LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO

Rodrigo González Fernández y un grupo de egresados de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad la Republica en Chile ha decidido poner al alcance de todo el mundo de la profesion legal importantes materias en Ingles para ir practicando el trabajo en materia de Tratados internacionales y que nuestra profesión estará en primera linea. Invitamos a todos a opinar, debatir, participar activamente.Es el primer blog legal en inglés de latinoamerica.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

lobby: Lobbyists boost D.C. spending

Lobbyists boost D.C. spending

By Casey Ross

Globe Staff / June 9, 2009

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Despite the recession, Massachusetts companies and interest groups have sharply increased spending in Washington, D.C., to influence how federal officials distribute more than $1 trillion to revive the lagging economy.

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In the first three months of the year, local firms spent $14.4 million to lobby the US government, according to federal records, 21 percent more than in the first quarter of 2008. Also, the number of Massachusetts companies hiring lobbyists increased 14 percent this year, to 320.

"That spending is up this year is a telling reminder that lobbying is a very different kind of industry," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors the influence of money in politics. "It may seem counterintuitive during an economic decline, but many companies feel it's a good way to maximize their chances at shaping legislation that will affect them."

Industry specialists gave several reasons for the increased spending on lobbying, including a change in presidential administration that brought new faces to the seats of power and a new bounty of government spending initiatives, most prominently the $787 billion stimulus package.

Companies and other parties that lobby the US government are required to disclose their activities quarterly to the US Senate. But the disclosure forms provide few details on the filer's interests, other than to indicate generally which areas of federal policy or certain proposed laws or rules they are lobbying on.

Still the forms show that some firms have nearly doubled their spending over last year, while others were compelled to hire lobbyists for the first time because of conditions in their sector.

First Wind Energy LLC, a Newton-based firm that runs wind farms nationwide, hired Washington lobbyists after the market for tax credits that finance its projects collapsed during the larger credit crisis last year, according to the records. First Wind spent $120,000 to get access to US lawmakers who were working on a proposal to revive the use of tax credits for renewable-energy projects.

"This is absolutely critical both to our company and to the growth of renewable energy across the country," said Carol Grant, vice president of external affairs for the company, which is seeking funding to build four wind farms in New England.

Grant said First Wind representatives met with lawmakers to discuss problems with the financial markets and ways to restore credit. The Obama administration is still developing guidelines for the energy incentives approved in the legislation.

The top spender in the first three months of the year was Waltham-based Raytheon, which reported its lobbying costs increased to $1.36 million, 24 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2008, according to disclosure forms filed with the US Senate. The firm reported lobbying numerous agencies, from the Department of Defense to the Federal Aviation Administration to the CIA, on defense and transportation matters, as well as on the economic stimulus bill.Continued...

A Raytheon spokesman said the company would not comment on its lobbying spending.

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Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. reported one of the largest increases in lobbying costs: $790,000 in the first quarter, 41 percent higher than the $560,000 it spent a year earlier. MassMutual indicated it lobbied lawmakers, the Department of Labor, the Federal Reserve, and other agencies on economic stabilization proposals and issues related to pension reform and taxation.

A spokesman declined to discuss the firm's lobbying activities. A financial services powerhouse, MassMutual did not apply for or receive any of the funds the US government set aside to revive the ailing sector.

Lobbying activity typically increases with the arrival of a new president, as the incoming administration launches an array of policy initiatives and spending programs.

About 60 Massachusetts entities, ranging from energy companies to local governments to universities, reported lobbying officials on the stimulus program, although it is difficult to get an accurate count because of the vagueness of the information on the disclosure forms.

Sensitive to concerns that lobbyists would influence the course of the stimulus package, President Obama issued an executive order requiring federal agencies to post online their contacts with lobbyists over the $787 billion plan. He also created a federal oversight board to monitor how the money is spent.

Other matters Massachusetts firms lobbied on include healthcare reform and regulations affecting drug companies, the $700 billion financial industry bailout, and energy and environmental issues.

Among other firms that increased lobbying activity were:

Sepracor Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in Marlborough, spent $1.3 million, up from $20,000 in the first quarter of 2008. The firm indicated it lobbied members of Congress on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, according to federal disclosure forms.

Sepracor officials did not return a call seeking comment. The company makes drugs for the treatment of allergies and asthma. In 2008, the federal agency that oversees Medicare cut the reimbursement rate for Xopenex, its main asthma medication.

