Berger Suggests Washington Firm To Mayor's Office

At the recommendation of a Harvard Law School professor, Boston Mayor Kevin White this month retained the Washington, D.C. law firm of Arnold and Porter to petition the Supreme Court for a review of the court decisions ordering forced busing in Boston, an official close to the mayor said yesterday.

Raoul Berger, Warren Senior Fellow in American Legal History, gave the firm a "very high recommendation" in a meeting with the mayor two weeks ago, Herbert P. Gleason, corporation counsel to the city of Boston, said.

The firm will now petition the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari requesting the Massachusetts First Circuit Court of Appeals to certify the record of its decision last year to uphold the Phase Two busing orders handed down by Federal District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity last spring, Gleason said.

Berger yesterday confirmed that he had recommended Arnold and Porter to the mayor, adding that he refused to involve himself in the case because of his age and commitment to a book he is now writing.

His "extremely high opinion" of legal briefs prepared by the firm in its successful contestation of former President Nixon's attempt to declare his presidential papers private property was the major reason for his recommendation, Berger said.

Gleason said the liberal reputation gained by the law firm during the Nixon papers case "will impress the Supreme court with the liberal concern over busing decisions."

Berger, however, denied that he considered the firm's political reputation in making his recommendation. "The Supreme Court will not be impressed with liberal or conservative--I just considered getting a good lawyer for this case," Berger said.