rhode Island in investigations of the state credit unions in 1991; special counsel to the Anne Arundel County school board in Maryland in investigation of teacher sexual misconduct in 1993; and minority chief counsel to the Senate Government Affairs Committee in investigation of campaign finance abuses in 1997.

California representative Adam Schiff and Virginia representative Robert Goodlatte are heading up a special task force of the Judiciary Committee for the investigation.

"Mr. Baronas's experience and upstanding reputation leave me no doubt that he will be a great help to the task force," Schiff said in a statement Wednesday. "Our investigation must be thorough, fair, and fully in accordance with the letter of the law."

But Baron emphasizes that despite his history in corruption investigations, his lack of familiarity with New Orleans politics, in particular, could be an asset.

"Every one of these matters is unique," says Baron. "We are just starting an investigative phase, and are not sure where it will go."

Assisting Baron will be litigation partner Jennifer Short and senior counsel John Irving, a former federal prosecutor. The firm agreed to a reduced fee arrangement with the House of Representatives.

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