State Street Corp. reported spending $210,000 on lobbyists, a 24 percent increase, according to Senate records. State Street said its records indicate its lobbying expenses were flat.

The firm reported lobbying members of Congress on international tax policies, economic recovery legislation, and banking regulations. A spokeswoman said the firm also lobbied lawmakers on rules relating to pensions and investment funds. The company has applied to return the $2 billion it received from the US Treasury last fall as part of the government's program to inject capital into the financial system.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge increased lobbying by $80,000, to $180,000, citing interest in legislation related to drug safety and hepatitis C.

Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.

more information:

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/06/09/dc_sees_sharp_spike_in_lobbying_costs_by_mass_firms/?page=2
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Saturday, June 06, 2009

TOM PETERS

Introduction to Architecture

Architecture Leads to Improved Service ... or Not

Exemplar from Tom: Planetree Alliance

More Tom: The Customer Comes Second

Tom Peters Times -- June 2009

Introduction to Architecture

Over the past months the Tom Peters Times has been illustrating the different elements of the Future Shape of the Winner model. We come now to architecture, which is the topic of this issue. Defined as the structure, orientation, and supporting systems of an organization, effective architecture enables people to connect, collaborate, share knowledge, allocate resources, and work productively. If the architecture is well-designed, it provides a framework within which the talent of the organization can execute its purpose in the most efficient way possible.

Architecture Leads to Improved Service ... or Not
Architecture Leads to Improved Service ... or Not

I've recently had the frustrating experience of supporting my elderly aunt whilst she was being treated for "severe mobilisation problems" in a big general hospital in Southern England. She was admitted when she was no longer able to get out of bed unaided. In this case, the medical treatment and nursing care provided by the UK's National Health Service were excellent. But the continuity of service was poor, so much so that after four weeks in hospital, my aunt came frighteningly close to being discharged with a broken hip that hadn't been detected!

Connecting the different elements of patient care involved appeared to be no one person's responsibility. It seems that the only person who looks at things from the patient's point of view is the patient! (see Tom's recent U.S. healthcare-related rants) We might quickly become very critical of the people who deliver the customer service, but there is a bigger picture to consider. Institutions like the UK's Health Service are full of committed professionals who want to give their patients good service. Excellence is required, so these people must be placed in a context that sets them up for success. The organisation Architecture (structure, systems, processes) must make it easy for them to connect and collaborate with others in the customer value chain. The Performance dynamics (goals, rewards, incentives) must be balanced carefully to generate the desired behaviours and avoid unintended side effects.

Organising service delivery along value streams is conventional business wisdom these days, with companies like Amazon delivering seamless, personalised service at very competitive costs. But it is one thing to set a company up from scratch to deliver such excellent service, and entirely another for mature organisations with ingrained attitudes and practices to do the same. Like many complex organisations with a wide array of professional specialities, the Health Service's Architecture organises people into functions and silos. Each function has its own targets and measures performance individually. The sense of being part of a customer service value chain seems to be low in management's priorities. Some individuals take that responsibility very seriously and work heroically to deliver service to the patient, but others seem to distance themselves from problems that are out of their immediate control.

Setting departmental performance targets improves some aspects of the service to patients. However, the unintended consequence of over-focusing on these targets within a functionally based structure is to distract people away from the primary purpose of the whole organisation and patient (customer) care. Then situations such as my aunt's arise!

What can leaders do if they are concerned their business architecture may be disrupting their customer service? First and foremost, it is vital to step back and take a holistic view of how service delivery fits with the organisation's other priorities, as people perceive them. The Architecture and Performance elements are incredibly powerful determinants of organisation culture, and often set up behaviour patterns, helpful or otherwise, which are incredibly hard to shift. Just listen to the squeals of opposition we're hearing now from banking circles at the very notion that their bonus culture has to change!

Here are some suggestions for taking on these two powerful elements in your team:

• Read Tom's XF50/Cross Functional 50 List for things you can do to counter the disruptive influence of a silo structure and mentality.

• Collect and share feedback about customer experiences AND employee feedback about their experiences working for your business.

• Show that this feedback is important to you and to your business.

• Set up your own informal "customer experience group" to build relationships up and down your supply chain.

