A major Wall Street lobbying firm has retained the services of Supreme Court litigator Carter G. Phillips. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association confirmed on Sunday that Phillips is reviewing a series of regulatory and legislative matters for the organization.
Executives of the association sent memos to top Wall Street bank executives last week arguing that a bank tax proposed by the Obama administration might be unfair, arbitrary and punitive and suggested mounting a constitutional challenge against such a tax. According to emails obtained by the New York Times, Phillips has been hired specifically to study this tax and a proposed legal battle against it.
Phillips is the managing partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP . He served as a clerk to Judge Robert Sprecher on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Chief Justice Warren E. Burger on the United States Supreme Court. He has argued 57 cases in the Supreme Court.
