Preoccupied with his criminal defense and divorce proceedings, billionaire Broadcom cofounder Henry “Nick” Nicholas has enlisted political ally (and fellow alpha male) Todd Spitzer to oversee his multimillion-dollar philanthropic endeavors. Spitzer, a lawyer and termed-out state Assemblyman, says he is billing Nicholas to review grants, evaluate applications and carry out other duties for Nicholas’ foundation and an endowment fund he shares with his estranged wife Stacey. Spitzer says he will stop working for Nicholas Dec. 1, when he leaves the legislature and goes to work for OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. Spitzer says he is not being paid for his work on behalf of Proposition 9, the Nicholas-funded victims’ rights measure on the Nov. 4 ballot that is nicknamed Marsy’s Law after Nicholas’ slain sister. Spitzer first teamed with Nicholas in 2004 to help defeat the Proposition 56 challenge to California’s three strikes law. He lauds Nicholas as a “champion of victim rights” and says he has never observed Nicholas under the influence of drugs or otherwise behaving criminally, as alleged by the federal government and alluded to in media accounts, including the November Vanity Fair. Spitzer says if he did witness such behavior, “I’d have nothing to do with him.” Spitzer, who has aspired to become DA, acknowledges the Nicholas association could have political drawbacks. But he says, “I’m not going to walk away from what I believe in because of political correctness” …
The Insider’s take on last week’s extraordinary House hearing before “Judge” Henry Waxman: Bad for Greenspan, good for Chris Cox …
Business has slowed (what restaurateur’s hasn’t?), but Antonio Cagnolo still is celebrating. It’s the 30th anniversary of his Antonello Ristorante in South Coast Plaza Village, and he’s made it through his second heart surgery at U of San Diego in five months: “So far I’m OK.” After the first surgery his sister Anna died, leaving Cagnolo “truly heartbroken”,he went to Italy for the funeral and wound up in an emergency room in the northern seaport town of Savona. Now he’s back to work: “I’m coming up with a new menu” …
Mark Robinson (Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson) has been named 2008 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the California American Board of Trial Advocates. And Robinson joins six other OCers on the Daily Journal’s list of the top 100 California lawyers: corporate attorney Charles Ruck (Latham & Watkins); white-collar defense lawyer John Hueston (Irell & Manella); litigators Wylie Aitken (Aitken, Aitken & Cohn) and Layn Phillips (Irell); public interest lawyer Kenneth Babcock (Public Law Center) and UC Irvine law dean Erwin Chemerinsky …
Brooke Stearns has a new sister, Taylor Joyce …
The shrinking local media: KDOC-TV recently ended its morning news show “Daybreak OC;” CBS radio news station KFWB 980 has closed its Orange County and Long Beach bureaus; and veteran editor Tony Dodero has left the downsizing Daily Pilot.