For those who'd like to be more scientific about finding out where the most promising targets for improvement lie, take a look at TPC's Excellence Audit and Future Shape of the Winner model. By involving key players on your team, you can discover their ambitions and frustrations, and prioritize improvement activities that will engage their full-hearted contribution. See also our new Distance Learning package for those who want to incorporate FSW thinking into their own business or practice.

Madeleine McGrath
Managing Partner, UK
Consultant, Facilitator

Exemplar from Tom: Planetree Alliance

For a real-life example of a patient-centric healthcare vision, take a look at Tom's PowerPoint that showcases the Planetree Alliance. In one of the opening slides he describes the practice: "In the midst of ceaseless gnashing of teeth over 'healthcare issues,' the patient and frontline staff often get lost in the shuffle. Enter Planetree. While oceanic systemic solutions remain out of reach, Planetree provides a remarkable demonstration of what healthcare--with the patient at the center--can be all about."

The subject of patient care stirred up quite a debate recently on tompeters.com, with Tom's Ways to Succeed #162, titled "Process > Outcome. Happy Staff, Happy Customers. Kindness Is Free! (Kindness SAVES $$$$.)" In this post, Tom reiterates the Planetree difference of understanding how patients feel about receiving healthcare. He concludes that

(1) Process "beats" outcome in evaluating an "experience"--even one as apparently "outcome sensitive" as a hospital stay ...
(2) Happy staff, happy customers. Want to "put the customer first"? Put the staff "more first"!
(3) Quality is free--and then some.

More Tom: The Customer Comes Second

For Tom Peters to state that the customer comes second seems like a contradiction, but see #2 above, where he claims that to put the customer first you must put the staff "more first." He introduced this notion with a PowerPoint presentation, The Customer Comes Second, and expounded on it with a blog post he called "Sorting Out Causes and Effects." Again, the heart of the matter is that "to put the marketplace customer first, I must put the person serving the customer 'more first.'" We think it warrants some repetition.

.............................!.............................

Subscribe at http://www.tompeters.com/your_world/join_the_fray/

(C) 2009 tompeters!company

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Rodrigo González Fernández
Diplomado en "Responsabilidad Social Empresarial" de la ONU
Diplomado en "Gestión del Conocimiento" de la ONU

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Government Motors will still lobby government

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
06/02/09 8:14 PM EDT

The General Motors headquarters is seen with the moon in the background in Detroit, Sunday, May 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

UPDATE: Wednesday morning, 14 hours after this piece was posted online, a General Motors spokesman informed the Examiner that GM was canceling all of its contracts with outside lobbying firms. The company will maintain its in-house lobbying shop however. I will add further updates here throughout the day.

General Motors will continue its multimillion-dollar lobbying operation in Washington, even after the federal government takes ownership of it. The automaker may even maintain its high-dollar lobbying contracts with some of the wealthiest and most influential K Street firms.

"We believe we have an obligation to remain engaged at the federal and state levels," General Motors stated in an e-mail after President Barack Obama announced his plan for the federal takeover of the carmaker, "and to have our voice heard in the policymaking process."

As a result, some of the jobs that the White House will save with this unprecedented nationalization could be on K Street in downtown D.C., rather than in Detroit.

GM spent $13.1 million on lobbying in 2008. In the first quarter of this year, while surviving on federal bailout money, the company's lobbying tab was $2.8 million.

Washington's most powerful lobbying firms are among the 14 firms the company employed as of the last filings. None of the firms would comment on whether it would continue to work for GM. An assistant to leading Republican strategist and lobbyist Charlie Black of BKSH & Associates said "Charlie doesn't know" what effect GM's bankruptcy will have on the firm's contract with the automaker.

Assuming GM continues its current lobbying effort, many of K Street's most storied lobbyists, such as Black, would in effect be working for taxpayer money. One such government contractor would be Stuart Eizenstat at the top-tier firm Covington & Burling, who served in the administrations and on the campaigns of every Democratic president from Lyndon B. Johnson to Bill Clinton. GM hired him and his firm 10 days after Obama's election.

Ken Duberstein, Ronald Reagan's former White House chief of staff, is also on GM retainer, as is former Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., who served as the majority whip in the upper chamber.

In addition to hiring these outside firms, General Motors operates its own in-house lobbying shop in a pricey office at 101 Constitution Ave. NW, across the street from the Capitol grounds. Under Obama's plan, taxpayers would in effect cover 60.8 percent of the cost of this operation. The lobbying office referred inquiries to GM's press office, which replied with two e-mails.
One e-mail outlined its "obligation to remain engaged" and to participate in the policymaking process, citing health care, cap-and-trade, and foreign trade.

