The U.S. Senate, without opposition, on Tuesday night confirmed Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan as U.S. attorney for Western Washington, the Northwest's most important job in federal law enforcement.

"She will do a great job and make us very proud in that job," said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

A member of a prominent Irish-American political clan - her father ran twice for governor - Durkan has for years been deeply involved in the intersection of politics and law in the region.

Under both Democratic and Republican administrations, she has co-chaired a
bipartisan panel that screens candidates for federal judicial vacancies, and sends suggested finalists to the state's U.S. Senators.

Durkan was lead legal counsel for Gov. Chris Gregoire in the 2005 Chelan County Superior Court trial that threw out a Republican legal challenge and confirmed Gregoire's narrow election. In fact, it expanded Gregoire's victory margin from 129 votes to 133 votes.

In Wenatchee, on the night before a crucial cross-examination, Durkan learned that her father, former state Sen. Martin J. Durkan, had died.

A co-counsel offered to take over in court the next day. Durkan excused herself, went for a long nocturnal walk, came back . . . and performed a stellar cross-examination the next day.

A Notre Dame alumnus, Durkan once worked for Washington, D.C.'s famed Williams & Connolly criminal law firm. She served as legal counsel to Gov. Mike Lowry in the 1990's.

Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Edward McCabe, the former chief administrative judge in the county, is retiring Tuesday.

The 76-year-old judge is joining the Uniondale law firm of Sahn Ward & Baker as of counsel starting Wednesday. A breakfast is being held at the Nassau County Supreme Court in Mineola Tuesday morning to honor the outgoing justice.

New York state law requires judges to retire at the age of 70, but they are allowed to apply for three two-year extensions. McCabe’s final extension is due to expire at the end of the year, but he said he preferred to leave earlier.

“There is life after this,” McCabe said in his near-empty office on Monday afternoon. “I am a very, very lucky person.”

McCabe has been a judge in Nassau for the past 23 years. Prior to that, McCabe served as town attorney for North Hempstead, Nassau County Attorney and an assistant District Attorney in Nassau County.

A former investigator involved in the Jayson Williams manslaughter case on Tuesday described how he used a racial slur to describe the former NBA star, while his boss explained why he chose not to disclose the incident before Williams' 2004 trial.

The testimony occurred during a hearing in state Superior Court, where Williams' defense team is attempting to show that racial bias tainted the investigation and prosecution.

Williams, who retired in 2000 after nine seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in 2004 in the shooting two years earlier of hired driver Costas "Gus" Christofi at Williams' central New Jersey mansion.

He was convicted on four counts of attempting to cover up the crime, and a jury deadlocked on a reckless manslaughter count for which Williams faces a retrial scheduled for January.

Tuesday's hearing, and another scheduled for Wednesday, were prompted by Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes' disclosure of the racial epithet in 2007, more than three years after the trial.

Barnes said Tuesday he was notified about the slur in early 2003 from an employee who had been in the room when Hunt, who is white, said it in 2002. Barnes said although he reacted with "anger and disappointment," he chose not to inform the trial judge or Williams' defense team.

Delaware's appeal of a ruling that its plan to allow betting on professional sports violates a federal ban will not be heard, a federal court ruled on Tuesday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in court documents signed by Judge Thomas Hardiman, denied the request for a rehearing before the larger court.

Hardiman was one of the three judges who ruled unanimously in August that Delaware's plan violated federal law.

Delaware had planned to allow point-spread bets on individual games in all major sports from three racetrack casinos.

"Obviously, we are disappointed with today's ruling, Michael Barlow, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell's legal counsel, said in a statement. "We realize that it is rare that the Third Circuit will hear cases with all 12 active judges, but this was an important issue for the state of Delaware and we thought the state should have a chance to make its case at trial."

Delaware could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, but Markell spokesman Joe Ragolsky said that was unlikely.

The state can offer parlay bets -- which depend on the outcome of several matches -- on National Football League games.

Polsinelli Shughart PC has completed its move to Lower Downtown Denver, the firm announced Monday in a letter to clients.

Effective Monday, the law firm is now located the newly built 1515 Wynkoop office building in the LoDo Historic District. Before, its offices were in downtown's Independence Plaza at 1050 17th St.

Earlier this year, Shughart Thomson & Kilroy PC, a Kansas City-based law firm with a Denver office, merged with Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus PC, a larger Kansas City firm that did not previously have a Denver presence.

The national law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP announced today that a foundation it established following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is helping its attorneys and staff affected by the recent devastating floods in Georgia. The firm is currently accepting assistance applications from the Georgia employees of Fisher & Phillips who suffered damage.

Chairman and Managing Partner Roger Quillen said: “The attorneys and staff of our firm who were not directly affected by the flooding have displayed the same desire to aid their co-workers as they did when Hurricane Katrina damaged or destroyed the homes of our people in Louisiana. It does my heart good to see how our extended law firm family comes together in a time of need.”

Robert Christenson, chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits Practice Group, pointed out that any employer can create a charitable fund to provide immediate disaster relief assistance to its own employees. When properly organized and operated, donors receive a tax deduction for contributions to such a fund, and recipients of assistance do not pay income tax on money they receive. Employers have been permitted to set up such funds since the 9/11 disaster. Following that tragedy, Congress enacted the Victims of Terrorism Tax Relief Act of 2001, which allows an employer to establish a 501(c)(3) private foundation for the purpose of providing timely disaster relief assistance to its employees and their families (an “Employer-Controlled Foundation”). Disasters such as Katrina and the Georgia floods are covered by the Act.

Christenson said: “A foundation such as ours gives employees the opportunity to aid their colleagues who have been affected by a disaster or tragedy. Our attorneys are ready to assist any company that wants to move quickly to establish its own foundation to help during this time of need. We will put together the organizational documents, help with the tax filings, and explain the law to ensure that employers properly establish their foundations.”

The Fisher & Phillips Foundation provides money for such things as living expenses and uninsured repairs. All assistance is purely “needs based” and a committee ensures that the funds are properly distributed. Following Hurricane Katrina 17 attorneys and staff received a total of $77,000 from the foundation. The firm donated $60,000 to start the fund and lawyers and staff donated an additional $22,000. The firm has committed to donate an additional $40,000 to the fund as needed and the foundation is also accepting donations from attorneys and staff to help the Georgia flood victims.

A former aide to Danielle Steel is facing time in federal prison after admitting she stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the romance novelist.

Federal prosecutors announced Monday that 47-year-old Kristy Watts, who also goes by the name Kristy Siegrist, pleaded guilty last week to one count of wire fraud and four counts of tax evasion.

Prosecutors say Watts admitted stealing at least $400,000 while handling accounting and other duties for Steel.

Watts worked for the best-selling author from 1993 to 2008.

Investigators determined Watts had deposited checks from Steel's accounts into her own account and used Steel's credit cards for herself.

Sentencing is set for Feb. 4 in federal court in San Francisco.