Kelley ponders leaving bench

Walter D. Kelley Jr. is thinking about leaving the federal district bench less than four years after he was appointed to the court.

At a hearing in a patent case last week in Norfolk, Kelley told the attorneys before him that he has been offered a partnership in the Washington office of Jones Day. The remarks were in the context of a case scheduled for trial in April, and he mentioned that it might be the last case he presides over.

Asked today about the remarks, Kelley acknowledged that he had made them but would not elaborate on them. He said he has not written to the White House announcing his resignation and added that any comment before he does so would be premature.

A native of Norfolk and a graduate of Washington and Lee University and its law school, Kelley was nominated in October 2003 to the seat vacated by Judge Henry C. Morgan. The Senate confirmed him in June 2004, and he received his commission two months later.

At the time, he was a partner in the Norfolk office of Troutman Sanders LLP. He specialized in commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on intellectual property and antitrust cases.

As a judge, he has presided over dockets heavy on drug and firearm cases with relatively little in the way of the business disputes he handled as an attorney.

Bush taps Novak, Davis for federal judgeships

President Bush has nominated David J. Novak and Mark S. Davis for federal judgeships in Richmond and Alexandria, respectively.

Novak is an assistant U.S. attorney who worked on the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the convicted Sept. 11 conspirator. Davis is a circuit judge in Portsmouth.

Both men were on the list of candidates submitted by Sens. John Warner and Jim Webb to the White House. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has more details.

No basketball played on these courts

March Madness is in full swing, and once again many an office worker with a basketball jones will be trying to sneak a peek at his team’s game over the Internet. Unless he works for the federal court system.

Once again our friend and source in the Eastern District (identified here only as “Shallow Throat”) has sent along a warning memo from the court IT guys. Last year, the bandwidth was nearly maxed out, and the no b-ball forces would block any streaming sports site they discovered, a tactic they’re using again this March.

But the IT guys have a graver warning this time around: Watching sports could sacrifice security. During the Super Bowl, hackers managed to get into the live feed from Dolphin Stadium, where the game was played. Anyone who watched the game on the computer got a surprise present: A keylogging program embedded in the feed.

The courts memo concludes with a sniff: “Judiciary personnel are reminded that it is inappropriate to use judiciary resources to the detriment of business processes.” No doubt the IT guys will be pleased when March Madness is over.