OUT & ABOUT

Rebecca and Alberto Gonzales with Thomas Penfield Jackson. (Rebecca D'Angelo - For The Washington Post)

Nobody Wanted to Pass the Bar at This Banquet

In a city synonymous with lawsuits, billable hours and lawyer jokes, we pause to point out that attorneys are people, too -- one night a year they stop litigating and start partying. Sort of like "Brigadoon" without the kilts but with the Scotch. Definitely with the Scotch.

For 133 years, the D.C. Bar Association has hosted an annual banquet. "It's early and we're all already having a great time," said association President William Davis over cocktails Saturday night at the Italian Embassy.

For this fete, it was not fashionable to be late. Anyone who was anyone was early. Alberto Gonzales, President Bush's nominee for attorney general, showed up promptly at 7 to toast his friend and one of the night's honorees, Washington lawyer Fred Fielding. "This is the man," Gonzales said, embracing Fielding. "He's the only thing that got me out tonight." The two pals met, Gonzales joked, "through the secret club." (We have no idea what that meant.)

Jamie Gorelick and Monica May. (Rebecca D'Angelo - For The Washington Post)

The evening's judicial honoree, retired U.S. district judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, didn't have to share the spotlight with anyone else. Fielding, a Republican, and Jamie Gorelick, a Democrat, shared honors for Lawyer of the Year Saturday night. "Fred and I have been joking that together we make one decent lawyer," said Gorelick, who served with Fielding on the 9/11 commission. "We've basically been locked in a small room together for the past 20 months, so it's good that we like each other."

Awwww, isn't it cute when lawyers play nice?

Eddie Williams: Mildly Roasted, Roundly Toasted

Togo West and Eddie Williams at the farewell reception. (Rebecca D'Angelo - For The Washington Post)

Eddie Williams, outgoing president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, seems to have nearly everyone in the city under the impression that he's a legendary leader with a will of steel and a heart of gold. At Wednesday's roast at the Hilton Washington, friends tried to blow Williams's cover. The dirt? He's a poker shark, said roaster Rufus McKinney. Others revealed Williams is a terrible golfer (gasp!) and a workaholic (shocking!).

After 32 years at the helm of the public policy think tank, Williams admits to being a tad obsessive. "I guess tomorrow will be my last day in the office. Oh, wait! There's another board meeting," said Williams, who will assume a new set of duties as president emeritus.

Kathleen Van der Horst and C. Lynn McNair (Rebecca D'Angelo - For The Washington Post)

Other than that, the roasters and 200 fans had nothing but wonderful things to say including incoming Joint Center president Togo West. "The people who are gathered here to say goodbye to Mr. Williams are all old and dear friends of ours," said West. "I'm planning on trying to take what he's done, move forward with it and polish it."

The Fishing School's Hooks, Lines and Thinkers

Fishing School founder Thomas Lewis chats with Brianna Anderson, 9, at Thursday's reception. (Hans Ericsson - For The Washington Post)

There were no poles or worms at the British Embassy reception for the Fishing School Thursday night, only some human tadpoles in a big pond of some 200 guests. The youngsters were the evening's ambassadors for their school, which takes its name from the adage about teaching a man to fish and provides after-school education programs for at-risk children and their parents. "It can't run on fresh air," said Lizzie Dimmock, a member of the British Embassy Spouses Association who planted the school's first garden last spring.

Reel 'em in, kids.

With Laura Thomas