Just a few days after an Atlanta-based law firm stepped up to take on the defense of the federal ban on same-sex marriage, the company did an about-face and backed out of the deal.
Last week King & Spalding partner Paul Clement signed on to back the Defense of Marriage Act in court, but the firm this week announced it would not go ahead with the defense.
Clement, a former solicitor general under President Bush, resigned following the firm’s decision.
Top clients of the firm, including Coca Cola, reportedly pressured the company not to pursue the defense of DOMA, along with LGBT-advocacy groups.
In a statement issued this week, firm chairman Robert D. Hays said the firm began the process to withdraw from the case last week after determining the “process used for vetting this engagement was inadequate.”
The skirmish was precipitated by President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision earlier this year to no longer defend DOMA in court because they found it to be unconstitutional.
The decision to back the law was left up to Congress, and the Bi-Partisan House Legal Advisory Group, led by House Speaker John Boehner, voted last month to intervene.
A spokesperson for Boehner accused King & Spalding of “careless disregard for its responsibilities to the House in this constitutional matter,” while Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese praised the decision.
“King & Spalding has rightly chosen to put principle above politics in dropping its involvement in the defense of this discriminatory and patently unconstitutional law. We are pleased to see the firm has decided to stand on the right side of history and remain true to its core values,” Solmonese said.
The contract that had been on the table would have provided King & Spalding $520 an hour, with a cap of $500,000 that could have been negotiated higher.
At least nine cases challenging Section 3 of DOMA, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman, are wending their way through the court system.
DOMA also saw Congressional attention earlier this month, when it was the subject of a House subcommittee hearing on the subject “Defending Marriage.”
The hearing was called by Republican Rep. Trent Franks (Ariz.), although the five Republicans on the panel did not attend.
— Jen Colletta