Gov. Spitzer has made his nominations to the new Public Integrity Commission. They're all lawyers -- every single one! Not a single normal person!
John Feerick, Fordham Law School. Daniel Alonso of Kaye Scholer. John Brickman of Ackerman, Levine, Cullen, Brickman and Limmer. Andrew Celli of Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff and Abady. Robert Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell. David Gruenberg, a solo practitioner from Troy. James P. King of Albany Law School. Howard Levine of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna.
The new commission will take up the Troopergate investigation started by the now-defunct Ethics Commission. The commissioners will have to decide whether they can uphold public integrity by sitting on a case involving the governor who just appointed them.
The full release is after the jump.
GOVERNOR SPITZER ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENTS TO THE
NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION ON PUBLIC INTEGRITY
Governor Eliot Spitzer and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson today announced appointments to the New York State Commission on Public Integrity which was established by the Governor and the Legislature as part of sweeping ethics and lobbying reforms enacted earlier this year.
Governor Spitzer’s appointments include the current Chairs of both the State Ethics Commission and the Temporary State Commission on Lobbying as well as two other members of those commissions, two former judges, and two former U.S. Attorneys. The current chair of the State Ethics Commission, John D. Feerick, will be appointed as Chairman of the new commission.
The Commission on Public Integrity consists of thirteen members: seven members, including the Chair are selected by the Governor and six members are appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Attorney General, the Comptroller, and the four Legislative leaders. No more than four of the seven members appointed by the Governor can belong to the same political party.
Members of the Commission on Public Integrity are:
John D. Feerick is appointed to serve as Chairman of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Feerick is the current Chair of the State Ethics Commission and serves as the Norris Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. He is also the Founder and Director of the Law School’s Feerick Center for Social Justice and Dispute Resolution.
From 1982 to 2002, Mr. Feerick served as Dean of Fordham Law School. In addition, Mr. Feerick has chaired the New York State Commission to Promote Public Confidence in Judicial Elections and previously served as a court-appointed Judicial Referee in the case of Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. New York State. From 1987 to 1990, serving as Special Deputy New York State Attorney General, Mr. Feerick chaired the New York State Commission on Government Integrity that led to the adoption of the 1987 Ethics in Government Act.
Mr. Feerick was a member of the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom from 1961 to 1982. He also participated in the formulation, adoption and implementation of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which relates to presidential succession and was ratified in 1967. Mr. Feerick has been recognized for his extensive work in the field of ethics reform. He has been the recipient of honors and recognitions from various groups, including Common Cause, The League of Women Voters, and the New York Lawyers for Public Interest. He has received the highest awards from the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the New York County Lawyers’ Association for his contributions to the legal profession.
Mr. Feerick received his B.S. from Fordham College and his J.D. from Fordham Law School.
Daniel R. Alonso is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Alonso is currently a partner in the litigation department of Kaye Scholer LLP. His practice is focused on internal investigations, white-collar defense, general civil litigation, and SEC enforcement. Before joining Kaye Scholer LLP, Mr. Alonso was the Chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. In that capacity, he supervised approximately 110 federal prosecutors in the investigation and prosecution of a vast array of crimes, including securities fraud and other types of white collar crime, organized crime, public corruption, narcotics trafficking, computer crimes, terrorism and violent gangs. From 1990 to1995, Mr. Alonso served as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, where he handled white-collar criminal cases while assigned to the Frauds Bureau and the Special Prosecutions Bureau. He has also served as a law clerk to Judge Joseph W. Bellacosa of the New York Court of Appeals.
Mr. Alonso is a four-time winner of the Justice Department’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and is a recipient of the Henry L. Stimson Medal, awarded by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York to outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Mr. Alonso received his B.A. from Cornell University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law.
John M. Brickman is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Brickman is a partner in the law firm of Ackerman, Levine, Cullen, Brickman and Limmer, LLP. He is the head of the firm's litigation group, practicing primarily in the area of commercial litigation. From 1971 to 1975, he served as Executive Director of the New York City Board of Correction, overseeing the operation of the New York City prison system. In addition, from 1991 to 2006, he was Adjunct Professor of Law at Touro College’s Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center.
Mr. Brickman is pro bono legal counsel to the Manhasset-Great Neck Community Service Center. He also serves as Chairman of the Correctional Association of New York, a Director of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, and a Director of the Levitt Foundation. From 1992 to 1994 he served as a Trustee of The Johns Hopkins University and President of The Johns Hopkins Alumni Association.
Mr. Brickman received his undergraduate degree from The Johns Hopkins University and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law.
Andrew G. Celli, Jr. is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Celli is a founding partner in the Manhattan Law firm of Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff and Abady. From 1999 to 2002, Mr. Celli served as Chief of the Civil Rights Bureau in the Office of the New York State Attorney General. Mr. Celli is a former associate at Cravath, Swaine and Moore and clerked for United States District Court Judge Charles P. Sifton. He has extensively litigated commercial, civil rights and constitutional cases in state and federal courts.
In 2004, Mr. Celli was appointed as a member of the New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying and served as the Commission’s Vice-Chair. He is a graduate of Hobart College and New York University School of Law.
Daniel J. French is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. French is currently a partner in the Syracuse firm of French-Alcott, PLLC. His practice includes complex civil litigation and criminal defense, along with a federal relations practice. Prior to forming this partnership, Mr. French was a member and later of counsel at Green and Seifter. Before entering the private sector, Mr. French served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York where he was the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for 32 of New York's 62 counties and serving over 3.5 million state residents. He oversaw the work of 39 Assistant United States Attorneys located in Syracuse, Albany, and Binghamton.
