News & Notes

Hall, Sickels, Frei & Mims partner Robert Hall turned over leadership of the International Association of Trial Lawyers to Texas attorney William O. Whitehurst, Jr. at the group's recent annual meeting in Orlando.

One of the meeting's highlights was a debate on military tribunals and the Guantanamo detainees between Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, the military's top legal adviser on military commissions, and Northwestern University Law Professor Joseph Margulies, who served as lead counsel in Rasul v. Bush, a key case regarding the detainees.

The 500-member Academy also heard an address on the erosion of American liberties and 'pseudo-patriotism' by Barry S. Richard, the attorney who gained national recognition as lead litigation counsel for George W. Bush in the 2000 Florida presidential election case.  Also on the agenda was University of Miami President and former Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala who discussed the work of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, which she co-chairs with Senator Bob Dole.   

Other speakers included the youngest practicing senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Makhdoom Ali Khan, and James R. McDonough, credited with restoring professionalism and ethics to Florida's state prison system which had been rocked by corruption. 

The International Academy of Trial Lawyers was chartered in 1954 to cultivate the science of jurisprudence, promote reforms in the law, facilitate the Administration of Justice, promote the Rule of Law internationally, elevate the standards of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession.  Active Academy membership is limited to 500 Fellows from the United States. The members of the IATL represent the most exceptional attorneys in the nation.

Robert Hall will continue to serve as IATL's immediate past president.  Hall, a litigator, pilot and author, is among the most experienced trial lawyers in Virginia.  His litigation experienced spans both civil and criminal matters and includes the landmark exoneration of Earl Washington, Jr. through DNA testing.  His firm, Hall, Sickels, Frei & Mims is located in Reston, Virginia.