July marks the 30th anniversary for a Carbondale law firm that has technically been in existence for the last 99 years.

Feirich/Mager/Green/Ryan and Associates, 2001 W. Main St. near the Westtown Mall in Murdale, established its current banner in 1977, but the roots of the firm stretch back to 1908, when local attorneys W.W. Barr and C.E. Feirich started a practice together.

Firm partner Richard Green, one of the founders of the business' current iteration, said lasting 30 years in one form means you're doing well; lasting nearly a century in some fashion is extraordinary. Then again, the firm has always been known for beating the odds, he added.

"You think about it, in 1977 we were a six-person law firm, a size that was unheard of at that time. People said it wouldn't survive," Green said.

It did and has grown into a firm housing 15 lawyers, six paralegals and numerous other staff members.

There was a time when Southern Illinois was considered underserved with its number of attorneys, partner John Ryan said.

"There's an old saying that goes if there is one lawyer in town he'll starve to death, but if there are two, they'll do just fine," Ryan said.

Today the Jackson County Bar Association alone has more than 240 registered attorneys, Ryan said. Being an attorney is a lucrative career option, he said, because lawyers are called on quite often.

"The work is a byproduct of our society," Ryan said.

"We take these things very seriously," said FBI spokesman Bill Carter, who added, "we have no specific and credible information about a credible threat to Goldman Sachs other than these letters."

The letters were postmarked late June from New York and were handwritten in red ink on loose-leaf paper.

"We are working closely with the law enforcement authorities, who tell us they don't believe the threat to be very credible," Goldman Sachs said in a statement today. "We have a broad range of security measures in place to counter all likely threats and we're monitoring the situation closely."

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette received the letter Monday, said Bobby Wells, the newspaper's administrative assistant, and the FBI and local police department have since picked up the letter.

The Star-Ledger reported that it received one of the letters, postmarked June 27. The letter was addressed to the news department and was turned over to the FBI, according to the newspaper.

Goldman is a powerhouse in investment banking, with $37 billion in revenue last year and a profit of $9.5 billion. It hands out the biggest paychecks on Wall Street, averaging $623,418 per employee last year with individual rainmakers raking in up to $50 million, according to U.S. regulatory filings.

Goldman Sachs sent the following internal memo to its employees:

"The firm is aware that a number of local newspapers in a few places in the U.S. have received anonymous letters threatening the firm. We take any threat to the safety of our people and our business very seriously. The Office of Global Security has consulted the FBI and other relevant authorities. Authorities have informed us that they believe the threat to be of low credibility. Nevertheless, they have mounted an active investigation to try to determine the source of the letters. We have a broad range of security measures in place to counter all likely threats and we continue to monitor this situation closely. We do not view this situation as a cause for concern."

A source at Goldman who asked not to be named said that the firm didn't think the letters were credible and that officials were satisfied with the many security provisions in place, especially in New York.

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C., a full service law firm with offices in Little Rock and Rogers as well as in Austin, Texas, has been named a "Go-To Law Firm" for financial services companies by American Lawyer Media (ALM). The firm was chosen specifically for excellence in the areas of regulatory affairs and compliance, litigation and labor and employment.

ALM is a leading integrated media company focused on the legal and business communities. ALM currently owns and publishes 33 national and regional magazines and newspapers.

Honorees named to the 2007 list were chosen based on nominations from general counsel at leading national financial services companies on which outside law firms they turn to for assistance. Nominations were coupled with in-depth analysis and research of various sources including public records, such as court dockets and securities filings, as well as legal and business publications such as The Wall Street Journal to produce the finalists.

Mitchell Williams has provided legal counsel since 1954. It currently employs 65 attorneys at its three branch offices.

http://www.mitchellwilliamslaw.com

But the American Civil Liberties Union, along with groups and attorneys based in Michigan, filed a lawsuit in Detroit in January 2006 saying that the government's surveillance program was unconstitutional and interfered with their jobs.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit ruled in favor of the plaintiffs last August. The U.S. Justice Department then appealed the case to the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court.

Kary Moss, head of the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, said "it's a really unfortunate decision."

She said that one of the reasons the plaintiffs had difficulty proving they were being adversely affected was that the government has kept information about the wiretapping program a secret. Moss said they are considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations, one of the co-plaintiffs, said: "It's a shame that the court overturned the decision... what the executive branch was doing was unconstitutional."

"Two minds were set on murder," assistant U.S. attorney Linda Barr told jurors Thursday in closing arguments. "Two fingers were on the trigger of that gun on May 13, 2005, and two people must be held accountable."

Bradford has admitted shooting the doctor in the side of the head after his wife pulled over on the turnpike south of Cleveland, supposedly to let her husband take the wheel.

The federal jury also convicted Moonda of interstate stalking and two counts of using or carrying a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.

As U.S. District Judge David D. Dowd Jr. read the four guilty verdicts, Moonda went from holding back tears, to shaking her head to quietly sobbing, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Jurors deliberated for eight hours over two days after more than two weeks of testimony.

Moonda's defense was that Bradford, a convicted drug dealer, robbed and killed the doctor in a steroid-fueled rage. Defense attorney Roger Synenberg told jurors that if they believed Bradford, then his client came up with the worst plan to murder a husband.

Bradford testified that on the day of the shooting, he followed the couple as they left their home in Hermitage, Pa., near the Ohio state line, and pulled in behind them when Donna Moonda stopped their Jaguar along the turnpike. He said he ran to the passenger side of the car and shot the doctor.

Other key evidence cited by prosecutors were a series of phone calls and text messages between Bradford and Moonda the day of the killing, up until she and her husband left on their trip.

Prosecutors pointed to Moonda's description of the shooter being the same height as her husband, 5-foot-3, as more evidence of her deceit. But Synenberg explained that the 5-foot-10 Bradford may have appeared shorter because he was leaning down looking into the car when he shot the doctor in the temple.

Moonda's attorney said in his closing argument that the doctor still had a pulse when paramedics arrived because his wife, a nurse anesthetist, had performed CPR. Synenberg said that action was proof of her innocence.

Bradford, of Monaca, Pa., met Donna Moonda in drug rehab, according to court records. He has pleaded guilty to interstate stalking and a gun charge and is expected to receive a 17 1/2-year sentence.

Sainz is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16 in Superior Court, and will likely face 15 years to life in prison.

While it was unclear how the head trauma occurred, the baby also suffered from bleeding from the eyes, which is common when a baby is shaken vigorously, said Deputy District Attorney Stephen Foley.

"Whether the baby was hit against a wall, or just shook, we don't know," he said.

Sainz's baby was brought to an area hospital on Dec. 29 in a "non-responsive, labored breathing state," according to a police statement, and died at another hospital on Jan. 1.