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4520675
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Nixon - Papers Court Cases - Sparrow v. Goodman
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4520675
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document
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Nixon - Papers Court Cases - Sparrow v. Goodman
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Philip W. Buchen Files
Philip Buchen's General Subject Files
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Nixon, Richard M. (Richard Milhous), 1913-1994
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1975-11-01
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1975
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1974-12-01
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1974
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The original documents are located in Box 30, folder "Nixon - Papers Court Cases -
Sparrow V. Goodman" of the Philip Buchen Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential
Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 30 of the Philip Buchen Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
THE WHITE HOUSE
Hosfile
WASHINGTON
12/10/74
no action necessary by our
office at this time-spoke with
Dudley who has heenhundling BR this case,
STYPE FORD
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 3, 1974
Irving Jaffe, Esquire
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
United States Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530
Re: Sparrow V. Goodman
Dear Mr. Jaffe:
This will confirm recent conversations between James Wilderotter, Esq.,
and myself, and between you and William H. Jeffress, Jr., Esq., with
regard to the above-entitled civil case now pending in the United States
District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
As you know, the case arises out of events during then-President Nixon's
visit to Charlotte, North Carolina, in October of 1971. At that time, I
was employed as a Staff Assistant to the President, assigned to the Advance
Office. I have continued in government service since that time and am cur-
rently Associate Director of the Domestic Council for Natural Resources.
In October of this year, I was served with a Ninth Amended Complaint
naming me as an additional defendant in the lawsuit. All of my activities
with regard to the Charlotte visit were within the scope of my employment
in the Advance Office and were in furtherance of my official duties. The
Department of Justice would, therefore, normally represent me in this
litigation. I understand, however, that the Department has felt itself
obliged, in view of the potential conflicts among various federal defendants,
to withdraw from any participation in the case, and to employ private counsel
to represent those defendants.
In view of these circumstances, and the further fact that a potential
conflict exists between my own position and that of other defendants now
represented by private counsel, I have requested and you have agreed to
retain counsel to represent me in the Charlotte suit. I understand that
you have discussed the matter fully with Mr. Jeffress of the firm of
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
2
Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin, and have arranged for me to be
represented by that firm upon mutually satisfactory terms.
I would appreciate a reply at your convenience confirming the above.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
M.R-D-D-S Michael Raoul-Duval
Associate Director
Domestic Council
CC: Philip W. Buchen, Counsel to the President
FUND
&
GERALD
juym
Papers
15 Treworthy Road
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20760
November 12, 1975
Irving Jaffe, Esq.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Department of Justice
Room 3607
10th & Constitution, N.W.
Washington, D. C. 20530
Dear Mr. Jaffe:
I am writing to you to request that the Department of Justice
reconsider extending assistance to me in order to defray
certain legal expenses incurred in connection with my
successful defense against the civil action in Charlotte,
North Carolina.
As you will recall in November of 1973 the Department of
Justice decided that it could not represent me and the other
White House defendants in the civil action because of a
feeling that a conflict of interest existed between us and
the Secret Service. The Department subsequently agreed to
provide us with counsel to defend against the civil suit.
At the time of these occurrences, both Mr. Walker and I were
represented by Robert X. Perry, Jr., of Washington, D. C. in
connection with an investigation by the office of the
Special Prosecutor. The investigation by the Special
Prosecutor was primarily concerned with the Presidential
appearance at "Billy Graham Day" in October of 1971, which
was also the subject matter of the civil action in Charlotte.
It was my preference that Mr. Perry represent me in the
Charlotte action because of his familiarity with the subject
matter and because I had come to have confidence in his
abilities, but you will recall that at that time you
requested that I retain counsel located in Charlotte because
the costs would be less to the Department. You also requested
that Mr. Walker and I, as well as Mr. H. R. Haldeman, agree
on a single counsel, again, so that the Department's costs
could be minimized. Though it was my preference to have
Mr. Perry represent me, or failing that, to have the Depart-
ment of Justice represent me, we consented to the arrangement
which you suggested, although I did not fully realize, at
the time, that it was going to mean added personal legal
expenses for me.
FORDO is BERALD LIBRARY
- 2 -
Mr. Perry commenced his representation of Mr. Walker in May
of 1973 and of me in October of 1973. Though his representa-
tion concerned many matters, it became increasingly focused
upon the Charlotte Presidential appearance, and by January of
1974, his representation was virtually exclusively related
to this incident. Because of his immersion in all aspects
of the Presidential advance operations, the myriad details
of the Charlotte incident and our connections with it, his
familiarity with the countless documents concerning this
and related incidents, and his research on the legal issues
involved, it was impossible as a practical and human matter
to prevent his involvement in the preparation of our defense
of the civil action. In August 1974, for example, both
Mr. Walker and I requested that Mr. Perry represent us at
our depositions in Charlotte. Moreover, he has always been
necessarily involved in any response by us to the plaintiffs'
requests for production of documents and he has conferred on
numerous occasions with our North Carolina counsel on matters
relating to our defense of that action.
All of Mr. Perry's efforts have saved our North Carolina
counsel a great deal of time. With respect to our depositions
again for example, conferences with our counsel in Charlotte
in advance of the depositions were avoided with a resultant
legal fee savings to the Department. Also Mr. Perry's
familiarity with the documents and his time in producing
requested documents saved our Charlotte counsel considerable
time. The resultant displacement of time and services saved
the Department of Justice considerable expense.
As you pointed out in November 1973, the civil suit in
Charlotte arose out of alleged conduct in which I was engaged
while acting within the scope of my official duties. Because
of this fact, you, on behalf of the Department, recognized
an obligation either to defend me or to defray my legal
expenses necessitated by the defense of this action. At your
request, I agreed to minimize the Department's expenses, not
fully recognizing at the time that by acceding to these
requests I would substantially increase my own personal legal
expenses. In the interest of fairness, I am requesting that
the Department agree to reimburse me for that portion of
Mr. Perry's legal fees arising out of his representation of
me in connection with the defense of the civil action.
FORD
- 3 -
This affirmative action would be in furtherance of the objec-
tive articulated by the Counsel to the President in his
March 11, 1975 memorandum to the Attorney General, which
stated, "I believe it essential, however, for the morale of
all Government officials that they have full confidence
that they will be adequately represented at Government
expense in connection with any litigation arising out of
the performance of their official duties."
Sincerely,
(signed) William Henkel, Jr.
WILLIAM HENKEL, JR.
CC: Honorable Edward H. Levi
United States Attorney General
Honorable Philip W. Buchen
Counsel to the President
Honorable Richard B. Cheney
Assistant to the President
i
FORD
GERALD
LIBRARY
15 Treworthy Rd.
Gaithersburg, Md. 20760
PM TORN 200
Lok these Truths
13 NOV
1975
UNITED STATES
LIBRARY
FORD
is
9ERALD
Honorable Philip W. Buchen
Counsel to the President
The White House
Washington, D. C. 20500