Virginia Attorney General Ken
Cuccinelli announced on Friday that his office would no longer use
the law firm King & Spalding due to the firm's decision to
withdraw from representing House Republicans in ongoing litigation
challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act
(DOMA), which federally bans gay marriage, The
Washington
Examiner
reported.
The Atlanta-based firm on Monday
announced
it would drop the case, prompting
partner Paul Clement to jump ship to the Washington-based Bancroft
PLLC, where he'll continue to work on the case. House leaders
took on the task of defending the law after President Barack Obama
announced he would no longer because he believes the law is
unconstitutional.
In a letter to King & Spalding,
Cuccinelli, a Republican, wrote that the firm's decision “was such
an obsequious act of weakness that I feel compelled to end your legal
association with Virginia so that there is no chance that one of my
legal clients will be put in the embarrassing and difficult situation
like the client you walked away from, the House of Representatives.”
“Virginia seeks firms of commitment,
courage, strength and toughness, and unfortunately, what the world
has learned of King & Spalding, is that your firm utterly lacks
such qualities.”
Cuccinelli said he was terminating the
state's relationship with King & Spalding “effective
immediately.” The firm was first placed on retainer by
Cuccinelli's predecessor, Republican Bill Mims, in 2009.
Cuccinelli made headlines in March when
just weeks after taking office he
called on the state's colleges and universities to rescind
anti-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation, calling
such protections illegal. He's
also opposed giving gay couples the right to adopt.