Securities Law

Former Ropes & Gray Lawyer gets 30 Months for Insider Trading

Arthur Cutillo, a former Ropes & Gray patent lawyer who in January pled guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud, today was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison. He was one of two Ropes & Gray lawyers involved in the insider trading scandal, and he admitted to taking cash in…

Jun 30, 2011 9:04 PM CDT

Small Houston Firm Stands to Get $85M if BofA Settlement Is Approved

Corrected: If the proposed $8.5 billion New York state court settlement between Bank of America Corp. and mortgage bondholders is approved, the small Houston law firm representing the plaintiffs will receive $85 million, the Houston Chronicle reports. Kathy Patrick, a partner with Gibbs & Bruns, represents the 20 bondholders. The…

Jun 30, 2011 4:18 PM CDT

Bank of America Agrees to $8.5B Settlement, a Record for a Financial Services Firm

Updated: Bank of America has reached an agreement to pay $8.5 billion to settle claims by major investors who lost money on mortgage securities. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) had news of the deal before it was officially announced on Wednesday. The settlement covers…

Jun 29, 2011 11:17 AM CDT

JPMorgan Chase Pays $153M to Settle SEC Suit Claiming Investor Losses Benefited Hedge Fund

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle a civil fraud suit by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the sale of mortgage securities that would benefit a hedge fund if investors lost money. The suit claims JPMorgan’s investment bank failed to disclose to investors that a hedge…

Jun 22, 2011 12:03 PM CDT

Thousands Who Lost Money on CDs from Stanford’s Offshore Bank Are Likely to Be Repaid by SIPC

Investors who purchased worthless certificates of deposit from a brokerage unit of alleged Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford’s offshore bank are likely to have at least some of their losses covered by the Securities Investor Protection Corp. Although the SIPC earlier denied such claims, contending that the CDs are still…

Jun 15, 2011 9:58 PM CDT

Milbank Corporate & Securities Leader Takes Team to Dewey, Where He Will Head Latin America Practice

The head of the Latin America practice group at Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy is taking a team of lawyers to Dewey & LeBoeuf, where he will serve in a similar leadership role. Michael Fitzgerald, who also chaired the global securities and global corporate groups at his now-former firm, is…

Jun 14, 2011 7:32 PM CDT

Disbarred Ex-BigLaw Associate Wins Pro Se Appeal of $600K Fine in Insider-Trading Case

After pleading guilty in 2007 to an insider-trading conspiracy, a former associate at Thacher Proffitt & Wood lost a parallel civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on summary judgment. However, Amir Rosenthal apparently spent at least some of his 33-month sentence to good purpose in the…

Jun 13, 2011 8:07 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Took Plea Delivers on Stand, Helps Convict Goffer, 2 Others in Insider-Trading Case

An attorney who admittedly participated in an insider-trading scheme by providing confidential information about clients of a well-known law firm to a former trader with the Galleon Group hedge fund has helped convict Zvi Goffer and two other individuals in a securities-fraud conspiracy case. A federal jury in Manhattan today…

Jun 13, 2011 6:00 PM CDT

Supreme Court Considers the Word ‘Make,’ Shields Mutual Fund Company from Suit

The U.S. Supreme Court has held in a 5-4 decision that a mutual fund advisory company can’t be held liable in an investor suit for false statements in prospectuses prepared by its client funds. SCOTUSblog calls the decision shielding Janus Capital Management from liability “an important limitation on the scope…

Jun 13, 2011 3:33 PM CDT

Former Brobeck Chairman Tower Snow Joins Cooley as Securities Litigation Partner

A lawyer known for his stint at the helm of a high-flying San Francisco law firm that subsequently went bankrupt and his leadership role in an unsuccessful effort to establish a West Coast presence for London-based Clifford Chance is now joining Cooley as a partner. Once the chairman of Brobeck…

Jun 9, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

PI Lawyer Settles Charges He Traded on Deal Info Gleaned from Unwitting BigLaw Daughter

A San Diego-area personal injury lawyer has settled charges that he traded on deal information he misappropriated from his unwitting daughter, an associate at a large law firm. Dean Goetz allegedly learned about the pending $1.36 billion acquisition of Advanced Medical Optics while his daughter was working on the transaction…

Jun 8, 2011 12:04 PM CDT

SEC Enforcement Chief Hits Defense Lawyer Toe-Tapping, Scapegoating in Internal Probes

White-collar defense lawyers beware: The enforcement chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission is aware of your tactics. Speaking last week to the criminal law group of the UJA-Federation of New York, Robert Khuzami said he’s sure that no audience members are engaging in conduct that frustrates his agency’s investigations.…

Jun 8, 2011 11:37 AM CDT

Insider Trading Defendant Dresses in Banana Republic Pantsuits, Contravening Expert Advice

How do you dress an insider trading defendant for trial who is said to prefer the Cheesecake Factory to a clothing boutique? The answer, according to Reuters, is in two dark-colored pantsuits from the Banana Republic. Winifred Jiau is accused of passing along insider trading tips while working at Primary…

Jun 7, 2011 3:36 PM CDT

Supreme Court Rules for Shareholders Seeking Class Action Status Against Halliburton

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that shareholders suing a company for securities fraud don’t have to prove the defendant’s deceptive conduct caused their losses before obtaining certification of their class action. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the unanimous opinion (PDF) in a shareholder suit against the Halliburton…

Jun 6, 2011 2:54 PM CDT

NYT Learns of Goldman Trader’s Legal Defense from Discarded Laptop

The New York Times has learned about the legal defenses for a Goldman Sachs trader from a discarded laptop discovered in a garbage area of a New York apartment building. An artist and filmmaker gave legal materials from the laptop to the newspaper, saying a friend had discovered the computer…

Jun 1, 2011 5:44 PM CDT