Former BigLaw partner is indicted for alleged insider trading
Updated: A former partner at Hunton & Williams has been indicted along with an investment adviser for alleged insider trading.
The lawyer, 58-year-old Robert Schulman, was a patent lawyer at Hunton & Williams at the time of the alleged wrongdoing in 2010, Reuters reports. He was indicted along with Tibor Klein of Klein Financial Services in an indictment unsealed on Wednesday, according to a press release. They were charged with securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy.
Prosecutors say Schulman learned about a pending merger between King Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer as a result of his representation of King in patent litigation. According to prosecutors, Schulman gave the information to Klein, his investment adviser, who purchased King stock for himself, Schulman and other clients.
Schulman most recently worked at Arent Fox, according to the Reuters article.
A lawsuit filed in 2013 by the Securities and Exchange Commission said Schulman had given the information to Klein in August 2010 when Klein visited his home to review Schulman’s portfolio and socialize. “Schulman drank several glasses of wine,” the SEC suit alleged, “and became intoxicated. He blurted out to Klein, ‘It would be nice to be King for a day.’ Schulman intended to imply he was a ‘big shot’ who knew ‘some kind of information’ about King Pharmaceuticals.”
The SEC suit did not name Schulman as a defendant.
Klein’s lawyer told Reuters that his client “intends to vigorously defend these charges at trial.” Schulman denied wrongdoing, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports. “I will fight this and I will win,” he said in an email to the publication. “I did not divulge the information alleged by the indictment, nor did I have any knowledge of the 15k trade made by my broker in my retirement account.”
Hunton & Williams issued this statement: “Hunton & Williams is committed to meeting and exceeding the highest ethical and legal standards, and any behavior to the contrary is not tolerated by the firm. We have been cooperating fully with the investigation.”
Updated at 1:45 p.m. to include statement from Hunton & Williams. Updated on Aug. 11 to include statement by Schulman.
