It all started with the whales.
They were Richard Kendall’s main preoccupation for most of the summer and early fall of 2008. The entertainment litigation partner at Irell & Manella was preparing for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, representing the Natural Resources Defense Council in a suit that accused the U.S. Navy of failing to protect marine mammals from its use of sonar in training exercises. During the months Kendall spent getting ready for his high court appearance, he admits with a lawyer’s characteristic understatement, he was “a bit distracted.”
