According to the PMP website, the “client retreat is geared directly to law firms that are looking to make new connections in the industry and to obtain some insight into the mindset of running a highly successful personal injury practice.”

Edwards will speak on June 6.

Edwards, as noted by The Hill, has largely stayed out of the spotlight since he was found not guilty of accepting illegal campaign contributions last year:

Edwards has kept a low profile since he was found not guilty last May on one felony charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon. The jury was deadlocked on five other felony charges and the judge declared a mistrial.

In total, Edwards faced six felony charges, including conspiracy, making false statements, and four counts of receiving illegal campaign contributions during his failed bid for the presidency in 2008. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The charges stemmed from a payment of $925,000 made by Mellon and one other campaign donor to allegedly cover up an affair he had with his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, who later gave birth to his daughter.

H/T Hill

The debt includes $64,593.75 owed to Axelrod & Associates, the firm founded by David Axelrod and now known as AKPD Message and Media. After being stripped of his ad-making duties during Edwards’ 2004 presidential campaign, Axelrod continued on as the candidate’s spokesman.

Edwards was not invited to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in his home state. During the event he was referred to as “the name that must not be mentioned.”

Following a trial on public corruption charges, Edwards was acquitted on one count of misusing campaign funds but the jury was unable to reach a decision on five remaining counts in 2012.

The Justice Department announced in June that it would not retry the case.

Most recently came the news that Donny Ray Williams Jr.—a congressional Democratic aide who worked on several Senate subcommittees and for a coterie of Democrats including Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.), Sen. Herb Kohl (Wisc.), and Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.)—had been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a host of women:

Donny Ray Williams Jr., 36, who served as staff director for a Senate subcommittee and worked in the offices of several members of Congress, gave at least one woman Ambien and assaulted her while she was unconscious, according to court papers.

Williams was charged with 10 counts of first- and second-degree sexual abuse and related charges in connection with attacks that authorities said occurred between July and December 2010. During that time, according to his profile on the LinkedIn Web site, Williams was staff director of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee.

New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the leaders of the New York delegation to the DNC, is under fire for his handling of a pair of sexual harassment lawsuits, according to the New York Daily News. It was recently revealed that Silver signed off on a sexual harassment settlement that resulted in a pair of women collecting six figure, taxpayer-funded paychecks to avoid an embarrassing and potentially expensive lawsuit against fellow Democrat Vito Lopez:

Despite having been forced to address the Lopez scandal for much of the day, Silver managed to have a little fun bowling at an event for the New York delegation Monday night. He was even joking about rolling a strike. “What can I say?” he said, according to a tweet by an Albany Times-Union reporter. “If I’d had bowling shoes, I would have bowled two strikes.”

Fun and games aside, Silver’s political judgement, and his tremendous power, is being questioned because it was with his blessing that Rita Pasarell, 30, and Leah Hebert, 29, both former high-ranking members of Lopez’s Assembly staff, were given $103,080 in taxpayer money in June to avoid further litigation. Lopez, 71, pitched in another $32,000 of his own money to keep quiet accusations against him. …

The fiasco has spawned dual investigations into the sexual harassment charges against Lopez, one by the Ethics Committee and another by the Staten Island district attorney, who has been appointed special prosecutor. Gov. Cuomo said he would reserve judgment on Silver’s role in the Lopez scandal until he reviews results from the two probes.

Some of the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) brightest lights are well known for their mistreatment of women. Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is chairing the DNC, engaged in a sordid affair with a reporter that ruined his marriage of 20 years and threw into question his judgment as an elected official:

Villaraigosa’s admission cast a fresh shadow over his own personal conduct: He has two adult daughters born out of wedlock and his wife filed for divorce in 1994 over a separate affair for which he later publicly apologized. They eventually reconciled.

It may also have damaged his carefully crafted image as a family man, something he has reinforced over the years by appearing with his family in campaign literature and — until this week — on the city’s website. And it is unclear how the political fallout will treat one of the region’s most recognizable figures.

The revelation also raised ethical questions about Salinas’ decision to become involved with a politician she was covering as a journalist. Several media analysts condemned the relationship as a conflict for her and the mayor and suggested that Salinas’ bosses should have taken immediate action to remove her from handling any Villaraigosa coverage.

