The Bothwell Letter

News from the Law Offices of Anthony P. X. Bothwell
350 Bay Street, Suite 100 PMB314, San Francisco, CA 94133-1966 Tel. (415) 370-9571
May 25, 2002 Vol. IV / No.1 contact@apxbothwell.com

Topic Index:
[1] Caroline Kennedy
[2] Holocaust loot
[3] Suspicious accounts
[4] Terrorism studies
[5] Treaty law
[6] American Indians
[7] Airline pilots
[8] Fine sons
[9] Attorney info

[ 1 ] CAROLINE KENNEDY SAYS A VISIT TO JFK UNIV. WOULD BE ‘FUN’
I met Caroline Kennedy last week at the signing of her new book, Profiles in Courage for Our Time, at New York’s Union Square Barnes & Noble. “Most of the members of my family” keep working in “public service,” she told a questioner, “but some of them have started doing other things.” An aide, mingling in the aisles, said the late president’s daughter writes and speaks just “because she wants to get the message out.” An admirer remarked, “She does it for her father’s legacy.” Ms. Kennedy’s latest book honors elected officials of conscience – and the “Heroes of September 11,” firefighters, police and medical teams. When I encouraged her to consider a speaking engagement at John F. Kennedy University, she replied, “That would be fun!”

[ 2 ] HEIRS STILL CAN MAKE CLAIMS FOR ART LOOTED BY NAZIS
American Bar Association professional education classes I attended this month in New York included training about law and ethics on claiming works of art stolen from victims of the Holocaust. Most of the Nazi loot still has not been found and claimed, but international law requires governments to hold and return it to rightful heirs. Howard Spiegler, an expert on Holocaust art law, said, “Many families only recently started searching for Nazi loot because they didn’t want to think about the horror, the losses.” Federal law can be used to help U.S. residents who may have a basis for such claims.

[ 3 ] NEW REG MAY MAKE LAWYERS REPORT ‘SUSPICIOUS’ ACCOUNTS
John Roth, Chief of the U.S. Justice Dept. Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section, predicts the government will force lawyers to report all “suspicious” financial accounts. Federal regulations probably will be adopted to impose the same reporting standard on lawyers as already applies to banks, Roth told a May 10 Bar meeting at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. James Roselle of Chicago’s Bank One answered that solo practitioners of law can’t do such sophisticated reporting, which costs U.S. banks up to $100 million yearly. Louise Delahunty, who chairs a U.K. panel on money laundering, said a similar measure in Parliament that’s “too extreme” applies to “all” suspicions, not just those of money laundering and terrorism.

[ 4 ] TERROR ISSUES ARE SPOTLIGHTED IN NEW COURSE OFFERINGS
This summer I’ll teach two courses at JFK University on terrorism issues. “Terrorism and Law” classes will be on Saturdays June 29 and July 13, 20 and 27 at the School of Law in Walnut Creek. “In the Shadow of Terror,” a seminar on terrorism psychology, will be held Friday evening, Aug. 3, and Saturday, Aug. 4, at the School of Liberal Arts in Orinda. My article, “Ethnicity, Security and World Law in the Shadow of Super-Terrorism,” is in the current Research Papers (vol. II, no. 1-2), published by the Human Rights Conflict Prevention Centre in Bosnia. In New York, after meetings on terrorism issues, I paid respects at Ground Zero.

[ 5 ] STATE DEPT. DISPUTES NEWS REPORT ON TREATY LAW RULES
The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties codifies the rules on how international agreements are formed, interpreted, amended, etc. The U.S., though it never got around to ratifying the 1969 pact, has always accepted the fact that its provisions are legally binding because they reflect the universal custom of nations. The New York Times reported May 5 that the U.S. no longer considered itself bound by the Vienna accord. Two days later, Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General and Legal Counsel of the United Nations, told ABA members that the U.S. hadn’t given notice of such a renunciation. And, at the same briefing in the UN’s Dag Hammarskjold Library penthouse, Nicholas Rostow, General Counsel of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, flatly denied the Times report. But the Bush Administration did “un-sign” a new Rome treaty by which the rest of the world has set up an International Criminal Court to deal with cases of crimes against humanity that aren’t tried elsewhere.

[ 6 ] NATIVE AMERICAN CAUSES PROMOTED IN LEGAL AID EFFORT
I’m told that the National Lawyers Guild is getting ready to publish proceedings of a Tucson workshop I chaired on American Indians’ rights under international law. Summaries of a paper I wrote about the topic have shown up in quite a variety of websites, including one in the Russian language. As acting chair of the Guild’s committee on Native American issues, I hope to help promote a coalition of tribes seeking justice for all. I’ve also endeavored to assist some Native American nations in selected cases on a pro bono basis.

[ 7 ] AIRLINE PILOTS PREPARING TO CHALLENGE F.A.A. AGE RULE
Some of the clients I’ve assisted have won legal battles against an array of local, state and federal entities – including judgments against multi-billion-dollar U.S. government agencies. The main case I’m working on now will challenge an obsolete Federal Aviation Administration rule that forbids airline pilots from flying beyond age 59. As the attorney for the Professional Pilots Federation, I’m getting ready to file a petition opposing the FAA’s arbitrary enforcement of that rule. Pilots should be subject to fitness standards, not age discrimination. Statistics show that the older pilots are safer. When there’s an emergency in the air, you’ll want an experienced captain in command.

[ 8 ] OUTSTANDING SONS ARE ALSO OUTSTANDING ACHIEVERS
My son, Tony Bothwell, Jr., systems administrator for Allen Matkins Leck Gamble & Mallory LLP, was quotable in Computerworld. His Los Angeles-based firm’s 250 attorneys get secure network access from libraries, courts and even competitors’ offices (without having to carry a laptop), Tony explained in a Jan. 21 article by Deborah Radcliff. My second son, Tommy Bothwell, doing systems work for a large HMO, also is systems administrator for my San Francisco-based solo law practice. Most recently, Tommy taught me how to email my photo to the UN so I could get through security a little faster on my recent visit there. Tony and Tommy both are very fine young men. Chung and I are so proud of them!

[ 9 ] TONY BOTHWELL, Esquire. The State Bar of California; Bar of the U.S. District Court (N. Calif.); American Bar Association; International Bar Association (London). Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, BSFS; Boston University School of Public Communication, MS; John F. Kennedy University School of Law, JD; Golden Gate University School of Law, LLM summa cum laude. Who’s Who in America (2002).

Principal Areas of Practice: Civil rights, civil liberties, whistleblower protection, immigration, asylum, international human rights, international trade, income tax, and personal-injury claim.

Contact: Anthony P.X. Bothwell Sr., Attorney at Law, 100 First Street, Ste. 100, PMB241, San Francisco, CA 94105-2623. Tel. (415) 370-9571. FAX (415) 668-6178.
contact@apxbothwell.com