The Supreme Court has never answered the Second Amendment question directly, and it has been nearly 70 years since the court even approached it obliquely. A decision in 1939, United States v. Miller, held that a sawed-off shotgun was not one of the "arms" to which the Second Amendment referred in its single, densely written, and oddly punctuated sentence: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

Asked during his confirmation hearing what he thought that sentence meant, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. responded that the Miller decision had "side-stepped the issue" and had left "very open" the question of whether the Second Amendment protects an individual right as opposed to a collective right.

A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, on which the chief justice formerly sat, ruled in March by a vote of 2 to 1 that "the right in question is individual," not tied to membership in a state militia. On that basis, the court declared that the 31-year-old statute, one of the country's strictest, was unconstitutional.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that the Firm has elected 14 new partners, effective January 1, 2008.  The new partners represent a wide range of practice areas and geographical regions.

"We are proud to recognize the accomplishments of this extraordinarily talented group of attorneys," said Ken Doran, Managing Partner of Gibson Dunn. "The new partners are exceptional lawyers, who reflect our firm's values of excellence, personal integrity, collegiality and dedication to providing the highest level of service to our clients.  Representing diverse practices across our offices, they bring a wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise that will be a tremendous resource for our clients and our firm."

  The new partners include:

  -- Dora R. Arash -- Arash's practice focuses on federal income tax
    planning for corporations and partnerships, as well as tax controversy
    matters.  Resident in the Los Angeles office, she graduated magna cum
    laude from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1994.

  -- Ron C. Ben-Yehuda -- Ben-Yehuda practices in the areas of transactional
    intellectual property, media and technology, focusing extensively on
    agreements relating to technology development, marketing and licensing,
    as well as e-commerce and other online activities.  Prior to joining
    the Firm, he was general counsel of a public software company.
    Resident in the Los Angeles office, he graduated with distinction from
    Stanford Law School in 1987.

  -- Anne Lee Benedict -- Benedict's practice focuses on corporate finance,
    business combination, securities and general corporate matters.
    Resident in the Washington, D.C. office, she graduated from the
    University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999.

  -- Frederick S. Chung -- Chung practices intellectual property litigation,
    focusing on patent litigation.  Resident in the Palo Alto office, he
    graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995.  Following his
    graduation from law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable
    Karen Nelson Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, in
    Cleveland, Ohio.

  -- Rachel Couter -- An English-qualified lawyer, Couter practices
    international litigation, arbitration and other dispute resolution,
    including contentious regulatory disputes.  She is a Solicitor of the
    Supreme Court of England and Wales.  Resident in the London office, she
    obtained a first class honors degree in law from the University of
    Cambridge in 1994.

  -- Michael M. Farhang -- Farhang practices white collar criminal,
    securities, and general business litigation.  Prior to joining the
    Firm, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central
    District of California, where he specialized in white collar fraud
    prosecutions in the Major Fraud section.  Farhang also participated in
    legal assignments in Iraq for the Department of Justice in 2003.
    Resident in the Los Angeles office, he received his law degree cum
    laude from Harvard Law School in 1995.

  -- Drew C. Flowers -- Flowers focuses his practice on real estate
    transactions, with a particular emphasis on representing capital
    partners, developers and lenders in complex financing transactions.
    Resident in the Los Angeles office, he received his law degree from the
    University of Southern California in 1998.

  -- Eduardo Gallardo -- Gallardo concentrates his practice on mergers and
    acquisitions and general corporate transactions.  Resident in the New
    York office, he graduated from Columbia Law School in 1999, where he
    was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.

  -- Joshua Lipton -- Lipton is a member of the Firm's Antitrust Practice
    Group.  His practice includes antitrust litigation, merger and
    acquisition investigations, antitrust counseling, and antitrust
    investigations by federal and state agencies and the European
    Commission.  Resident in the Washington, D.C. office, he received his
    law degree magna cum laude from the University of Michigan School of
    Law in 1998, where he graduated first in his class.

  -- Michael K. Murphy -- Murphy's practice focuses on environmental
    litigation and counseling.  He also has experience handling various
    government contract-related issues.  Resident in the Washington, D.C.
    office, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in
    1999.

