Tuesday, March 15, 2005

And more about the Governor's lawyer

Pennsylvania Law Weekly
Vol 28, No. 10
Copyright 2005 ALM Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.

March 7, 2005

Government

MILLER RESIGNS AS STATE GC

APPEARANCE OF CONFLICT PROMPTS DECISION

Jeff Blumenthal
Of the Law Weekly

Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel to the commonwealth, has resigned due to an appearance of a conflict of interest created by a lawsuit she filed to stop Penn State University from dissolving the Dickinson School of Law's board of governors and creating dual law school campuses.
Miller released a statement explaining the reasons for her resignation. She said Dickinson Law's long-term existence in Carlisle would be threatened if Penn State opened a second campus in State College.
'In order to fulfill my fiduciary duty as a member of the board of Dickinson School of Law, I shall continue to participate as a plaintiff in the lawsuit,' Miller said.
She went on to say that she enjoyed her two years as Rendell's general counsel but that 'Dickinson School of Law's survival is more important to me and my family than my job.'
Kate Phillips, a spokeswoman for Gov. Edward G. Rendell, said the governor 'reluctantly' accepted Miller's resignation March 1. She said that the governor was not angry with Miller and that she had served the administration well for the past two years.
Miller, the former president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, attended Dickinson Law and sits on its board of governors.
Phillips said that one of Miller's deputy general counsel, Scott Roy, will serve as interim general counsel. But she was quick to point out that Roy was not serving as acting general counsel and that the governor would be searching for a replacement. Roy is one of four deputies and is a holdover from the Ridge administration. He is in charge of administration and mediation.
Miller, who lives with her family in Montgomery County, said her long-term career goals include returning to the practice of law at a Philadelphia firm.
Before joining the governor's staff as general counsel, Miller was a partner at McKissock & Hoffman in Philadelphia.
'I just found out about it today,' McKissock & Hoffman partner Peter Hoffman said. 'We have kept in touch but I haven't spoken to her in the last two or three weeks since this whole thing with the law school started. I'd love to have her back but I don't know what her plans are.'

Friday, March 11, 2005

More about the Governor's lawyer quitting to fight PSU

The Legal Intelligencer
Vol. 232, No. 43
Copyright (c) 2005 by American Lawyer Media, ALM, LLC

March 4, 2005

MILLER QUITS AS PA. GENERAL COUNSEL

Jeff Blumenthal
Of the Legal Staff

Leslie Anne Miller, general counsel to the commonwealth, has resigned due to an appearance of conflict of interest her job created with a lawsuit she filed that is intended to stop Pennsylvania State University from dissolving the Dickinson School of Law's board of governors and creating dual campuses.
Miller released a statement explaining the reasons for her resignation. She said Dickinson Law's long-term existence at its Carlisle campus would be threatened if Penn State opened a second campus in State College.
'In order to fulfill my fiduciary duty as a member of the board of Dickinson School of Law, I shall continue to participate as a plaintiff in the lawsuit,' Miller said.
She went on to say that she enjoyed her two years as Gov. Edward G. Rendell's general counsel but that 'Dickinson School of Law's survival is more important to me and my family than my job.'
Kate Phillips, a spokeswoman for Rendell, said the governor 'reluctantly' accepted Miller's resignation Tuesday. She said that the governor was not angry with Miller and that she had served the administration well for the past two years.
Miller, the former president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, attended Dickinson Law and sits on its board of governors. After the Dickinson Law board gave preliminary approval for two campuses, Miller and two other board members - her father, Harrisburg lawyer G. Thomas Miller, and Philadelphia lawyer Thomas Monteverdi - sued Penn State, University President Graham Spanier, Dickinson Law Dean Phillip McConnaughay and Dickinson board of governors chairman and Berger & Montague partner Laddie Montague in Cumberland County Common Pleas Court last month.
The suit says the aim is to suspend the plan until, among other things, Penn State supplies more details about the two-campus plan.
Miller, the chief legal adviser to Rendell, offered to resign if the governor felt there was an appearance of a conflict. Last week, the Dickinson Law board gave final approval, in a 20-14 vote, to allow for the second campus. Miller voted against the plan and said she is scheduled to testify in a hearing today in Cumberland County.
Miller said she does not oppose the concept of dual campuses. She just believes the addition of a second campus in State College would cause irreparable financial harm to the law school that would lead to the closure of the current Carlisle campus.
'What we are trying to do is protect both campuses,' Miller said. 'We are making sure there are significant funds so that the school stays in existence. Penn State agreed to keep the Carlisle campus open when it merged with Dickinson.'
Phillips said that one of Miller's deputy general counsel, Scott Roy, will serve as interim general counsel. But she was quick to point out that Roy was not serving as acting general counsel and that the governor would be searching for a replacement. Roy is one of four deputies and is a holdover from the Ridge administration. He is in charge of administration and mediation.
The three other deputies include former Dickinson Law Dean Peter Glenn, in litigation; former Buchanan Ingersoll partner Nora Winkelman, in legislation; and former deputy attorney general David DeVries, in government contracts.
One name that is bound to surface as a possible replacement is Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin partner Mark Aronchick, who was chief counsel to Rendell's gubernatorial campaign in 2002 and a close personal friend. Aronchick was Philadelphia's city solicitor during the administration of Mayor Bill Green in the early 1980s.
'I have not had any conversations with the governor and if I did, they would remain private,' Aronchick said. 'But anyone who knows me knows that I value public service and always urge others to pursue it. But right now my law practice and my firm are my primary focus.'
Miller, who lives with her family in Montgomery County, said her long-term career goals include returning to the practice of law at a Philadelphia firm.
Before joining the governor's staff as general counsel, Miller was a partner at McKissock & Hoffman in Philadelphia.
'I just found out about it today,' McKissock & Hoffman partner Peter Hoffman said. 'We have kept in touch but I haven't spoken to her in the last two or three weeks since this whole thing with the law school started. I'd love to have her back, but I don't know what her plans are.'
Before departing for Harrisburg in early 2003, Miller had begun to shift her practice focus from defense litigation work to mediation. In 2001 she was named interim president of the Regional Performing Arts Center as it prepared for its grand opening.
All the while, she maintained her status as a partner at McKissock & Hoffman. Miller was PBA's first female president in 1999 and has been honored with the Philadelphia Bar Association's Sandra Day O'Connor Award and the PBA's Anne X. Alpern Award.

