JD Journal » paul kirk

Former Kennedy Chief of Staff Returns to WilmerHale

joshua — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:04:39 +0000

Eric Mogilnicki, a former chief of staff for U.S. Senator’s Edward Kennedy and Paul Kirk, has rejoined WilmerHale. Mogilnicki was previously a litigator for the firm for 10 years before leaving in 2006 to be chief of staff for the late Edward Kennedy.

Mogilnicki will focus his practice at WilmerHale on public policy matters, including working with clients on matters of legislative and public policy strategy, congressional investigations, and litigation that involves regulatory or public policy issues.

William J. Perlstein, WilmerHale’s co-managing partner, commented on the move in a press release.

“I am confident that Eric’s firsthand government experience will deepen the firm’s public policy expertise,” Perlstein said. “Many of our partners who left for high-level positions in government return, refreshing our government experience and enhancing our reputation as among the nation’s leading firms for Washington-focused policy matters.”

As Chief of Staff to Senator Kennedy from February 2006 to August 2009, Mogilnicki was closely involved in every aspect of the Senator’s public life, including political strategy, legislation and communications. Following Kennedy’s death, Mogilnicki went to work for Sen. Kirk.

WilmerHale has approximately 1,000 lawyers with offices in 12 cities in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Monday Morning Roundup

joshua — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:15:08 +0000

Another weekend is gone and it’s back to the grind. Here’s a look at Friday’s news…

John Elwood joins Vinson & Elkins…

Justice Ginsburg returned to work after a brief hospitalization…

and Paul Kirk was appointed to fill Senator Kennedy’s seat over GOP objections…

Paul Kirk Appointed to Fill Kennedy’s Seat

joshua — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:52:19 +0000

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has appointed Paul Kirk to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Edward Kennedy. Kirk has a long history with the Kennedy family, dating back to his involvement in Bobby Kennedy’s presidential bid. He had both personal and professional ties to Senator Edward Kennedy and has served as the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

His appointment is an interim appointment and expires in January, 2010, after a special election is concluded.

UPDATE: A Republican challenge to the appointment has been rejected in federal court. The Republican party contended that Governor Patrick lacked the authority to expedite the appointment. The appointment was made under a new law passed this week giving the Governor the power to appoint an interim Senator until the special election, but under Massachusetts law new legislation takes 90 days to go into effect. The Governor can declare a law an emergency and implement it immediately, as was done in this case. The Republican Party argued that this power was not absolute and the use of it in this case would do irreparable harm. Judge Connolly denied the request for an injunction saying “The (Republican) Party has not shown that it has a chance to succeed on the merits and, therefore, any risk of harm to the party will not outweigh the risk of harm to the governor and the commonwealth.”