  -- Julian W. Poon -- Poon is an appellate and general commercial
    litigator, with a broad range of experience at both the appellate and
    trial court level across the country in antitrust, intellectual
    property, class action, labor, energy, media-access, and general
    commercial litigation.  Prior to joining the Firm, he served as a law
    clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United
    States during the 2000-2001 Term, and to Judge J. Michael Luttig of the
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1999-2000.  Resident
    in the Los Angeles office, he graduated summa cum laude from Harvard
    Law School in 1999, receiving the Fay Diploma for placing first in his
    class.

  -- C. William Thomas, Jr. -- Thomas's practice emphasizes the formation
    and operation of domestic and international private investment funds,
    including hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and
    funds of funds.  Resident in the Washington, D.C. office, he received
    his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1998.

  -- Michael L. Reed -- Reed's practice involves corporate securities,
    merger and acquisition, corporate finance, and general business and
    contract matters.  Resident in the San Francisco office, he received
    his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1994.

  -- Aric H. Wu -- Wu practices complex commercial litigation with a
    significant concentration in the area of securities litigation.
    Resident in the New York office, he received his law degree, with
    distinction as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, from Columbia University
    School of Law in 1998.

"Caught between domestic terror groups and a government that brutalizes suspected Islamists, Belbacha cannot safely return to Algeria," his lawyers wrote in asking the Supreme Court to take the case. "His fear is such that he would prefer to endure the oppressive environment of Guantanamo until an asylum state can be found."

Brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2002 from Pakistan, Belbacha was an accountant at the government-owned oil company Sonatrach. He says his problems began when he was recalled for a second term of military service in the Algerian army, prompting death threats against him by terrorists in Groupe Isalmique Armee, then at the height of a violent campaign for an Islamic Algeria.

Belbacha never reported for duty, but says the GIA visited his home at least twice and threatened him and his family. He left the country, traveling to France, England, Pakistan and Afghanistan before being brought to Guantanamo Bay.

Ready to join a rival, you urge several subordinates and clients to come along. You assume you're safe because you lack a noncompete agreement.

Big mistake. Your poaching attempt may bring you big trouble. A growing number of companies sue job hoppers for luring staffers or customers while still employed there. Such lawsuits often claim breach of fiduciary duty. One financial-services concern waged a nasty court fight that stalled defections for months after a manager handed out applications for his new workplace during an office party shortly before he joined the competitor.

In addition, costly litigation over your pre-exit antics "can cast you in a bad light at your new employer," says Christopher Stief, head of the employee defection and trade secrets practice for Fisher & Phillips, a national law firm. "You don't want to have this happen to you."

Even a threatening letter from your old bosses can jeopardize your move. "Just the whiff of a suit is enough to spook an employer," notes Allan Bloom, an employment law specialist for Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in New York. "I have seen offers pulled."

There are ways to avoid landing in legal hot water when you jump ship to a rival. Experts recommend choosing your words and deeds carefully from the outset of the courtship until you clean out your office.

Beginning with your job interview, never suggest how many loyal co-workers would tag along with you if you got hired. Some skittish businesses reject candidates for boasting about their ability to recruit teammates. "It would be a negative," the general counsel of a major high-technology concern says. "You question the ethics of that individual."

And don't reveal secret customer information to a hiring manager. You'd be safer -- and viewed more favorably -- describing your annual sales and commissions, without giving the exact number of sneakers you peddled to Foot Locker last year.

Brett Senior & Associates, a law firm in Conshohocken, Pa., sued accountant Stephen Fitzgerald last year soon after he quit and joined Fesnak & Associates, a Blue Bell accounting firm that Brett Senior considered a competitor. While discussing his possible employment, Fitzgerald showed several Fesnak partners a list of about 69 clients he served plus the fees paid by 48, the suit alleged.

Mary A. McLaughlin, a U.S. district court judge in Philadelphia, dismissed nearly all of the suit's charges this past July. Among other things, she said, Brett Senior failed to prove those client names and fees paid "were its property."

Still, the judge ordered Fitzgerald to stand trial on his alleged breach of fiduciary duty for calling 20 clients before he left. Fifteen clients followed him. He "conceded that at least some of these contacts were solicitations," her ruling noted. "An employee cannot solicit customers for a rival business."

In court filings, Fitzgerald denied any wrongdoing. He quit Fesnak six months ago for a better job and declines to comment on the case, according to his attorney Bruce E. Rodger.

You can steer clear of such legal troubles by keeping customers clueless about your new employer's identity. You shouldn't even announce your fresh title, phone number or email address before you resign.

