Griffith says he didn't need Utah law license

WASHINGTON — The Senate's former top lawyer, hoping for confirmation as an appeals court judge, told senators Tuesday he doesn't have a Utah law license because he never thought he needed it for his job as lawyer for Brigham Young University.

"Very little of what I do on a day-to-day basis has to do with Utah law," said Thomas Griffith, nominated by President Bush to a seat on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Griffith, who was the chamber's general counsel during President Clinton's impeachment before joining Brigham Young University as general counsel in 2003, also took the blame for losing his D.C. law license by not paying bar association dues. He got the license back by paying what he owed.

Griffith told the Senate Judiciary Committee that it is not uncommon in Utah that in-house counsel not be licensed in that state and that he serves the university more as an administrator and adviser. He said he relies on staff lawyers who are licensed in Utah when Utah issues come up.

"It has been the consistent practice of the Utah Bar for years now to treat in-house counsel in a way where in-house counsel is not required to be licensed in Utah, provided they are closely associated with Utah lawyers and they make no court appearances," he said.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told Griffith that those two situations make it hard for him to support his nomination to a lifetime seat on the court many consider to be one step below the Supreme Court.

"This conscious and continuous disregard of basic legal obligations is not consistent with the respect for law we should demand of lifetime appointments to the federal courts," said Leahy, who said Griffith passed up 10 opportunities to take the Utah bar exam.

Griffith's opponents also say he is hostile toward Title IX, the federal law that has been credited with increasing female participation in college sports.

But Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said Griffith is a fine lawyer and has done nothing wrong.

Griffith told senators that he wanted to be a judge because it was the best way a lawyer can serve the public. "I would like to be able to use the life experience I have and the legal training I have to serve others," he said.

Griffith was nominated to the D.C. circuit in June 2004 after lawyer Miguel Estrada withdrew his nomination to that seat.

Democrats blocked Estrada's nomination until he withdrew it in September 2003. Griffith was never voted on by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., may hold one more confirmation hearing before the Easter recess to consider White House staff secretary Brett Kavanaugh, who also wants a seat on the D.C. Circuit.

Kavanaugh is an associate of former independent counsel Kenneth Starr, and Democrats say he is widely credited with developing the White House's conservative nomination strategy.