Word: reichler
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When contra negotiators sat down last week they found themselves facing not only two Sandinistas but also an American lawyer. Paul Reichler, 40, has represented the Sandinista government for the past nine years. "I'm a lawyer, I'm a professional, and above all I'm an American," says Reichler. "I believe the war against Nicaragua is against the interests of my own country...
...Reichler's background is not exactly revolutionary. The son of a baseball writer for the Associated Press and an ardent fan himself, Reichler grew up on Long Island. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1973, he joined the Washington law firm of Arnold & Porter, where he played a mean shortstop on the firm's baseball team and put his encyclopedic knowledge of the sport to use in representing then Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. In 1979 Reichler's firm picked him to help recover Nicaraguan assets pilfered by the Somoza dictatorship. Two years later, when Arnold & Porter grew disenchanted with...
...right-wing lobbying group has tried to persuade the Justice Department to investigate the lawyer under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Though some friends remain surprised by Reichler's choice of a major client (he also represents the Philippines and Guatemala), they praise his legal ability. "He's a very bright, very articulate lawyer who is totally dedicated to the Sandinista cause," says Stuart Eizenstat, onetime legal colleague and former domestic policy adviser to Jimmy Carter...
...Reichler points out that he has disagreed with several of Managua's policies. "A good lawyer," he argues, "represents clients, not causes." True, but Reichler now has a paternal interest as well in the Nicaraguans. In 1984 he and his wife adopted a Nicaraguan baby. Her name is Jessica Danielle, in honor of Reichler's good friend, President Daniel Ortega Saavedra...
When the Sandinistas decided last year to take their case to the World Court, Reichler's first choice for his legal team was Chayes. "I thought about it for a long time," says Chayes, who during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis helped the State Department work out legal arguments supporting the blockade of Cuba. Described by colleagues as brilliant and impassioned, Chayes was drawn to the case partly by the magnitude of the questions it raises. "We are dealing here with the fundamental norms of international law," he explains. "It's not pettifoggery...