By Nell Gluckman, From The Am Law Daily

When Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle litigation partners Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman agreed to take on the case of Jonathan Pollard in 2000, they did not think they would still be working on it 15 years later.

But after numerous court filings, hearings and clemency applications regarding a case that has international ramifications, the lawyers learned Tuesday that their client would be released on parole in November.

“We’ve been through a lot,” said Lauer, co-chair of Curtis’ litigation group. “There have been a lot of disappointments over the last 15 years. Right now we’re elated.”

Another client, whom Lauer described only as a “philanthropist and successful businessman,” brought Pollard’s case to the Curtis litigator’s attention.

Lauer said the unnamed client was looking into starting a legal defense fund for Pollard, who had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage in 1986. Pollard had been working as a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst in the 1980s when he passed classified documents to Israeli officials.

According to Lauer, a trustee for The Jewish Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank linked to the Republican Jewish Coalition, his wealthy client would only fund Pollard’s defense team if the Curtis lawyers agreed to take on the case.

After reviewing the docket, Lauer and his partner, Semmelman, agreed there was a legal argument to be made.

“It was a long shot, but we had some angles,” Lauer said. “Because we felt this was such a great injustice, we advised the client not to do a legal defense fund, and [Curtis] would do the work pro bono.”

Semmelman said he felt compelled to take on the case after learning that Pollard’s former counsel had not appealed his life sentence. Pollard’s plea deal stipulated that the U.S. attorney’s office would not seek the maximum sentence, but the late Chief Justice Aubrey Robinson Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia gave him a life sentence in 1987.

In 2000, Lauer and Semmelman filed a motion to change Pollard’s sentence on the grounds that he had ineffective counsel. That motion was denied because of the statute of limitations, but the Curtis attorneys continued to press for the release of their client, making clemency requests of each president from Bill Clinton onward, Semmelman said. Those applications were largely ignored.

“This is a case that affected us deeply,” added Semmelman. “We were very, very committed to seeing that justice be done.”

About a year ago, Pollard had his first parole hearing, which was denied. But the Curtis lawyers were told that their client would get another chance this year.

On July 7, Pollard had his second hearing, where his lawyers argued that he had an exemplary prison record and would not commit further crimes if released. On Tuesday, the legal team learned that Pollard met those standards and is expected to released on Nov. 20 after serving a 30-year prison sentence.

“It’s a jubilant feeling and a feeling of relief that our client, after being in jail for 30 years, is going to get out,” said Semmelman. Curtis has helped Pollard find a job and a place to live in New York with his wife.

Israeli officials have long expressed their support for Pollard and put pressure on the U.S. to release him, according to The New York Times. Some reports have suggested that Pollard’s release may be a concession to Israel, meant to relieve some of the tension that ensued from the nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran that was announced earlier this month.

But Lauer dismissed that idea as “complete speculation,” saying Pollard’s release is the result of a procedure that made his client eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence.

“It’s a process that’s been evolving and reaching its natural conclusion,” Lauer said. “Because of a statutory standard, it’s hard to see any connection to the events in the Middle East.”

Lauer added that the case was complicated and at times disappointing, but he’s pleased with the outcome. “It took a bit longer than I anticipated, but I think it bore fruit,” he said.

Pollard’s spy story isn’t the first to involve an element of legal drama.

The Am Law Daily reported two years ago on a roughly $1.2 million settlement paid by the Israeli government to the family of Ben Zygier, a so-called Prisoner X and former Australian lawyer-turned-spy, who hanged himself in prison.

IMAGE: Jacques Semmelman and Eliot Lauer

For more on this story go to: http://www.americanlawyer.com/id=1202733449672/Curtis-Partners-Help-Secure-Release-of-Israeli-Spy#ixzz3hO6KtuJC