Legal Heavyweights Add Punch to the Microsoft Case

When the Microsoft antitrust trial began nearly four years ago, the coalition of state attorneys general that joined the Department of Justice was largely consigned to cheering from the sidelines.

But after the Justice Department settled its dispute with the software giant late last year, nine dissenting states decided to take control--and one of their first acts of independence was hiring lawyer Brendan V. Sullivan Jr.

Sullivan, 60, has little antitrust experience, but he is one of Washington’s best-known litigators. Some of his peers have described him as an “absolute nightmare,” the courthouse equivalent of a nuclear war.

“If anyone can take on Microsoft, it’s Brendan,” Iowa Atty. Gen. Tom Miller said. “He’s certainly handled these high-pressure cases before.”

Sullivan’s entry in the Microsoft antitrust case is the states’ not-so-subtle way of saying, in the words of Tom Greene, senior assistant attorney general for California: “Now it’s our turn.”

Over the span of his 35-year career, Sullivan has shown a taste for the controversial. He successfully defended former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros against federal conspiracy charges and kept Lt. Col. Oliver L. North out of prison during the Iran-Contra scandal.

When one of North’s interrogators griped about Sullivan’s frequent objections, the attorney snapped: “Sir, I’m not a potted plant. I’m here as the lawyer.”

“Most of his opponents think he’s a junkyard dog,” said North, who now works as a conservative radio commentator.

The Microsoft trial will test Sullivan’s skills. Many people already consider the case largely over because a settlement was announced, and Sullivan will face a Microsoft litigation team well versed in the subtleties of the case.

Overcoming such hurdles is a Sullivan trademark.

He is known for controlling the pace and tone of a case. During the 1987 congressional investigation of the Iran-Contra affair, Sullivan launched a series of objections as legislators grilled North. The tactic worked, stalling the rapid-fire questioning and giving North time to focus and explain his conduct. The normally loquacious North would remain silent until Sullivan nodded in approval.

“My son wanted to become a lawyer because of Brendan,” North said. “He inspires complete confidence.”

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He Tells Clients to Speak Only in Courtroom

For all his courtroom bluster, Sullivan is tight-lipped in public. He typically refuses to be interviewed about his career, his life or his clients. He declined to comment for this report.

“His philosophy is that we should speak as little as possible, and only then in a courtroom,” said Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal. “If he could force us--elected officials--not to talk to the public or press, he would. He just shakes his head over the fact that we do.”

Sullivan is known as a canny strategist. On the second day of North’s testimony, he and his wife, Betsy North, arrived at Congress to appear before the House and Senate select committees after only a few hours of sleep. The previous night had been filled by strategy meetings with Sullivan, calls of encouragement from loved ones and outright worry, North said.

“We were both exhausted,” North recalled. “She was sitting right behind me [in the hearings] and she dozed right off.”

Television crews began running close-ups of the sleeping woman. At a break in the hearings, Betsy North became hysterical and offered to leave, North said.

“Brendan walks up to her and says, ‘Promise me you’ll go back out there and go to sleep again. It shows you have absolute confidence in what your husband is saying,’” North said.

Sullivan grew up in a small town near Providence, R.I., the son of a chemical company executive who also served as a local police commissioner.

Sullivan attended Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center, where he gave a hint of his future as a litigator--he headed an effort to change the school’s regulations forbidding consumption of beer on campus.

“He didn’t drink in those days, so it’s not that he had an interest in demon rum,” said longtime friend and former restaurateur Richard McCooey. “He liked the challenge.”

Sullivan has been involved with controversial cases since the early days of his career. In 1969, a 19-year-old Army private was shot to death running away from a work detail in San Francisco. Three days later, 24 soldiers staged a sit-down strike and later were arrested and charged with mutiny. Sullivan, then an Army captain, volunteered to defend them.

As the case rolled out, Sullivan’s military foes charged that he was trying to turn the trials into “some sort of antiwar circus.” During the proceedings, nearly six months before the end of Sullivan’s Army service, he was transferred to Vietnam. The orders sparked a public outrage, Congress threatened to investigate the matter and the secretary of the Army rescinded the order.

The case attracted the attention of the late Edward Bennett Williams, a well-known criminal defense lawyer in Washington. Williams hired Sullivan when the firm had a staff of 18. Over the years, Williams & Connolly grew to a 200-lawyer firm known for a savvy courtroom presence and for taking on difficult cases.

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States Impressed by His Aggressive Trial Skills

In 1978, Sullivan defended Catholic priest Guido John Carcich, who was accused of embezzling more than $16 million from church fund-raisers. Sullivan cut a deal with Maryland Atty. Gen. Francis Burch that allowed Carcich to serve only one year of house arrest. The settlement, hugely unpopular with the public, ultimately forced Burch to drop his campaign for governor.

In the late 1990s, HUD Secretary Cisneros was accused of lying, obstruction of justice and conspiracy for misleading FBI agents investigating how much he had paid a former mistress. If convicted, he could have been sentenced to as much as five years in prison on each of the 18 counts.

But after four years and $10 million spent investigating Cisneros, independent counsel David M. Barrett acknowledged the weakness of the prosecution’s case.

Sullivan negotiated a deal for Cisneros, who pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor count of lying to the FBI, served no jail time and paid a $10,000 fine.

The states are hoping Sullivan’s aggressive trial skills are enough to bring about success against Microsoft, a company that is among the most intimidating industrial behemoths of the modern era.

“Brendan’s definitely a fighter,” said California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer. “That’s exactly what we need.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Brendan V. Sullivan Jr.

Born: March 11, 1942, in Providence, R.I.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, 1964; law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, 1967.

Law firm: Williams & Connolly in Washington.

Notable cases: Sullivan successfully defended former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry G. Cisneros of conspiracy charges and kept Lt. Col. Oliver L. North out of prison during the Iran-Contra scandal.

Quote: “Sir, I’m not a potted plant. I’m here as the lawyer.”