Securities Law

Dewey’s former CFO is convicted for misleading lenders; former executive director is acquitted

Updated: Jurors in Manhattan on Monday found former Dewey & LeBoeuf chief financial officer Joel Sanders guilty in an alleged scheme to mislead lenders and bond buyers about the firm’s finances before its collapse. Sanders was found guilty of securities fraud, a scheme to defraud and conspiracy, report Law360 (sub.…

May 8, 2017 3:43 PM CDT

Nelson Mullins partner settles SEC suit claiming he helped pay-to-play scheme

Updated: A partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has agreed to pay $95,000 to settle a suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission that claimed he acted as a conduit for improper campaign donations. The lawyer, Robert Crowe, settled the case without admitting any wrongdoing, the Am Law Daily…

May 4, 2017 3:48 PM CDT

Dewey leaders won’t testify in retrial for alleged scheme to mislead law firm lenders

Two former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf won’t testify in their retrial for allegedly misleading lenders and auditors about the law firm’s finances before its collapse. Lawyers for former chief financial officer Joel Sanders and former executive director Stephen DiCarmine indicated on Monday that they won’t be calling any witnesses,…

Apr 25, 2017 11:05 AM CDT

Former BigLaw partner says he felt like a pawn in securities fraud case after judge tosses claims

A former BigLaw partner says the Securities and Exchange Commission went beyond overzealous enforcement when it filed a civil suit against him that was tossed on Monday by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel in his opinion (PDF) dismissed civil securities fraud and aiding and abetting claims…

Mar 29, 2017 2:31 PM CDT

Former BigLaw partner is convicted of insider trading

A partner at Arent Fox has been convicted of insider trading for tipping his investment adviser about a pending pharmaceutical merger when he was a lawyer at Hunton & Williams. Robert Schulman was convicted by a Brooklyn federal jury on Wednesday, report the New York Law Journal (sub. req.) and…

Mar 16, 2017 2:37 PM CDT

Law firm reveals contract lawyer was actually disbarred; he had billed 6,900 hours in Sprint suit

A Pennsylvania law firm has suffered a second blow in a shareholder suit after a Kansas judge slashed its fee request from $4.25 million to $450,000. The Weiser Law Firm revealed in a February letter to the judge that it had learned a contract lawyer responsible for more than a…

Mar 15, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Judge tosses SEC civil complaint against Texas attorney general; criminal case is pending

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has one less legal problem related to his recruitment of investors for a technology company. A federal judge in Texas on Thursday dismissed a civil securities fraud complaint filed against Paxton by the Securities and Exchange Commission, report the Austin American-Statesman, Courthouse News Service and…

Mar 2, 2017 4:37 PM CST

Former SEC chair Mary Jo White returns to Debevoise & Plimpton

Former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Jo White has returned to Debevoise & Plimpton. The firm announced in a Wednesday press release that White would assume the role of senior chair of the firm. White had previously served as litigation chair from 2002 to 2013, joining the…

Feb 15, 2017 3:15 PM CST

Charges are officially dropped against junior manager charged in Dewey case

Prosecutors on Friday dropped charges against a lawyer accused in a scheme to defraud law firm lenders when he worked as a client relations manager at Dewey & LeBoeuf. Charges were dropped against Zachary Warren after he complied with the terms of a deferred prosecution agreement, report the New York…

Jan 17, 2017 8:00 AM CST

Federal judge chops $10M from fee request, criticizes billing rates for temporary associates

A federal judge in Manhattan has approved a $335 million settlement in an investor lawsuit against Bank of America, but he balked at one aspect of a request for $51.6 million in attorney fees. U.S. District Judge William Pauley questioned the billing rates for temporary associates hired by Barrack, Rodos…

Jan 5, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Trump nominates BigLaw banking lawyer to head SEC

Donald Trump has tapped Sullivan & Cromwell partner Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Clayton had represented Goldman Sachs in connection with its bailout during the financial crisis, report the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and Bloomberg News. He has also represented investment firms…

Jan 4, 2017 10:31 AM CST

SEC uses an unconstitutional method to hire in-house judges, federal appeals court rules

A federal appeals court created a circuit split last week when it ruled the five administrative law judges hired by the Securities and Exchange Commission are appointed in violation of the Constitution. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the in-house judges are “inferior officers” that are required…

Jan 3, 2017 12:03 PM CST

Alleged BigLaw hackers made $4M trading on stolen information, federal prosecutors say

Federal prosecutors have charged three Chinese citizens with insider trading and computer intrusion for allegedly hacking into the computers of two prominent law firms to obtain information about pending deals. In an indictment (PDF) unsealed last Tuesday, federal prosecutors say the three men made about $4 million trading on the…

Jan 3, 2017 10:49 AM CST

The tables turn as Democratic attorneys general prepare to challenge Trump policies

Taking a cue from their Republican counterparts, some Democratic state attorneys general are prepared to file lawsuits that challenge Donald Trump’s administration’s actions. An argument advanced by Republicans—that states must help block federal overreach—is now likely to be adopted by Democrats, the New York Times reports. “The strategy could be…

Dec 15, 2016 10:40 AM CST

Portland will tax companies that reward CEOs with disproportionately high pay

The city of Portland, Oregon, is addressing income inequality by taxing publicly traded companies in the city that pay their chief executives at least 100 times more than the median pay of their workers. The city council on Wednesday voted to require companies to pay an extra 10 percent in…

Dec 9, 2016 9:25 AM CST