Rob Portman, the former congressman and Bush administration official, is going back to his roots by joining the Cincinnati office of the law firm Squire, Sanders and Dempsey to practice international trade law.

But the Terrace Park Republican is by no means giving up on politics – the law firm has told him he is free to continue traveling Ohio, giving speeches and laying the groundwork for a possible 2010 run for Ohio governor or the U.S. Senate, should George Voinovich decide to retire.

The firm announced the hiring today in the following press release:

Rob Portman, who recently left the President’s cabinet as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will join global law firm Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. as part of the firm’s transactional and international trade practice. Prior to OMB, he served as United States Trade Representative (USTR), and for 12 years as US Congressman from Ohio’s Second Congressional District. Before his election to Congress, Portman practiced international and business law as a partner in a Cincinnati law firm. Portman will be based in Squire Sanders Cincinnati office, but will also maintain a presence in other offices, including the firm’s Washington DC office.

This new position at Squire Sanders will allow Portman to live in his hometown of Cincinnati and to stay involved with his community while working on national and international issues. Squire Sanders has a thriving Cincinnati office and, with 30 offices in 14 countries, an exceptional national and international platform.

“Rob’s extraordinary background in public service and law makes him an outstanding addition to our team,” said Mark J. Ruehlmann, managing partner of Squire Sanders’ Cincinnati office.

Portman is widely regarded as one of the finest and most thoughtful policymakers in the nation. His track record for success is largely attributed to his ability to work in a bipartisan manner to achieve consensus on a wide variety of important issues. He has been an effective champion for fiscal responsibility and has successfully legislated on issues ranging from environmental conservation and drug prevention to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reform and expanding retirement security.

“Squire Sanders provides me with the unique opportunity to join a prestigious global law firm with 30 offices worldwide while living and working in Cincinnati,” said Portman. “I am looking forward to being involved in helping multinational clients both here and abroad while maintaining the ability to be involved in national public policy issues and community projects,” said Portman.

Former Metro Councilman David Briley has joined Bone McAllester Norton, the Nashville law firm announced Monday.

Briley, a Nashville native who ran unsuccessfully for mayor this year, has been an attorney in private practice since 1995. He previously practiced with his brother, state Rep. Rob Briley, who was arrested in September on charges of drunken driving, vandalism, evading police and refusing a blood-alcohol test.

David Briley, 43, received his law degree from Golden Gate University in California. His wife, Jodie Bell, also is an attorney.

"He brings to our firm not only his skills as a litigator, but we also expect his experience and knowledge of the Metropolitan government will be very helpful for many of our clients," Charles W. Bone, chairman of Bone McAllester Norton, said in a news release.

Briley said in an interview he planned to focus on litigation and was "not looking for lobbying work at the council," where he served from 1999 until earlier this year.

Blank Rome said Friday that longtime Chairman David Girard-diCarlo will step down at the end of next year and will be replaced by partners Alan Hoffman and Mike Dyer. In addition, Carl Buchholz was re-elected managing partner and CEO and Gary Goldenberg was named finance partner. Girard-diCarlo has served as either managing partner or chairman at the 500-lawyer firm for 20 years, during which time the firm has more than doubled in size and opened offices in New York, Washington and Hong Kong.

Girard-diCarlo, 64, returned to Philadelphia last spring after spending six years in Washington, where he helped grow the firm's office and client base there. He was aided by his close relationship with President Bush, for whom he was a chief fundraiser in 2000. Bush appointed Girard-DiCarlo to the board of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Hoffman, 59, and Dyer, 61, will become co-chairmen of the firm Jan. 1, 2009. Philadelphia-based Hoffman is head of the 200-lawyer litigation department and Dyer heads the Washington office and the firm's business department. He joined the firm when it acquired Dyer Ellis & Joseph in 2003.

Buchholz, 41, replaced Fred Blume, 66, as managing partner last year. The Girard-diCarlo announcement completes the firm's management succession planning.

