Solyndra, the California solar company that filed for bankruptcy this month despite a $535 million federal loan guarantee, has hired five McDermott Will & Emery attorneys, including three in Washington, to represent the company in congressional investigations that began last week.
Washington partners Stephen Ryan and David Ransom and adviser Jon Decker were hired as special counsel to advise the company in government investigations and hearings, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The filing indicates that McDermott had previously represented Solyndra before the company filed for bankruptcy Sept. 6, and received payments of $23,829.60 in the year leading up to the bankruptcy petition.
ABA pushes for loan reform
The American Bar Association is urging Congress to pass legislation making it easier for law students to repay federal and private loans.
The group has passed a resolution to expand loan forgiveness programs for public service lawyers, allow students to take out additional federal loans to pay back private debt, and pay back federal loans at a rate that takes their income into account. The proposal also urges private commercial lenders to establish more lenient repayment guidelines when issuing loans.
In a separate proposal, the ABA also is calling for greater transparency from law schools when reporting employment data, urging the section of the ABA that regulates legal education to require ABA-approved schools to include on their Web site, catalogue and acceptance letters the following information: how many graduates have full-time and part-time jobs in the legal industry, whether employment is permanent or temporary, cost of law school per credit and the average cost of living while attending law school.
Clearspire hires ACC leader
Fred Krebs, longtime president of the Association for Corporate Counsel, will join Clearspire, the nontraditional law firm that opened in the District last year.
Krebs led the ACC for 20 years, and will start at Clearspire as a strategic corporate counsel adviser on Oct. 1.
Under Krebs, the ACC — the Washington-based group representing in-house counsel — tripled its membership and launched an initiative advocating structural changes to the traditional law firm model. Krebs will continue in his advisory role at the ACC and manage his consulting practice.
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