When asked specifically whether GM would continue to retain outside lobbyists, a GM spokesman wrote back, "As with all aspects of our business, GM sometimes will use consultants with strong expertise on certain issues. The list of these consultants is public. The use of these consultants is constantly under review."

By press time, the White House did not respond to two phone messages and an e-mail inquiring whether the president intended to restrict GM lobbying or spending on lobbying while the government owned the company.
The awkwardness of GM, in effect, lobbying its owner, is one of the many conundrums created by the business-government partnerships initiated by President George W. Bush last fall.

If Obama were to place lobbying restrictions on GM — limiting GM employees' and consultants' contacts with government officials — that would amount to restricting communication between the company's management and its shareholders. A related question: Will all discussions between administration officials and GM management continue to count as "lobbying contacts" covered under federal law? Elliot Berke, a government ethics lawyer in Washington, told me, "Nobody really knows what any of this means."

Insurance giant AIG suspended its entire lobbying practice once the government bought a majority stake in it, terminating all contracts by Oct. 1.

In the first three months of this year, GM lobbied on issues including its own bailout, the stimulus, climate change, transportation funding, air bag laws, fuel-efficiency requirements, prescription drugs, health care reform, cellulosic ethanol, hydrogen-powered cars, fuel cells and Mexican trucks, among others.

GM is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition that lobbies Washington for cap-and-trade restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, as is Chrysler, a USCAP spokesman confirmed Tuesday afternoon. AIG, on the other hand, withdrew from the coalition upon its bailout.

Trying to be a business and a de facto government agency simultaneously won't be easy, and the problem of lobbying shows why.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Back Door to the Top

Legal Blogs

Monday, June 01, 2009

TYHE NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL

Supreme Court to hear 'business methods' case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday set the stage for a landmark decision on the patentability of 21st century creations from software to biotech — an issue on which Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor could make a significant difference if confirmed. Justices agreed to review the case Bilski v. Doll, a challenge to a ruling last fall by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that narrowed the patentability of so-called "business methods," shorthand for a broad range of processes not tied to manufacturing.

Appeals Court Weighs Patent Dispute in Export Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit met en banc Friday afternoon to examine a hot button issue in the intellectual property world: whether patents on processes are protected by a law that says a company can be held liable for infringement for exporting the components of an invention patented in the United States to be manufactured abroad.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

Supreme Court Roundtable

Supreme Court correspondent Tony Mauro and a panel of distinguished Supreme Court practitioners, each of whom argued one or more cases in the 2008-09 Supreme Court term, analyze the changes in the Court this term, the strategies of the lawyers who won and lost, and the outlook for the 09-10term. Monday, July 6 Georgetown Univ. Law Center. Call 202-828-0362 or click here for information to attend.

Press and Guantanamo Lawyers Score Victory Over Documents

A coalition of news organizations and Guantanamo lawyers won a round in federal court this morning, when a judge rejected the government's request to seal hundreds of unclassified documents.

Sotomayor's Law Clerks Sing Her Praises

On Monday the White House released a joint letter signed by 45 Sotomayor clerks and sent to leaders and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT

SAGE Disaster Recovery Seminar 6/16

On June 16, join SAGE for a breakfast seminar to get your Disaster Recovery Plan out of limbo by developing realistic objectives for getting your people and systems back to work in a reasonable manner. The seminar will cover how small/medium firms can develop affordable DR plans, put them in place, and new options for back-up and recovery. To learn more or register, please visit www.sagesol.com/lt/.

White House Expands Stimulus Lobbying Rules

Late Friday, White House ethics counsel Norman Eisen posted an update on the White House blog, expanding the administration's restrictions on lobbying for stimulus money beyond federally registered lobbyists to all persons pushing for funding.

If you have Twitter account, you can now follow NLJ Editor in Chief David L. Brown at twitter.com/davidlbrownjr. Follow him for links to key stories and updates from the NLJ newsroom. You can also track news on Twitter from the NLJ's Washington bureau at twitter.com/legal_times.

Abortion Doctor Is Shot to Death in Kansas Church

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By JOE STUMPE and MONICA DAVEY

Published: May 31, 2009

WICHITA, Kan. — George Tiller, one of only a few doctors in the nation who performed abortions late in pregnancy, was shot to death here Sunday in the foyer of his longtime church as he handed out the church bulletin.

