Brown, Coakley Legal Teams Ready To Do Battle

GOP, Dem Party Legal Teams At The Ready In Massachusetts



As the battle for the Massachusetts Senate race comes down to the wire, both sides are racing to put legal teams in place in case of a too-close-to-call finish — or a Republican victory that doesn’t result in a quick seating of the new senator.

“A group is being put in place, and we are prepared,” one GOP attorney familiar with the party’s legal effort said Tuesday. “We are prepared, and we are ready.”

Daniel Winslow, a partner at the Boston firm Duane Morris who is heading up Republican Scott Brown’s legal team, and Sean Cairncross, an attorney for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, are leading the GOP legal effort.

Also helping out is Phillip Swain, a partner at the Boston law firm Foley Hoag, and Christopher Jantzen, a partner with the Boston firm Jantzen & Associates.

POLITICO has also learned that Marc Elias, a partner at the Washington firm Perkins Coie who served as Al Franken’s lead attorney during the prolonged recount battle after the 2008 election, has arrived in Massachusetts to head up the Democratic legal team.

“If this is too close to call on election night, we’ll have a team in place to deal with any irregularities,” one Democratic source said.

Both sides are keeping a close eye on the polls. Republicans say they have over 200 volunteer poll watchers, while Democrats say they have more than 100 attorneys on the ground at various polling locations throughout the state.

Republicans also have expressed concerns about when Brown, if elected, would be allowed to be seated.

While Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said last week that certifying a winner could take more than two weeks, GOP attorneys are pointing out privately that Rep. Niki Tsongas was sworn into office within days of winning an October 2007 special election.

Galvin has said he would not allow politics to delay the certification process, telling Boston ABC affiliate WCVB this week that, "I am going to do everything that I can to give the winner, whoever that winner is, the credentials they need as soon as possible."

"My reputation precedes me. I'm not going to sacrifice my reputation for any race of any kind," Galvin told the station.


Sources: Politico