Saturday, March 05, 2005

PSU wins round one


Centre Daily Times (State College, PA)
Copyright 2005 Centre Daily Times

March 5, 2005

Judge won't block law school plan

By Martha Raffaele, The Associated Press

CARLISLE -- Penn State will be allowed to pursue its plan to build a second law school campus pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by three Dickinson School of Law board members who oppose the plan, a judge ruled Friday.

Cumberland County Common Pleas Judge Edward E. Guido denied the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction to block the plan, and he advised both sides that he would schedule a trial in May.

Charles W. Rubendall II, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that the injunction was necessary because, among other things, the plan to build a campus at University Park calls for the dissolution of the law school's board by August.

"The law school's governance has been put in limbo. ... it's just there," Rubendall said.

But Guido countered that an expedited trial would adequately resolve the case before any construction could begin on the second campus.

"Why do we need a preliminary injunction now, as long as ground isn't broken?" Guido asked.

The plaintiffs -- Leslie Anne Miller, Gov. Ed Rendell's former general counsel; her father, lawyer G. Thomas Miller; and emeritus board member Tom Monteverde -- filed their lawsuit Feb. 3. They were among the dissenters when Dickinson's board voted 17-14 to accept Penn State's proposal on Jan. 15.

Penn State and Dickinson merged beginning in 1997, and the lawsuit alleges that the two-campus plan would "unilaterally terminate" a deal that required Penn State to keep the law school permanently in Carlisle and maintain it as the primary location.

The plan calls for Penn State to keep the Carlisle campus open for at least 10 years while it develops the University Park site. Rendell wants Penn State to extend its commitment to Carlisle but will not guarantee that the law school would remain there permanently.

Dickinson has been largely under Penn State's control since the merger was completed in 2000.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Governor's Lawyer Quits Job to Fight PSU over Dickinson


Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright 2005 The Philadelphia Inquirer

March 4, 2005

Governor's top lawyer resigns to avoid conflict

By Martha Raffaele, Associated Press

Gov. Rendell's top lawyer said yesterday she has resigned from her job to avoid any appearance of conflict as she and two other plaintiffs sue to halt Pennsylvania State University's plan to build a second law school campus.

Gov. Rendell's top lawyer said yesterday she has resigned from her job to avoid any appearance of conflict as she and two other plaintiffs sue to halt Pennsylvania State University's plan to build a second law school campus.

Leslie Anne Miller said she resigned voluntarily on Wednesday evening, citing "ongoing attacks in the press" concerning her role as Rendell's general counsel. She is also a member of the governing board of Penn State's Dickinson School of Law.

Miller was named general counsel after Rendell was elected governor in 2002.

"I thought it was important that they be stopped and that both the lawsuit and, equally importantly, the Office of General Counsel, be free of the appearance of conflict... and that I be free to go about the business of being a plaintiff without further harassment," she said.

Rendell is trying to secure a long-term commitment from Penn State to keep the Dickinson Law School's original campus in Carlisle under the two-campus plan. His spokeswoman, Kate Philips, said he accepted Miller's resignation reluctantly.

"The governor said a week or two ago that if, as the lawsuit progressed, it appears there was a conflict of interest, he would accept her resignation. He was hopeful that there wouldn't be," she said.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent the dissolution of Dickinson's board of governors, which would occur by Aug. 1 under Penn State's plan to build a second law school campus in State College. A judge in Carlisle is scheduled to resume a hearing tomorrow on a preliminary injunction to block the plan.

The plaintiffs - Miller; her father, G. Thomas Miller; and emeritus board member Tom Monteverde - were among the dissenting votes when Dickinson's board voted, 17-14, to accept Penn State's proposal on Jan. 15.

Established in 1834, Dickinson has been largely under Penn State's control since a merger was completed in 2000.