"We only have 15 minutes to make our arguments. It really is daunting," Yale Galanter said Thursday. "But what the public doesn't know is that there are hundreds of pages of briefs that have already been filed."

Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart won't be in court when their lawyers tell a trio of justices that Simpson's fame — and his acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in Los Angeles — tilted the Las Vegas proceedings in favor of the prosecution.

Simpson, who turns 63 next month, has been working as a gymnasium janitor while serving nine to 33 years at a state prison in the northern Nevada town of Lovelock.

Stewart, 56, heads a music program while serving 7 1/2 to 27 years at High Desert State Prison, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which is to begin Kagan's confirmation hearings June 28, has requested all documents from her tenure in the Clinton White House. The panel also requested papers related to Kagan's failed nomination to a federal appeals court, which are expected to be included in Friday's release.

A first, 46,500-page batch of files from Kagan's stint as a domestic policy adviser to Clinton, released last week, yielded some clues about her pragmatic style and views. She helped Clinton craft a middle-ground position on late-term abortions that angered groups on both sides of the highly charged issue, praised a legal brief designed to protect affirmative action and helped craft an aggressive strategy to enact gun control measures. She also was instrumental in intense but ultimately unsuccessful bipartisan negotiations on a major anti-smoking initiative.

On Monday, the chief of a U.N. commission responsible for battling corruption and crime in Guatemala resigned and accused Reyes of having a history of ties to organized crime.

Reyes denies the allegations. But he promised Thursday night to comply with the court's ruling and cede office.

A commission will now repeat the process of compiling a list of candidates from which President Alvaro Colom will choose a new attorney general.

It's unclear when the state's high court will rule.

But the federal court's Chief Judge Tena Campbell said Gardner failed to prove he could not get a "fair and impartial hearing" before Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole.

A two-day hearing before the board is set to begin on Thursday.

In court papers filed in U.S. District Court late Tuesday, attorney Andrew Parnes argued that the board's process was tainted because lawyers that represent the board work for the Utah attorney general's office — the same entity that sought Gardner's death warrant. Those state attorneys will also argue against the board commuting Gardner's death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jon Atzen has joined the Los Angeles/Downtown office of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP as a partner in the firm's Corporate practice group and member of the Emerging Companies practice.  Atzen most recently was a partner at DLA Piper in Los Angeles.  

Atzen has devoted virtually his entire career to working with leading entrepreneurs and innovators, as well as emerging and established companies, primarily in the southern California region.  He focuses his corporate practice on representing emerging growth and established companies, and venture capital and private equity funds, in such technology sectors as life sciences, semiconductors, wireless communications, internet, software and clean/alternative energy technologies.

"Jon has an impressive emerging growth company background, which includes private practice and corporate counsel for both a tech company and a venture capital firm.  His practice dovetails well with our existing emerging growth/venture capital practices throughout California, while broadening our existing corporate practice capabilities in Los Angeles," said Guy N. Halgren, chairman of the firm. 

In addition to private practice, Atzen previously held the positions of Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. 

"I am excited about joining Sheppard Mullin, a top-notch full service firm with a strong corporate practice in Los Angeles and throughout the state," Atzen commented.  "I am impressed with firm management's dedication to growing the Corporate practice group, and excited to be part of a partnership that values teamwork and fosters collegiality."  

In addition to his venture capital and private equity practice, Atzen provides corporate and strategic counsel to publicly-traded companies with respect to securities offerings including initial public offerings, secondary offerings, PIPEs and spin-offs, and reporting and compliance matters under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  He also has significant experience in public and private company mergers and acquisitions.

Atzen received a J.D. from Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 1990 and a B.A. from University of California at Santa Barbara in 1987. 

Sheppard Mullin has 200 attorneys based in its Los Angeles offices.  The firm's Corporate practice group includes 100 attorneys firmwide. 

In April, Kevin Rooney joined the firm's Silicon Valley office as a partner in the Corporate practice group.  Rooney most recently practiced at Hayden Bergman & Rooney in San Francisco, as a name partner.  Previously, Rooney was an attorney with Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineburg in Toronto.  

About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 550 attorneys in 11 offices located in the United States and Asia.  Since 1927, companies have turned to Sheppard Mullin to handle corporate and technology matters, high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions.  In the U.S., the firm's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100.  For more information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com. 

Peter Erlinder pleaded not guilty to the charges in court last Friday and asked to be granted bail so he could return home for medical treatment.

The U.S. lawyer is accused of violating Rwanda's laws against minimizing the genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Rwandans, the vast majority of them ethnic Tutsis, were massacred by extremist Hutus in 100 days. Erlinder doesn't deny massive violence happened but contends it's inaccurate to blame just one side.

"The medical report which Erlinder presented to court only shows that he was hospitalized twice but it does not convince court that his hospitalization was a result of detention," said Judge Maurice Mbishibishi

He said Erlinder will remain in detention for 30 days and can appeal the bail decision in five days time. His lawyers said they are going to appeal it immediately in Rwanda's High Court.