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Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle, via Associated Press

Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few late-term-abortion providers, was killed Sunday in church.

Abortion Doctor Wounded Outside Kansas Clinic (August 20, 1993)

Abortions, Bibles and Bullets, and the Making of a Militant (August 28, 1993)

Enlarge This Image

Steve Hebert/Atlas Press, for The New York Times

Terrie Lewis, left, Sarah Lewis and Jaxon Lewis, 10 months, left flowers at the gate of George Tiller's abortion clinic on Sunday afternoon.

The authorities said they took a man into custody later in the day after pulling him over about 170 miles away on Interstate 35 near Kansas City. They said they expected to charge him with murder on Monday.

The Wichita police said there were several witnesses to the killing, but law enforcement officials would not say what had been said, if anything, inside the foyer. Officials offered little insight into the motive, saying that they believed it was "the act of an isolated individual" but that they were also looking into "his history, his family, his associates."

A provider of abortions for more than three decades, Dr. Tiller, 67, had become a focal point for those around the country who opposed it. In addition to protests outside his clinic, his house and his church, Dr. Tiller had once seen his clinic bombed; in 1993, an abortion opponent shot him in both arms. He was also the defendant in a series of legal challenges intended to shut down his operations, including two grand juries that were convened after citizen-led petition drives.

On Sunday morning, moments after services had begun at Reformation Lutheran Church, Dr. Tiller, who was acting as an usher, was shot once with a handgun, the authorities said. The gunman pointed the weapon at two people who tried to stop him, the police said, then drove off in a powder-blue Taurus. Dr. Tiller's wife, Jeanne, a member of the church choir, was inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting.

The police in Wichita described the man who was detained as a 51-year-old from Merriam, a Kansas City suburb, but declined to give his name until he was charged. The Associated Press reported that a sheriff's official from Johnson County, Kan., where the man was taken into custody, identified him as Scott Roeder.

The killing of Dr. Tiller is likely to return the issue of abortion to center stage in the nation's political debate. Until recently, President Obama, who supports abortion rights, had largely sought to avoid the debate. Last month, he confronted the issue in a commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame, an appearance that drew protests because of his views. During the speech, he appealed to each side to respect one another's basic decency and to work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Mr. Obama issued a statement after Dr. Tiller's killing, saying, "However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."

Advocates of abortion rights denounced the killing, saying it would send a renewed, frightening signal to others who provide abortions or work in clinics and to women who may consider abortions. Some described Dr. Tiller as one of about only three doctors in the country who had, under certain circumstances, provided abortions to women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and said his death would mean that women, particularly in the central United States, would have few if any options in such cases.

"This is a tremendous loss on so many levels," said Peter B. Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, who had known Dr. Tiller for years.

Opponents of abortion, including those here who have been most vociferous in their protests of Dr. Tiller and his work, also expressed outrage at the shooting and said they feared that their groups might be wrongly judged by the act.

Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group based in Wichita, said he had always sought out "nonviolent" measures to challenge Dr. Tiller, including efforts in recent years to have him prosecuted for crimes or investigated by state health authorities.

"Operation Rescue has worked tirelessly on peaceful, nonviolent measures to bring him to justice through the legal system, the legislative system," Mr. Newman said, adding, "We are pro-life, and this act was antithetical to what we believe."

By late Sunday, Mr. Newman said, some were already suggesting that there were links between the suspect and Operation Rescue. Someone named Scott Roeder had made posts to the group's blog in the past, Mr. Newman said, but "he is not a friend, not a contributor, not a volunteer."

Dr. Tiller's death is the first such killing of an abortion provider in this country since 1998, when Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot by a sniper in his home in the Buffalo area. Dr. Tiller was the fourth doctor in the United States who performed abortions to be killed in such circumstances since 1993, statistics from abortion rights' groups show.

Although most of the deadly violence occurred in the 1990s, advocates said, abortion clinics and doctors have continued to be the targets of intense, sometimes threatening protests. Some said they feared that Dr. Tiller's death might signal a return to the earlier level of violence. At some clinics on Sunday, administrators were reviewing their security precautions.

