Political Quotes

“I would suspect that in most circumstances a lawyer giving up that procedural right would be committing malpractice. Perhaps a lawyer in that circumstance could say to the client: I am going to do this because opposing counsel has asked it of me, and I want to get along with her. I want to make sure I maximize our chances of settling this litigation perhaps before the litigation has been completely resolved. If that were the argument opposing counsel was making to me, I suspect I would tell the client: If that is the case and our objective is to try to settle the litigation rather than wait until the Court resolves it, then by doing that and giving up that procedural right to file the reply brief, I would be forfeiting a lot of bargaining power that I would otherwise have. And so too here we would be forfeiting a tremendous amount of bargaining power relative to the budget discussions, relative to the debt limit discussion, a discussion that needs to take place in full sunlight and not under cover of darkness. It needs to take place in the two Chambers and not in some back-room deal. That is what we are talking about. That is why these procedural rights are so important. People can disagree with the rules of the Senate, and a lot of people do. People can want to change the rules of the Senate, and there are some who do--some even in this body. But the fact is the rules are what they are.…”