Re: [Dems2008] Re: Obama's lawyer days

Shirl4116@aol.com writes:

Shirley - I don't agree with you but I'm not going to attack you just because we disagree.  Yes, I'm a firm Clinton supporter and I've been attacked here plenty for it.

I just hope you're ferreting out information from a few more sources than his book.

Rob and all,

I am reading (as all of you should try to do) Dreams from My
Father by Obama which is a heart warming book about his childhood
and community organizing days. Instead of joining the Yuppie
crowd and collecting big bucks, he sacrificed his youth in
order to help poor people. Reading this book will help make
everyone aware of the true character of this man who only
wants the best for his country. By the way, I looked up
catpurdy@yahoo.com on google and noticed she is on a
number of Hillary's groups. I actually read some of her
postings and in my opinion......she is a die hard Clintonite.
I don't mind being attacked by catpurdy for this posting and
in fact, I expect an attack. Go right ahead. If Obama can
sacrifice his life to help poor people,
I can also take on all kinds of attacks. Please try and
join his phone bank. He needs good folks.

Shirley

--- In Dems2008@yahoogroups.com, catpurdy@... wrote:
>
>It's just information, Rob. Meant to enlighten, that's all.
>
>Eamon1916@... writes:
>
>>Ok... and?
>>
>>Has he ever said ALL he did was civil rights work? No... he said
he was a
>>civil rights attorney... and according the story there he worked
about 70% on
>>it...
>>
>>I'm not seeing what the point of this was...
>>
>>Slainte,
>>Rob Harrington
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----
>>From: "catpurdy@..." <catpurdy@...>
>>To: Dems2008@yahoogroups.com
>>Cc: Democrats_2008@yahoogroups.com;
Hillary_Clinton_In_2008@yahoogroups.com
>>Sent: Monday, April 7, 2008 11:03:25 AM
>>Subject: [Dems2008] Obama's lawyer days
>>
>>Obama's lawyer days: brief and not all civil rights
>>
>>
>>
>>The head of his former firm says he did good work. But not all of
it was
>>related to voting and civil rights.
>>By Dan Morain
>>Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
>>
>>April 6, 2008
>>
>>CHICAGO â€" In his books, speeches and campaign commercials, Sen.
Barack Obama
>>often harks back to his days as a civil rights attorney.
>>
>>It is fundamental to his autobiography, displayed on his campaign
website
>>and woven into his appeals for votes. In one of his television
ads leading up
>>to the South Carolina primary, Obama recalled "working as a civil
rights
>>attorney to make sure that everybody's vote counted."
>>
>>Senior attorneys at the small firm where he worked say he was a
strong
>>writer and researcher, but was involved in relatively few cases --
about 30 -- and
>>spent only four years as a full-time lawyer before entering
politics.
>>
>>Obama arrived in Chicago in 1993 with a degree from Harvard Law
School and
>>was hired as a junior lawyer at the firm then known as Davis,
Miner, Barnhill &
>>Gallard. He helped represent clients in civil and voting rights
matters and
>>wrongful firings, argued a case before a federal appellate court,
and took
>>the lead in writing a suit to expand voter registration.
>>
>>But the firm also handled routine legal matters and real estate.
Obama spent
>>about 70% of his time on voting rights, civil rights and
employment,
>>generally as a junior associate. The rest of his time was spent
on matters related
>>to real estate transactions, filing incorporation papers and
defending clients
>>against minor lawsuits.
>>
>>In one instance, Obama defended a nonprofit corporation that owns
low-income
>>housing projects against a lawsuit in which a man alleged that he
slipped
>>and fell because of poor maintenance. Obama got the suit
dismissed.
>>
>>In another case, Obama appeared on behalf of a nonprofit
corporation that
>>provided healthcare for poor people. A woman who claimed income
of less than
>>$8,000 a year had sued Obama's client to obtain a $336 payment
for baby-sitting
>>services; Obama's client paid up, and the case was settled.
>>
>>In 1994, Obama appeared in Cook County court on behalf of
Woodlawn
>>Preservation &Investment Corp., defending it against a suit by
the city, which alleged
>>that the company failed to provide heat for low-income tenants on
the South
>>Side during the winter.
>>
>>Those were not the cases Obama highlighted in the self-portrait
drawn in his
>>first memoir, "Dreams From My Father."
>>
>>"In my legal practice," he wrote, "I work mostly with churches
and community
>>groups, men and women who quietly build grocery stores and health
clinics in
>>the inner city, and housing for the poor."
>>
>>Obama had made a name for himself at Harvard, where he was the
first African
>>American president of the law review. That accomplishment
generated press
>>accounts and prompted Judson Miner, head of the firm that bears
his name, to
>>recruit Obama. Obama took time to complete "Dreams From My
Father," then joined
>>the 13-attorney firm.
>>
>>"He was doing the work that any first-year or second-year
associate would
>>do," Miner said. "In litigation, he was doing basic research and
writing memos.
>>. . . In the first couple years he would play a very minor role.
He wouldn't
>>know [much], so he would take the lead from whoever was
supervising his
>>work."
>>
>>He did have some noteworthy cases. Among them, Obama filed a
major 1995 suit
>>that successfully forced Illinois to enforce the 1993 federal
Motor Voter
>>law, which sought to make it easier for people to register to
vote.
>>
>>Obama took what Miner called the "laboring oar" on some cases. He
took the
>>lead arguing a 1994 case before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of
Appeals on
>>behalf of a securities trader who had been improperly fired. The
court ruled for
>>his client.
>>
>>"This is a central part of his life and story," said David
Axelrod, Obama's
>>chief campaign strategist. "He could have written his ticket at
any law firm
>>in the country. . . . He decided instead that he wanted to be a
civil rights
>>attorney, and he signed up with a small firm that had a
reputation for doing
>>this kind of work."
>>
>>People who knew Obama in the early 1990s said he made it clear
that he
>>aspired to run for public office. For that, the firm, now called
Miner, Barnhill &
>>Gallard, was a good place to start.
>>
>>The firm has been a force in Chicago politics. Carol Moseley
Braun, one of
>>Obama's predecessors in the U.S. Senate from Illinois, briefly
worked there.
>>
>>Miner was counsel to the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington.
Allison
>>Davis, a co-founder of the firm who since has left, is a major
Chicago developer.
>>
>>Miner, Davis and other partners and clients have been a regular
source of
>>campaign money for Obama, giving him $100,000 over the years.
Miner said he
>>organized fundraisers for Obama's first state Senate run, his
2000 congressional
>>campaign and his 2004 U.S. Senate race.
>>
>>Davis, who could not be reached for comment, has been a partner
with other
>>Chicago developers who also are clients of the firm and are Obama
backers. One
>>Davis partner was Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a major Obama patron who
is now on
>>trial in a federal public corruption case.
>>
>>The law firm says Obama logged 3,723 billable hours during his
tenure from
>>1993 to 2004, most of it during the first four years.
>>
>>In 1995, the year his first book came out, Obama started his
successful run
>>for the Illinois state Senate, and stopped working full-time once
he took
>>office in 1997. He remained associated with the firm until he was
elected to the
>>U.S. Senate nearly eight years later.
>>
>>In some instances, Illinois state Sen. Obama took action that
could have
>>benefited some of his firm's clients. In 1998, for instance, he
used state
>>Senate stationery to urge that state and city officials provide
tax subsidies to
>>help a partnership consisting of Davis and Rezko develop low-
income housing,
>>the Chicago Sun-Times reported last year.
>>
>>In 2001, Obama was coauthor of a law that created a tax credit
for people
>>who donate land, buildings or construction material to help
develop low-income
>>housing.
>>
>>Illinois state Rep. Jack D. Franks, a Democrat, lauded the bill,
which
>>garnered near-unanimous support. But Franks said that while the
measure helped
>>Obama's low-income constituents, it raises questions because his
law firm's
>>clients could have benefited from it.
>>
>>"Someone else should have carried this legislation," said Franks,
who has
>>endorsed Obama's Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
>>
>>"I can't fault him for the idea. But he is wearing two hats. He
is a
>>legislator, and he is serving as a private attorney whose client
interests benefited
>>here. This goes to the judgment issue."
>>
>>Obama strategist Axelrod scoffed at the notion that Obama should
have
>>avoided such legislation.
>>
>>He said that the beneficiaries were nonprofit corporations and
people in
>>need of low-cost housing.
>>
>>"The shortage of affordable housing is a major public-policy
concern of his
>>and of the state," Axelrod said.
>>
>>"His view of public policy is that you should use the tools of
government to
>>deal with some of the crying social needs that we have."
>>
>>dan.morain@...
>>
>>

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