BigLaw CEO bought property partly owned by Gorsuch, who didn’t disclose the buyer
U.S. Supreme Court
BigLaw CEO bought property partly owned by Gorsuch, who didn’t disclose the buyer
April 25, 2023, 2:47 pm CDT
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch poses for an official portrait in the Supreme Court building Oct. 7, 2022, in Washington, D.C. Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press.
Greenberg Traurig CEO Brian Duffy contracted to buy a property partly owned by Justice Neil Gorsuch nine days after the former appeals judge’s confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Politico has the story via How Appealing.
Duffy and his wife paid $1.825 million for the home northwest of Denver on the Colorado River. Since then, the article reports, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 Supreme Court cases, including cases in which the law firm filed an amicus brief.
Gorsuch had a 20% interest in the property, which was owned by a limited liability company called the Walden Group. Gorsuch disclosed that he made between $250,001 and $500,000 in income from the Walden Group, but he didn’t disclose that the reason was a real estate sale and didn’t identity the purchaser.
Duffy told Politico that his firm’s ethics department greenlighted the purchase after he learned that Gorsuch was one of the owners and sought a review. He has never argued a case before Gorsuch, has never spoken to him and has never met him, he said.
Gorsuch did not respond to Politico’s questions about the sale and his disclosure.
Kedric Payne, director of ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, criticized Gorsuch for failing to disclose the name of the buyer.
“The public has a right to know that justices will fully comply with disclosure rules instead of providing only a tiny peek into their financial disclosures,” Payne told Politico.
