Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s office has terminated its relationship with King & Spalding after the law firm withdrew its representation of the House of Representatives over the Defense of Marriage Act.
In September 2009, the firm had been appointed by the attorney general’s office to serve as special counsel.
But in a scathing letter to Joseph Lynch in the firm’s Washington office, Cuccinelli writes that Virginia would end its relationship with the firm after it decided to drop its defense of the act, which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages.
“King & Spalding’s willingness to abandon a client, the United States House of Representatives, in connection with the lawsuit challenging the the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), was such an obsequious act of weakness, that I feel compelled to end your legal association with Virginia so that there is no chance that one of my legal clients might be put in the embarrassing and difficult situation like the client you walked away from, the House of Representatives,” it reads.
“Virginia does not shy away from hiring outside counsel because they may have ongoing professional relationships with people or entities, or on behalf of causes that I, or my office, or Virginia as a whole, may not support. But, it is crucial for us to be able to trust and rely on the fact that our outside counsel will not desert Virginia due to pressure by an outside group or groups,” it reads.
Les Zuke, a spokesman for the firm, declined comment, saying the firm does not discuss client representation.
After the firm said it was dropping the case, Paul Clement, a former solicitor general under President George W. Bush, subsequently announced he would leave King & Spalding for another firm from which he planned to continue to defend the marriage law.