Buchholz will be responsible for running the firm on a daily basis while the chairman traditionally provides strategic management and guidance.

Wachtler, 77, blamed his stalking of socialite Joy Silverman on a mental breakdown.

He spent 10 months in jail, writing a prison memoir in 1993 called "After the Madness." He was reinstated after he told a state panel he wants to do legal work for the poor and mentally ill.

"I'm delighted," Sol Wachtler said after his license was reinstated Tuesday. The former judge had told a state panel he hoped to do legal work for poor and mentally ill clients. He currently teaches at Touro College's Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in Central Islip, on Long Island.

Wachtler, now 77, was the Court of Appeals' top judge and a potential Republican candidate for governor when he was arrested in 1992. He was accused of harassing socialite and GOP fundraiser Joy Silverman after she ended their affair.

The former Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, QC, is joining a top American law firm today to lead its European litigation practice.

Lord Goldsmith, who retired from Government in June after six years – just before be was expected to be sacked – has landed a job with Debevoise & Plimpton.

He will take on a wide range of work involving litigation, investigations, arbitration and public interna-tonal law. Within months he will qualify as a solicitor, while remaining a barrister, and become a partner within the firm. Last year its partners each made annual earnings of $1.8 million (£890,000).

The move is a big coup for the firm, which in the past four years has ranked top of the American/inter-national law firms that have bases in London. Lord Goldsmith said: “I am delighted to be joining one of the world’s leading international law firms and to be heading up Debevoise’s high-quality global litigation practice from Europe.” He said that he had received several “very tempting offers”.

It is known that top commercial chambers, as well as a number of leading British law firms, tried to lure him to join. Top of those disappointed with his choice is likely to be his old chambers at Fountain Court.

Lord Goldsmith, who will be based in London, said that the global work of Debevoise, coupled with its public service work, had enticed him to the post. His post of European chair of litigation will involve him in all aspects of global litigation, including advocacy in British courts.

Lord Goldsmith resigned in June after six years as Attorney-General, where he had a mixed record. Widely praised for his work in boosting the Crown Prosecution Service, his reputation diminished over the legal advice that he gave on the war in Iraq; and subsequently over the dropping by the Serious Fraud Office of the investigation into BAE Systems.

His refusal to stand aside from any decision – ultimately made after he had left the post – over the “cash-for-honours” investigation prompted the current inquiry into whether the post of Attorney-General should be reformed or broken up.

Lord Goldsmith, 56, said that he had to obtain official clearance for taking up the post from the committtee on business appointments, chaired by Lord Mayhew of Twisden, and that he was told that it was “entirely proper” once three months had elapsed. He declined to comment on his earnings but added that they would not “be as much as they would have been at the Bar”.

Debevoise & Plimpton was named “America’s best law firm” in the yearly rankings for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, compiled by the magazine American Lawyer.

"Milberg Weiss understands that a second superseding indictment will be issued tomorrow that will include new charges against the firm and also Melvyn Weiss," the statement said.

Weiss, 72, long reigned as the king of U.S. class-action litigation, casting himself as the protector of the common investor and creating enemies throughout corporate America. Weiss' lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Milberg Weiss said it remained proud of its and Weiss' accomplishments and did not anticipate the indictment would interrupt its work.

News of Weiss' pending indictment came a day after another of the firm's former partners, William Lerach, agreed to plead guilty to criminal conspiracy and go to prison for his involvement in the scheme.

On its Web site, the Wall Street Journal said another former partner at Milberg Weiss, Steven Schulman, is on the verge of reaching a plea deal with the government that will likely be clinched this week. The report cited two people familiar with the situation, who said Schulman's deal may include jail time.

Schulman, who was indicted along with the law firm, which has pleaded not guilty to participating in a scheme in which several individuals were secretly paid to serve as plaintiffs in more than 150 lawsuits.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles declined to comment on media reports regarding Schulman and the statement issued by Milberg Weiss.