The sexual exploits and mistreatment of women by former President Bill Clinton, Wednesday night’s headline speaker, are the stuff of legend. A documentary released earlier this year detailed how Bubba’s years in office were just one long temptation to which he would eventually succumb:

Bill Clinton was besieged by 25 women a day who flocked to see him before he even got to the White House.

A TV biography of the former U.S. President claims that he was already a huge hit with the ladies during his initial bid for governorship in his home state of Arkansas in the 1970s.

Former senior aides said that women were ‘literally mesmerised’ and swarmed around him ‘like flies to honey.’

Conspicuously absent from the North Carolina-based convention is John Edwards, the one-time Democratic senator from the Tar Heel State and contender for the Democratic slot in the 2008 presidential election. Edwards is perhaps best known now for cheating on his cancer-stricken wife and siring a child with his mistress. His campaign contributors would go on to pay for the mistress and the child’s care so as not to spoil Edwards’ shot at the White House.

The Democratic Party’s problem with women extends beyond individual miscreants: Senate Democrats, the Democratic White House, and key Democratic House leaders all pay their female staffers less on average than male staffers, WFB analyses have shown.

However, the Democrats are equal opportunity exploiters. Suzanne Barr, a senior Obama appointee to the Department of Homeland Security, resigned recently after being accused of a variety of sexual misdeeds:

Barr is accused of sexually inappropriate behavior toward employees. The complaints are related to a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by a senior ICE agent in May. …

In one complaint, Barr is accused of telling a male subordinate he was “sexy” and asking a personal question about his anatomy during an office party. In a separate complaint, she is accused of offering to perform a sex act with a male subordinate during a business trip in Bogota, Colombia. She’s also accused of calling a male subordinate from her hotel room and offering to perform a sex act.

Other groups participating include Campaign for America’s Future, Rebuild the Dream, People for the American Way, Public Campaign, The Other 98%, Health Care for America Now, Alliance for Justice, Public Citizen, and the SEIU. 

According to the event flyer, which includes a picture of Karl Rove in an orange prison jumpsuit, the groups will hold a “march to indict” American Crossroads “for the crimes of trying to buy our elections and keep people from exercising their right to vote.”

However, Common Cause has taken money from liberals willing to buy their way into elected office—and, despite claims of nonpartisanship, it also has a history of supporting progressive causes and affiliating with Democratic party organs.

Common Cause President and CEO Bob Edgar is a former Democratic congressman. Despite its stance on big money in politics, Common Cause’s 2011 donor list includes such figures as Jon Corzine, who is alleged to have misappropriated more than $1 billion as head of investment firm MF Global.

As previously reported by the Free Beacon, Corzine, a former Democratic Senator and Governor of New Jersey, donated $1,000 to Common Cause New York, earning him a “generous donor” status on Common Cause’s annual report.

Corzine spent more than $130 million personally financing his campaigns for office in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Common Cause complains, “big money has long dominated our elections.”

A 2005 Common Cause donor was Fred Baron, a John Edwards fundraiser who provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret payments to Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter and former campaign aide Andrew Young.

Common Cause applauded Edwards in 2007 “for the substance of his democracy reform proposals and for his candor in making those policy positions explicit and clear.”

In 2011, Common Cause supported Edwards’s indictment, writing that he “appears to have raised nearly $1 million from a pair of political supporters to finance an elaborate cover-up of his affair.” It did not note that Baron was one of those supporters.

Common Cause has also partnered in recent months with a host of progressive groups to attack the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a free-market organization that works with private companies and state lawmakers to craft model legislation.

ALEC has been the target of an intense campaign by progressives for its ties to voter identification and self-defense laws. As previously reported by the Free Beacon, Common Cause was one of several organizations that met on May 10 at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., to coordinate their campaign against ALEC.

Common Cause has been leading the legal battle against ALEC. The group has filed a whistleblower complaint with the IRS against ALEC, and it is asking attorneys general in all 50 states to investigate ALEC’s alleged lobbying activity.

The law firm working with Common Cause in its IRS complaint, Phillips & Cohen, has a long history of donating generously to Democrats. Firm partner John Phillips was a bundler for Obama.

At the May 10 summit, Common Cause Deputy Programs Director Doug Clopp called the war on ALEC “a very powerful organizing tool” for his group.