Previously, Mr. French served as an Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the criminal division in Syracuse and as a confidential Law Clerk for then United States District Court Judge Rosemary S. Pooler. In addition, Mr. French served as Acting Deputy Staff Director to the United States Senate Committee on Finance, Executive Assistant to United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and as a professional staff member to the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Mr. French is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Onondaga County Bar Association and the Association of Former United State Attorneys. He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Thousand Island Land Trust and Save the River.
He received his B.A. from the State University of New York College at Oswego and his J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law.
Robert Giuffra is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Giuffra is a partner in Sullivan and Cromwell’s Litigation Group. His practice focuses on complex securities, white-collar criminal, class action, commercial, insurance, banking and tax litigation. He is the Coordinator of Sullivan’s Securities Litigation Practice, the Co-Head of Business Development, and a member of the Management Committee.
Since 1998, Mr. Giuffra has served as a Commissioner on the New York State Ethics Commission. From 1995 to 1996, he was Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and was the primary drafter of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In 1994, Mr. Giuffra served on Governor-Elect Pataki’s Criminal Justice Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Giuffra was a Special Assistant District Attorney in New York County from 1991 to 1992.
Mr. Giuffra clerked for United States Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist and the Honorable Ralph Winter on the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. He is a graduate of Yale University and Princeton Law School.
David L. Gruenberg is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Gruenberg is currently a solo practitioner in Troy. From 1983 to 2004, he served as Senior Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has also served as Counsel to Senator Joseph Bruno and Senator Roy Goodman. In addition, from 1984 to 2003, Mr. Gruenberg served as Counsel to the Majority in the Rensselaer County Legislature. He was an Assistant Public Defender in Rensselaer County from 1979 to 1982 and was an Assistant Attorney General with the New York State Office of the Attorney General from 1974 to 1977.
Mr. Gruenberg established and staffed the Office of the Rensselaer County Conflict Defender. He received his B.A. from Cornell University and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
James P. King is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. King is currently the Government Lawyer in Residence at the Government Law Center of Albany Law School and has been an Adjunct Professor since 1984. From 2000 to 2002, he was the General Counsel for the New York State Department of State and was a judge on the New York State Court of Claims from 1995 to 2000. Judge King served as an Assemblyman from 1991 to 1995 serving as the ranking member of the Codes and Ethics Committee. In addition, he was an Assistant Attorney General for the New York State Office of the Attorney General, heading the Tort Unit. Judge King was also an Assistant Professor of Law at Stetson University in Florida from 1981 to 1983. He has previously served as a Brigadier General in the United States Marine Corps, becoming the ranking Judge Advocate.
Judge King was a Commissioner on the New York State Commission on Public Authority Reform and was appointed to the New York Temporary State Commission on Lobbying in 2006.
He received his L.L.M. from Washington University, his L.L.B. from Albany Law School and his B.A. from Westminster College.
Howard A. Levine is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Levine is currently Senior Counsel at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. From 1993 to 2002 he was an Associate Judge on the New York State Court of Appeals and from 2000 to 2002 he was Chair of the New York Federal-State Judicial Council. Judge Levine was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Third Department from 1982 to 1993. In 1981, Judge Levine was a Justice of the State Supreme Court, Fourth Judicial District. Judge Levine has also been a Family Court Judge and was the District Attorney for Schenectady County from 1967 to 1970 after serving as an Assistant District Attorney from 1961 to 1966.
In 2000, Judge Levine was the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award from the Federal Commercial Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association and in 2003 he received its Annual Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service in the Law.
Judge Levine received his B.A. and L.L.B. from Yale University.
Loretta E. Lynch is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Ms. Lynch is a partner at Hogan & Hartson, LLP. Her practice focuses primarily on commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense, and corporate compliance issues. From 1999 to 2001, Ms. Lynch served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. During her tenure, she oversaw an office of more than 150 attorneys who represented the federal government in both civil and criminal matters. Prior to being named U.S. Attorney, Ms. Lynch served as the Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the district. She also served as Chief of the Long Island office from 1994 to 1998, after serving as the Deputy Chief of General Crimes and as Chief of Intake and Arraignments for the district. Ms. Lynch has been a frequent instructor for the U.S. Department of Justice in their Criminal Trial Advocacy Program and has served as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law. She has also participated in trial advocacy workshops for the prosecutors of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Ms. Lynch is a Member of the Board of Directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, The Legal Aid Society, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Office of the Appellate Defender and the National Institute for Law and Equity. Ms. Lynch is also a Member of the Board of Advisors for the Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law.
She received her A.B. from Harvard College in 1981, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1984.
John T. Mitchell is appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on Public Integrity. Mr. Mitchell is currently of counsel to the law firm of Tobin and Dempf, LLP. Prior to that, Mr. Mitchell was with the firms of Dugan, Casey, Burke & Lyons and Casey, Yanas & Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell was Counsel to the Town of Bethlehem Planning Board from 1989 to1990 and was a member of the Planning Board in 1988.
Mr. Mitchell has been a Member of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board since 1999. He is a founding member of the Albany County Bar Foundation and a past president of the Albany County Bar Association.
He received his A.B. from Canisius College and his J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University.
The members of the Commission on Public Integrity do not receive salaries.