Next Page »

Joe Stumpe reported from Wichita, Kan., and Monica Davey from Chic

Friday, May 29, 2009

Experiencias personales enriquecen carrera de designada al Tribunal Supremo

Experiencias personales enriquecen carrera de designada al Tribunal Supremo

(Sonia Sotomayor es la designada para reemplazar al juez David Souter) (564)

Por Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Redactor

Washington - Un juez del Tribunal Supremo debe tener no solo "maestría en la ley" sino que también "experiencia en ser sometida a la prueba de obstáculos y barreras", dijo el presidente Obama, el 26 de mayo.

Sonia Sotomayor, jueza del Tribunal de Apelaciones de Estados Unidos, tiene esa experiencia, agregó Obama al designarla como candidata para jueza de la corte judicial más importante de Estados Unidos. De ser confirmada por el Senado de Estados Unidos, Sotomayor sería la primera mujer hispana, y la tercera mujer, que sirve en el Tribunal Supremo.

"Creo firmemente en el imperio de la ley, como el fundamento de todos nuestros derechos básicos. Hasta donde recuerdo mi inspiración han sido los logros de nuestros próceres. Ellos establecieron los principios que han perdurado por más de dos siglos", declaró Sotomayor en la Casa Blanca.

"Sería par mí un profundo privilegio desempeñar un papel en aplicar esos principios a las cuestiones y controversia que actualmente enfrontamos", añadió.

Sotomayor ha servido 11 años como jueza del Tribunal de Apelaciones en el Segundo Circuito de Nueva York, puesto al que fue designada por el presidente demócrata Bill Clinton. Antes, el presidente republicano George H. W. Bush la había designado jueza del Tribunal de Distrito de Estados Unidos, también en Nueva York. Sotomayor ha ejercido también como abogada, para una empresa privada y como ayudante de fiscal de distrito en la Ciudad de Nueva York.

"Durante una distinguida carrera que se extiende por tres décadas la jueza Sotomayor ha trabajado en casi todo nivel de nuestro sistema judicial, acumulando una profunda experiencia y una amplia perspectiva, que le serán invalorables la jueza del Tribunal Supremo", dijo Obama.

"Pero tan impresionante y significativa como las credenciales de la jueza Sotomayor en la ley, también lo es su extraordinaria jornada", afirmó el presidente.

Los padres de Sotomayor llegaron a Nueva York procedentes de Puerto Rico durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Su padre murió cuando ella tenía 9 años. Sotomayor fue criada por su madre, en un edificio de vivienda pública en el Bronx, un distrito de la ciudad de Nueva York. Ganó becas que le ayudaron a asistir a la Universidad de Princeton y luego asistió a la Facultad de Derecho de Yale.

"Me apoyaron un sin número de personas", dijo Sotomayor, al recordar que su madre con frecuencia tuvo que trabajar en dos empleos a la vez para mantener a su familia.

"Aunque crecí en circunstancias muy modestas y difíciles, yo considero que mi vida es de riqueza inconmensurable. Crecí un proyecto de vivienda pública en el Bronx, pero estudié en dos de las mejores universidades del país", afirmó.

Dijo Sotomayor que la variedad de su experiencia personal y profesional ha ayudado a Sotomayor a"apreciar la variedad de perspectivas" que ocurren en cada caso legal. "Me ha ayudado a comprender, respetar y responder a las preocupaciones y los argumentos de los litigantes que se me presentan".

"Hago todo esfuerzo para no olvidar nunca las consecuencias en el mundo real de mis decisiones con respecto a las personas, las empresas y el gobierno", dijo Sotomayor.

La historia de Sotomayor demuestra que "en Estados Unidos ningún sueño está fuera del alcance de uno", dijo el presidente Obama.

Para más información véase también: Obama designa a Sonia Sotomayor al Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos ( http://www.america.gov/st/usg-spanish/2009/May/20090527093818emanym0.1392938.html ).

(El Servicio Noticioso desde Washington es un producto de la Oficina de Programas de Información Internacional del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos. Sitio en la Web: http://www.america.gov/esp )
      ************************************************************
        La Oficina de Programas de Información Internacional del
       Departamento de Estados Unidos distribuye USINFO-NOTICIAS.
                Puede encontrar información adicional en
                       http://www.america.gov/esp/

LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

lobby: Lobbyists boost D.C. spending

Lobbyists boost D.C. spending

Saturday, June 06, 2009

TOM PETERS

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Government Motors will still lobby government

Government Motors will still lobby government

By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
06/02/09 8:14 PM EDT