“Without question, Common Cause is a partisan front group masquerading as an ethics watchdog,” ALEC legal counsel Alan P. Dye said in an April statement.

Common Cause has been using ALEC to fundraise. “We’re working hard to shine a spotlight on [ALEC’s] nefarious tactics, and to put a stop to their end runs around federal tax and state ethics laws,” the group boasts on its website. “Can you help us by making a gift of $20, $50, $100 or more to support our work today?”

One staffer for Common Cause also appears to have engaged in casual racial stereotyping.

Common Cause deputy director Clopp said in a recent interview with Ad Age that ALEC’s ties to stand-your-ground, anti-immigrant, and voter identification bills caused concern among corporations that market their products to minorities.

“Kraft knows who buys lots of mac and cheese,” Clopp said, referring to Kraft’s recent decision to cancel its membership with ALEC. However, Clopp did not identify the mac and cheese buyer.

Common Cause did not respond to a request for comment.

Jennifer Palmieri, now a communications staffer for President Obama, served as Edwards’ spokesperson in 2007 and reportedly witnessed an argument between Edwards’ campaign finance chairman and his now-deceased wife Elizabeth over help given to Rielle Hunter.

Politico notes that “Palmieri is one of five current Obama administration or campaign officials on the witness list.”

One of Common Cause’s stated goals is to “curb the excessive influence” of money and lobbying on government. Yet its 2011 donor list includes such figures as Jon Corzine, who is alleged to have misappropriated more than $1 billion as head of investment firm MF Global, and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

Common Cause’s annual report lists Corzine, a former Democratic Senator and Governor of New Jersey, as a “generous” donor. Corzine gave $1,000 to Common Cause New York for its annual dinner in November 2011, according to the organization.

The Obama reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee returned more than $70,000 in contributions from Corzine following the collapse of MF Global.

Corzine spent more than $130 million personally financing his campaigns for office in New Jersey. Meanwhile, Common Cause complains, “big money has long dominated our elections.”

Common Cause did not return a request for comment.

Another sponsor of the 2011 Common Cause New York dinner was Daschle. After leaving the Senate, Daschle turned to a lucrative career as a “special policy adviser” to a prominent healthcare lobbying firm. His wife Linda is also a corporate lobbyist.

In 2009, Daschle withdrewhis nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services after it was disclosed that he failed to pay $128,000 in taxes for a private car and driver provided by a Democratic donor.

The donor, former cable television executive Leo Hindery, Jr., has been described in the New York Times as “a political groupie” who used powerful politicians as an “aphrodisiac.”

Hindery was honored with the John Gardner Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2011 Common Cause dinner.

It is not the first time Common Cause’s donors have been at odds with the group’s stated mission. A 2005 Common Cause donor was Fred Baron, a John Edwards fundraiser who allegedly provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret payments to Edwards’ mistress Rielle Hunter and former campaign aide Andrew Young.

Common Cause applauded Edwards in 2007 “for the substance of his democracy reform proposals and for his candor in making those policy positions explicit and clear.”

In 2011, Common Cause supported Edwards’s indictment, writing that he “appears to have raised nearly $1 million from a pair of political supporters to finance an elaborate cover-up of his affair.” It did not note Baron was one of those supporters.

Daily Show host Jon Stewart mocked the state of the Democratic Party in North Carolina Thursday, between the trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards and the ongoing sexual harassment scandal in the North Carolina state Democratic Party:

JON STEWART: It looks like the 2012 presidential race is finally set. Romney will be for the Republicans, Barack Obama the Democrats. Of course they’ll be heading down to Charlotte, N.C., for their convention this summer. We’ll be there, too. Let’s see how Democrats in the tar heel state are faring these days.

REPORTER: Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards arriving in court. His federal trial begins today.

REPORTER: Edwards is accused of accepting almost $1 million in illegal campaign contributions to hide his mistress from the press while he ran for president.

STEWART: You know what, though? You know what? Still looks good, still looks good. Remember the two Americas guy that you thought packed up and moved to the other America. But, no, he’s still here! All right. Well, Democrats are probably hoping the formality of a trial will bring some dignity to this otherwise tawdry affair.

REPORTER: Edwards called his mistress a crazy blank.

STEWART: I love this game. Crazy eight? Crazy love? Crazy cute? Crazy Eddie?

