Two Lawyers Who May....

[Laxman]

take Christie down just by their very personalities. These two lawyers, one very ethical, the other not so much, but both powerful and respected may prove to be Christie's undoing and were both looked at in today's Star-Ledger.

There's David Samson:

David Samson's business interests overlap with work at Port Authority

The review provides the clearest demonstration yet of how Samson’s role as chairman of the massive economic engine that is the Port Authority and his role as head of one of the state’s most powerful law firms placed him in potential conflicts of interest.

It also shows a pattern in which Samson, a former state attorney general, represents clients on one hand and on the other votes in his role as chairman of the Port Authority on matters that benefit them.

Samson, one of the most prominent figures in New Jersey’s legal world and a longtime adviser to Gov. Chris Christie, has faced scrutiny since emails emerged linking him to the aftermath of the Port Authority closure of lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

Though Port Authority chairmen draw no salary, the position is one of the most coveted in the region as they can influence how the agency spends money on projects. The review shows Wolff & Samson’s legal business has done well: Since he became chairman of the Port Authority, his firm has made at least $8.4 million from its contract work with the state and authorities, and its lobbying work grew to more than $1 million a year, according to latest records.

read here: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/02/david_samsons_business_interests_overlap_with_work_at_port_authority.html#incart_m-rpt-1

and then there's Wildstein's lawyer-Alan Zegas

In bridge scandal, one lawyer could topple Christie


Being a lawyer has not stopped Zegas from expressing his opinions — and on Christie, he has had more than a few.

When Christie, a former Morris County freeholder and lobbyist, was nominated to be U.S. attorney in 2001, his lack of prosecutorial experience made him a target of Zegas, who said he worried because the position is “very demanding.”

In 2003, the two sparred in federal court when Christie tried his first case as a criminal prosecutor. Christie told the court Hemant Lakhani, a British businessman, had confessed to trying to sell a missile to an FBI informant and should be held in jail. Zegas challenged Christie’s authority to hold Lakhani without providing at least some evidence.

“Alan Zegas has a long history in this court of saying things that, at times, puzzle me,” Christie said after the hearing.

Zegas said Christie’s comment was “not only inappropriate but utterly baseless,” noting it was the first time that Christie had ever met him. Lakhani was later held in jail.

In 2008, Zegas took a shot at Christie when he resigned as U.S. attorney, saying he was too quick to publicly ridicule defendants before conviction.

“If I had one wish, it would be that he had not engaged in as many press conferences,” Zegas said. But that was tame compared with two op-ed pieces he wrote for The Star-Ledger, in 2010 and 2011.

Read here: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/02/in_bridge_scandal_one_lawyer_could_topple_chris_christie.html

[Laxman]

1. Another Interesting Take....

on Wildstein's lawyer, Alan Zegas. The "anti-Christie"

He might be the man who brings down a governor: Alan Zegas, the lawyer for Bridgegate operative David Wildstein. Not because Zegas is political, because Zegas is not. Not because Zegas wants to expose and dethrone the naked emperor, because that is not the way Zegas operates. Personally and professionally, Zegas is the anti-Christie—a modest, principled, highly intelligent, hard-working, decent man. But his target isn’t Christie. His target is the best deal for his client, no matter what the consequences for the governor. And that could mean Wildstein’s testimony against his old pal from high school.

http://bobbraunsledger.com/alan-zegas-the-lawyer-who-could-bring-christie-down/