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Supreme Court Nominee Has Approval From Some Philadelphia-Area Businesses

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 03:00 CDT

Jul. 21--Business can expect Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. to be a friend, but not a knee-jerk friend, according to people who have worked with him or followed his career in private practice and as an appellate court judge.

Roberts is "a very balanced kind of lawyer" and not an ideologue, said Alan S. Kaplinsky, a partner at the Philadelphia law firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll L.L.P.

About three years ago, Kaplinsky represented the Discover Card company jointly with Roberts. They did not succeed in persuading the Supreme Court to take up their client's appeal, but Kaplinsky said he was impressed with Roberts' legal skills and self-effacing personality.

Business craves predictability in judicial decisions sometimes more so than wins, and Roberts' temperament and track record as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit suggest he will provide it, Kaplinsky said.

"Business should not win every case," but it needs to be confident in how the law is applied in similar circumstances, he said.

As a lawyer at the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., before becoming a judge in 2003, Roberts argued more than 30 cases at the Supreme Court, for clients that included the Peabody Coal Co. and Gonzaga University.

As a lawyer, he also worked closely with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on many cases.

The chamber often filed friend of the court briefs on his behalf and in at least one instance, a case before the Supreme Court involving the Toyota Motor Manufacturing, provided moot-court facilities to him and helped him with reporters' calls.

"He has an understanding of business, but that doesn't mean he is pro-business. He knows how to fairly analyze and rule," said Richard Hauser, president of the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, a Washington think tank with prominent Republicans and Democrats among its advisors. Roberts once was a member.

One role he played there was to provide a briefing to news reporters on upcoming Supreme Court cases.

His nomination to the court drew approval also from the head of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and from some area executives.

"It seems to me to be a decent and balanced choice," said Gerald B. Schreiber, president and chief executive officer of J&J Snack Foods Corp. in Pennsauken.

Mark S. Schweiker, president and chief executive officer of the Philadelphia chamber, noted that Roberts has a "diverse background, having successfully served government, the private sector, and on the bench."

"Having represented the corporate community, we certainly hope that if confirmed, Judge Roberts will interpret the Constitution in a manner that balances the best interests of businesses with the well-being of American workers," Schweiker said.

J. William Mills 3d, president of the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey region for Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group, said he thinks Bush chose someone who won't be divisive. "I'm glad the president didn't take some sort of dogmatic nominee," Mills said. "He didn't do a Robert Bork."

Inquirer staff writers Harold Brubaker, Henry Holcomb and Wendy Tanaka and research librarian Frank Donahue contributed to this article.

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MWD, BTU, TM, 7203, JJSF, PNC,

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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