As an extra precaution, conceal your departure plans from everyone at work except your supervisor. "Almost anything you say about your intentions to leave could cross that line," cautions Keith Wexelblatt, a senior counsel for Reebok International.

Other job hoppers get in trouble because they suddenly treat differently some subordinates they hope will follow them. "They try to take the distasteful things off the employee's plate" or overlook that staffer's mistakes, explains Steven L. Manchel, a partner at Manchel & Brennan, a law firm in Newton, Mass.

It's also wise to seek legal advice, bankrolled by your employer-to-be, about proper exit behavior. Reebok retains legal specialists like Manchel to coach every incoming executive and certain managers. "I just hope we can stop people from doing stupid things," Wexelblatt says.

The confidentiality of your chats with an attorney vanishes, however, if you email her from work. "The minute you think of leaving, stop using the company computer" for personal matters, suggests a Washington trial lawyer who handles cases involving officials joining rivals.

Even bringing home sensitive documents during your final days could raise red flags. Bottom line: Leave your holiday card list at the office -- especially if it includes names of key customers that competitors don't know about.

You may woo former clients and co-workers once your new job starts as long as your efforts don't involve confidential information, Manchel says. He quit a Boston law firm 10 years ago to launch his own shop.

The day after he resigned, the lawyer recalls, "I informed my most significant litigation clients -- and they all continue to use me."

In recent years, sustainability officers have been hired by corporations and universities, foundations and government agencies to manage their relationships with the environment on many levels - ecological, social, economic, policy and political, and governmental.

But law firms? No.

Until now.

The international law firm Nixon Peabody LLP today announced the appointment of a chief sustainability officer. Carolyn Kaplan, an attorney in the firm's energy and environmental practice, will serve in the new role.

Nixon Peabody is the first in the legal industry to establish such a position, although many of the firm's clients and global industries have done so as part of corporate commitments to sustainability.

"This new position reflects our commitment to implement sustainable principles at every opportunity in our firm. We are supporting the commitment to sustainable practices that our clients are adopting and implementing," said Harry P. Trueheart III, chairman and managing partner of Nixon Peabody.

"I'm proud to serve in this new role at Nixon Peabody," said Kaplan. "In addition to improving our own performance, I believe we can assist our clients to achieve their business goals while attaining the best environmental result."

In her new role, Kaplan will work closely with Nixon Peabody's operations director to further reduce the firm's carbon footprint and implement internal green initiatives, as well as to look for opportunities to partner with clients and potential clients on joint sustainability activities.

While serving as chief sustainability officer, Kaplan will continue her legal practice in energy, environmental and land use law. Kaplan also co-chairs the firm's Renewable Energy Team and has assisted clients on a variety of renewable energy projects, including the siting of land-based and offshore wind facilities.

Nixon Peabody has been fostering sustainable business practices. Earlier this year, the firm announced the opening of its first green office in San Francisco which is a model of sustainable design, green building techniques, and a healthy work environment.

The office has been certified by the U.S. Green Building Council under the program for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED, making Nixon Peabody the first law firm in the United States to be LEED certified in the category of Commercial Interiors.

In the coming months, other Nixon Peabody offices will also pursue LEED-certification.

All of the firm's offices are implementing sustainability programs, adopting waste minimization practices, switching to eco-friendly building materials and cleaning products, and identifying other ways to reduce the firm's carbon footprint.

With 700 attorneys collaborating across 25 major practice areas in 17 office locations, Nixon Peabody is one of the largest law firms in the United States and is recognized by American Lawyer Media as a "Global 100" firm.

Nixon Peabody has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of its "100 Best Companies To Work For" in 2007 for the second consecutive year. The firm has also been named to the Human Rights Campaign's 2007 "Best Places To Work For GLBT Equality" list.

Missouri State University has hired a former vice president of Strong Law Firm as its new general counsel.

MSU’s Board of Governors executive committee today approved the hiring of Clifton “Clif” Smart, who begins Dec. 1. He will be paid $130,000 annually plus a car allowance, according to an MSU news release.

Smart was with Strong Law Firm PC for 15 years. He had been a shareholder there since 1995 and vice president since 1998. His practice consisted mostly of catastrophic injury, medical malpractice and commercial cases.

Smart holds a juris doctor degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law and a bachelor of arts degree from Tulane University.

Smart replaces John Black, who begins as general counsel at City Utilities on Dec. 1, according to CU spokesman Joel Alexander. Black was with the university for 12 years.