No Conflict of Interest, Please.

BLT:

Dozens of cases involving the federal government have been taken off the docket of a Chicago federal judge named by President George W. Bush to become deputy attorney general. Mark Filip, 41, was nominated a week ago by the president, who announced appointments to fill several key vacancies at the embattled Department of Justice.

Chief Judge James Holderman of the Northern District of Illinois issued an order Monday reassigning the 63 cases involving the federal government as a plaintiff or a defendant that Filip had presided over. Holderman wrote that Filip "should not preside over criminal cases or civil cases in which the United States is a party while his nomination is pending."

Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, says Holderman’s move offers transparency and fairness to all parties involved in the suits and prosecutions while Filip awaits confirmation.

One the cases that Filip will not be on is the DOJ vs. NAR (National Association of Realtors) case:

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew F. Kennelly will handle the DOJ vs. NAR case in Filip's place. Kennelly was appointed as a federal judge in 1999 by then-President Bill Clinton.

So the August resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales touches the DOJ vs. NAR case.

The U.S. Department of Justice claims that NAR policies governing display of MLS listing information on the Internet (including both the rescinded VOW policy and the new Internet Listing Display policy) violate federal antitrust laws. NAR strongly disagrees with the government's contentions and is vigorously defending both the MLS as a vehicle for broker-to-broker cooperation as well as the ability of a listing broker to control the use of that broker's listings on the Internet by competitors.

Read the DOJ's original complaint (PDF).

Read NAR's motion to dismiss.

Here is what we know about Filip:

1. Filip, a former law clerk to Justice Anthony Scalia.

2. Filip worked at a noted law firm in Chicago called Skadden Arps which had ties to the bribes of Florida election officials in the 2000 presidential election.

3. Filip had interviewed with former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald for the U.S. attorney's job that ultimately went to Patrick Fitzgerald. But the senator asked if he would be interested in a judgeship instead. Filip was just 37 years old to be appointed as judge.

4. Federal election records show that Judge Filip donated $2,000 to President Bush’s re-election campaign after he was nominated to the bench but before he was confirmed.

Memo to Senate Committee: Get all your facts straight for this DAG nominee before appointment.