News Corp. independent directors hire law firm

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News Corp.’s independent directors this week retained the New York law firm Debevoise & Plimpton in an apparent defensive move amid the phone hacking scandal that continues to roil Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

The development comes on the heels of a statement late Monday from independent director Tom Perkins, saying that the board is ‘fully supportive’ of Murdoch and his top management. The well-known venture capitalist did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Two of the firm’s partners have been assigned to represent the independent directors, Mary Jo White, a former United States attorney who works in the firm’s corporate governance group, and Judge Michael Mukasey, the former U.S. attorney general best known for appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the firings of eight U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski