In their latest column, Joel Cohen and Katherine A. Helm turn their attention to the Gulf Coast oil spill and its impact on the perennial issue of when judges should recuse or be disqualified from hearing a particular case

In what marks the latest twist in the long-running disciplinary proceeding against former federal prosecutor G. Paul Howes, the nine-member District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility yesterday issued a split recommendation on what sanctions Howes should receive for his past alleged misconduct. In the board’s report, four members recommended disbarment for the former D.C.

Members of Congress are still looking for a way to authorize a couple of billion-dollar agreements that would settle litigation involving the federal government and minority groups. The House of Representatives had included authority for the settlements in a bill authorizing supplemental war funding. That bill passed the House July 1

The Cook County, Ill., medical examiner’s office has determined that Reed Smith partner Stewart Dolin, who died last week after being struck by a Chicago Transit Authority train, committed suicide. Dolin, who was 57, co-chaired Reed Smith’s corporate and securities practice. Dolin’s suicide is the latest involving an Am Law 200 partner in recent months

The CIA may exempt from Freedom of Information Act disclosure materials that reveal intelligence sources and methods, even though they relate to the secret detention and interrogation program deemed illegal by the Obama administration in 2009, a New York federal judge has ruled, rejecting a claim by the ACLU and other plaintiffs. The ruling was the latest in a series in the six-year-old FOIA litigation on materials relating to the treatment of prisoners and rendition of detainees to countries that practice torture.