LexisNexis Search Concludes Others More Experienced Than Miers; Database Provides Insight to Number of Opinions Each Litigator Has Penned

Business Wire, Oct 25, 2005

DAYTON, Ohio -- The debate continues on whether the White House should or will withdraw the nomination of Harriet Miers for Supreme Court justice. Meanwhile, an exhaustive search of the LexisNexis database shows nearly a dozen other lawyers considered by legal analysts to be potential nominees have considerable experience that could make them the replacement for Sandra Day O'Connor on the High Court. LexisNexis U.S. is a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications.

Miers, a longtime George W. Bush staffer has never been a judge. Many in Washington have questioned her qualifications, saying she has been involved in too few cases and lacks experience from the bench necessary to be a justice. According to the LexisNexis database, Miers has been involved 16 cases. A complete profile of her case work can be found at http://www.lexisnexis.com/news/ (the profile can be downloaded and printed free of charge).

Names like J. Michael Luttig, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Michael W. McConnell, and Alberto Gonzales have been pushed to the top of the short list of leading potential nominees. Others like J. Harvie Wilkinson, Priscilla Richman Owen and Edith Hollan Jones are generating considerable mentions.

Circuit Court judges appear to have the most experience in writing opinions.

The LexisNexis analysis shows that:

Alice Batchelder

Alice Batchelder, a judge with experience in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and a district court and bankruptcy judge, has majority, dissenting or concurring opinions in more than 800 cases.

J. Michael Luttig

Serving on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and experience as an assistant U.S. Attorney General, J. Michael Luttig has more than 420 opinions on record.

Edith Hollan Jones

Jones, a 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, has combined more than 850 opinions in cases in both federal and state courts and in the appeals courts.

J. Harvie Wilkinson

Wilkinson has more than 720 decisions under his belt in federal and state courts and as a judge in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. He also has experience as an assistant attorney general, Civil Rights Division with the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.

Priscilla Richman Owen

Owen, who has asked to not be nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court, has more than 135 opinions under her belt as a justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Alito, who is with the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, more than 960 opinions in a host of courts including state and federal, U.S. Attorney General and the 3rd Circuit.

Michael W. McConnell

McConnell, considered by some to be a front runner if Miers is withdrawn, has more than 230 opinions in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and in state and federal courts.

Larry D. Thompson

Thompson, general counsel for Pepsico and a former deputy U.S. Attorney General and federal prosecutor, has almost 70 opinions under his name.

Marua D. Corrigan

Corrigan, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, has more than 360 opinions in a variety of courts.

Alberto R. Gonzales

Gonzales, the sitting U.S. Attorney General, has almost 800 opinions associated with his name in state and federal courts, the Texas Supreme Court and as the attorney general.

The LexisNexis search was conducted by using exact and similar names to the judges and attorneys who have received considerable mentions as possible nominees. Those with common names went through a vetting process to eliminate any irrelevant matches.

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LexisNexis(R) (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:ENL)(NYSE:RUK) (www.reedelsevier.com), the company does business in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide. In addition to its flagship Web-based Lexis(R) and Nexis(R) research services, the company includes some of the world's most respected legal publishers such as Martindale-Hubbell, Matthew Bender, Butterworths, JurisClasseur, Abeledo-Perrot and Orac.