IP Litigator Rule-of-Law-Heroes from Perkins Coie
I try not to stray into political waters, but the rule of law is what we honor here even when we're trying to settle cases instead of trying them. So we're directing you to a Seattle Times article -- Personal test of principles -- about Perkins Coie IP attorneys Joe McMillan's and Harry Schneider's representation of the first alleged terrorist tried by American authorities.
Thanks guys for reminding us that the constitution should follow the flag even when it's off-shore at at Gitmo.
(photos: McMillian top; Schneider below)
Excerpt from Seattle Times article below:
It started as a lofty exercise in constitutional law. It ended with a hug.
That the bear-lock was laid on a starch-shirted Seattle corporate lawyer by none other than Osama bin Laden's former chauffeur — now convicted of supporting al-Qaida — sums up the surreal scene last week at the first American war-crimes trial since World War II.
"A wild experience," says Joe McMillan, who normally fights intellectual-property battles for Seattle's largest firm, Perkins Coie.
"Journey of a lifetime," echoes Harry Schneider, also a corporate litigator for Perkins, and the one who got the hug.
For four years, Schneider and McMillan have worked free of charge on behalf of a Yemeni man, Salim Hamdan, held since 2001 at the infamous Guantánamo Bay prison. Hamdan was the personal driver for terrorist mastermind bin Laden at the time of 9/11.
The story of how an elite Seattle law firm ended up among the first to challenge the trampling of the rights of detainees has been told before.
I continue to find it extraordinary that it wasn't only lefty ACLU types who took on this issue. Perkins Coie was the first, but now dozens of U.S. blue-chip firms represent Gitmo detainees, free of charge.
To do so, they have sued their own government in a time of war, all because they think it's un-American to deny anyone a fair trial. Even terrorists.
McMillan and Schneider saw their patriotism questioned a few times. But the work was initially far removed from any actual terrorists.
"We were thousands of miles from Guantánamo, arguing lofty principles before the Supreme Court," Schneider laughs. "Then they call us up and say, 'OK, now they're going to try him. Will you defend him? Are you still on board?' "
The lawyers said yes. The first time they met Hamdan, in his Gitmo cell with his leg shackled to the floor, Schneider admits he had doubts.