REPORTER: Calling her a “crazy slut.”

STEWART: Thank you, Shep. I assume Edwards meant a promiscuous person who behaves recklessly, who screws around without thought of one’s life and career, yeah. She’s the crazy slut, yeah. But I could see why CBS wouldn’t want to use that word “slut,” you know, on television, given the refined sensibility of their primetime shows.

CBS: I’m not a slut.

CBS: You’re a whore.

CBS: Drunken whore.

CBS: Bitch.

CBS: Bitch.

CBS: Drug-addled hooker.

CBS: Blonde, bony skank.

STEWART: The story gets weirder and weirder. apparently when Edwards first found out his mistress was pregnant, Edwards questioned whether he was actually the father.

SMITH: John Edwards claimed there was only a one-in-three chance he was his mistress’ baby daddy.

STEWART: One-in-three chance. The odds are against it. Do we have any footage of the baby, though? Can we take a look at that? That is–that is the creepiest thing any of us will see in a very long time. But John Edwards is the party’s past. The modern Democratic Party in North Carolina is a well-oiled machine.

REPORTER: Jay Parmley, the executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, has resigned.

REPORTER: He was accused of sexually harassing a male employee.

STEWART: Look on the bright side–no love child. But hey, that’s old news anyway. Now all eyes are on the party’s chairman, David Parker, who didn’t fire Parmley when the allegations came to light. Why?

PARKER: When he talked with you, he is one of those people that will shake your hand and put his hand–his other hand on your shoulder. Nothing improper about that. It’s just who he is. There’s a leg touch. He reaches around behind, through, apparently bucket seats, whacked him on the leg to wake him up. It’s not sexual. I don’t know when this shoulder rubbing happened. Pretend punches. Some men like to pretend they’re going to whack you in a particularly painful place. There’s nothing sexual about that.

STEWART: Come on, everybody! What are you so upset about? Can’t a grown man punch another grown man in the dong while at work? What kind of dystopia do we live in here? When that logic failed, parker used a different tact.

REPORTER: Parker called Jay Parmley nothing more than a close talker.

STEWART: Wow. In fact, he stands so close to you when he speaks it’s nearly impossible for him not to touch your balls. By the way, a close talker? What is this, the Seinfeld defense?

The Wall Street Journal reports on the case:

Mr. Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee and a 2008 presidential contender, was indicted last June on six felony and misdemeanor counts, including making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Mr. Edwards is accused of violating campaign-finance laws during his 2008 presidential campaign by accepting more than $900,000 from two donors, in part to conceal an extramarital affair with his campaign videographer, Rielle Hunter, and her resulting pregnancy. Mr. Edwards, who has denied the charges, could face five years in prison and hefty fines, if convicted.

Opening statements are tentatively scheduled for April 23, if a jury has been selected. The trial is expected to take six weeks and include testimony from Ms. Hunter and from Andrew Young, a former aide whom Mr. Edwards initially named as the father of Ms. Hunter’s child. It’s not clear who else will testify; the court has not released a full list of witnesses. The affair and pregnancy were closely held secrets, so there are a relatively small number of people who can give first-hand accounts.

If convicted, Mr. Edwards will have had an unusually steep fall from grace. The case could also set a precedent in the way campaign-finance laws are enforced. The Justice Department’s corruption unit is using an aggressive interpretation of the laws to make the case against Mr. Edwards. Payments from political supporters to a third party may be improper but don’t typically lead to a criminal indictment against a candidate, legal experts say.

New York prosecutors knew about the episode, but refused to act on the testimony of the prostitute.

According to “On The Inside” sources, Edwards allegedly hooked up with one of ["Millionaire Madam" Anna] Gristina’s high-end hookers in 2007 when the dashing pol from North Carolina brought his then high-flying presidential campaign to the Big Apple.

The one-night fling allegedly took place at an Upper East Side hotel suite and was arranged by an aide with help from a New Yorker familiar with Gristina’s prostitution ring, sources said.

The prostitute claiming to have slept with Edwards provided a detailed, first-hand account of their encounter to investigators in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 2008 after they began probing Gristina’s operation, sources said.

Edwards has bigger legal problems to worry about. The federal government has charged him with using campaign donations to cover up for his love affair with Hunter.