Law: On the Town in London

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Two days later, at a news conference before addressing a luncheon session at Grosvenor House, U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese picked up Thatcher's suggestion and said the Reagan Administration might soon begin discussions with the news media about whether their coverage of the hostage crisis was "helpful or hurtful from the standpoint of getting the crisis ended in a satisfactory manner." Meese carefully noted that the ability of the press to speak freely should be protected, but added, "There is an area of mutual good will on the part of the press and law enforcement authorities. There are areas where the press itself is not only willing but anxious to cooperate." Meese suggested the possibility of negotiated agreements with the Government "to delay the release of information which would be inimical to the peaceful or rapid solution of a particular operation, or perhaps temporarily to withhold information or even some interviews" that might endanger hostages. News organizations have sometimes voluntarily withheld such information, but CBS and NBC news chiefs were probably expressing the majority view in the media when they turned down Meese's proposed formal agreement.

The meeting also included 300 sessions on technical legal topics such as complex transnational litigation and judicial education. Some 20 tons Of legal material were printed for the event. Skeptical reporters saw some lawyers pick up attendance forms before meetings began and then depart for leisure activities. One delegate, when asked if he would attend the sessions, smiled and said: "For the sake of the Internal Revenue Service, my answer is yes." Attendance at overseas professional meetings is only tax deductible if the location can be justified and if conventiongoers actually do work that is relevant to their jobs. "England is the fountainhead of American law," observed Ernest Guy, who heads the A.B.A.'s meetings department and who apparently knows how to lay proper legal groundwork. Still, the A.B.A. was concerned that the festive and well-reported convention could lead to criticism of attorneys for dodging taxes. Shortly before the departure for London, in splendid lawyerly fashion, the organization asserted to members that it neither affirmed nor denied that the convention was a tax-deductible expense. --By Kenneth M. Pierce. Reported by John Wright/London