U.S. Supreme Court building. U.S. Supreme Court building. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM

Washington Wrap is a weekly look at industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send news tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].

The John Marshall Foundation and Preservation Virginia are partnering to salvage and conserve the only known surviving robe of former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

The two groups kicked off a $218,000 "Save the Robe" fundraising campaign this week, amid Tuesday's Constitution Day festivities. Marshall. who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States, began the habit of wearing a black robe that became the standard for Supreme Court justices, but the garment he first wore in 1801 needs special attention "due to acid hydrolysis from the dye and iron mordant used to achieve its deep shade of black," according to the campaign organizers.

"I think our goal is to reintroduce John Marshall as a hidden hero of national union and to have his robe as a common artifact, an irreplaceable icon that we need to preserve," said Kevin Walsh, the John Marshall Foundation's president, in an interview.

Beyond his sartorial contribution, Walsh pointed to Marshall as a bridge between George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as a unifying force for the country. While Marshall "deliberately put himself in the background," Walsh said, his most important work came from the bench. Among his many contributions are his authorship of the Supreme Court's landmark Marbury v. Madison opinion outlining the scope of judicial review and holding an act of Congress unconstitutional for the first time.

The John Marshall Foundation and Preservation Virginia are partnering to salvage and conserve the only known surviving robe of former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. (Courtesy: John Marshal Foundation)

"People look at the Supreme Court now and they look at politics and judicial nominations and they think it's worse than it's ever been," said Walsh, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Richmond School of Law. "Well, things were pretty bad in Marshall's time too, but he held the Court together, which I think is hopeful."

On raising the necessary funds, the Save the Robe campaign has enlisted textile and costume conservation specialist Howard Sutcliffe, who has previously taken on conservation projects involving Medieval Egypt, Czar Nicholas II's parade uniform, and the original Kermit the Frog puppet.

Marshall's robe is presently stored in a box on the grounds of the John Marshall House operated by Preservation Virginia in Richmond, which Marshall built in 1790 and lived in for 45 years.

Watching Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor view the robe on a tour of the Marshall House in 2015 was a "turning point" for Walsh's desire to get involved in the conservation project, he said.

"They brought out the robe for Justice Sotomayor; it's in a box, and you take the top off and there's this black robe sitting in white crate paper," he said. "She regarded it with such reverence bordering on awe, and I thought, 'Wow, that is so powerful to see a sitting Supreme Court justice make that connection.'"

Walsh noted that he once served as a law clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia. "As you might imagine, his jurisprudence is a little different from Justice Sotomayor's and I tend closer to his than to hers, and so to me what was powerful about that moment was just seeing how even across the various different divides you might have in the constitutional law and on the Supreme Court, that this admiration for Marshall and this tangible physical connection was very powerful," he said.

The Save the Robe campaign formally commence in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, when Hunton Andrews Kurth holds a kickoff reception in its Pennsylvania Avenue office to raise funds. Walsh is a former associate at Hunton who said he came up under Hunton special counsel Thomas Slater, immediate past president of the John Marshall Foundation. Walsh noted that Hunton has long been a supporter of the John Marshall Foundation.

The robe will not be publicly displayed at the Hunton event, but it will be on display at the John Marshall House if it is successfully conserved.

Law Firm Moves, News, and Notes

King & Spalding's government matters team is experiencing something of a hiring spree this September. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief of staff Zack Harmon, former FBI senior counsel Sumon Dantiki, and U.S. Department of Interior senior counselor Marcella Burke have all joined the firm.

Harmon and Dantiki worked closely together at the FBI and will reunite in the private sector. Burke was a corporate energy attorney before entering government, and she will divide her new practice between D.C. and Houston.

Several King & Spalding officials have been on the move in D.C. lately, including most recently Gilbert Kaplan's exit from the Commerce Department. Politico reported Friday that Kaplan had resigned from his post as undersecretary for international trade, which he had held since March 2018. King & Spalding did not respond to a request for comment on whether he too is returning to the firm.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has formed a new crisis management practice group with a large D.C. footprint.

The practice is led by Brownstein shareholder Mitch Langberg and chief culture and communications officer Lara Day, and includes Marc Lampkin, managing partner of Brownstein's D.C. office.

Former Senate GOP aides have formed a 501(c)(4) nonprofit named the Internet Accountability Project to "oppose 'Big Tech'" with specific targets identified as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Twitter.

The group is led by Mike Davis, former Senate Judiciary Committee counsel for former GOP Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rachel Bovard, former legislative director of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.

American Family Voices, a network of progressive groups aiming to oppose "Big Tech," similarly unveiled a cable television and digital ad campaign targeting Airbnb and HomeAway, which are lodging rental technology platforms.

Hunton Andrews Kurth added Eric Link as director of government affairs based in Richmond, Virginia.

Link was previously a Virginia Information Technologies Agency executive.

O'Melveny & Myers said this week it added John Dermody as counsel in Washington, D.C.

Dermody was formerly deputy legal adviser at the National Security Council, previously spent six years in the Intelligence Law Division at the Department of Homeland Security, and worked in the office of general counsel for the Department of Defense.