Securities Law

Bank of America to Waive Attorney-Client Privilege in Merrill Acquisition

Bank of America has agreed to reveal legal advice it obtained in its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, a move likely to put the spotlight on its outside law firm in the deal, Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz. Bank of America’s board voted to waive its attorney-client privilege on Friday, according…

Oct 13, 2009 11:37 AM CDT

Stanford’s D&O Coverage Can Pay for Private Counsel in $7B Case, Judge Rules

it looks like Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford may soon have a private lawyer again. After his assets were frozen, he couldn’t afford to pay legal counsel and had to get a public defender. But today U.S. District Judge David Godbey, who sits in Dallas, said he and other executives…

Oct 9, 2009 10:26 PM CDT

Milberg Makes List of Hot Plaintiffs Firms

The embattled securities law firm Milberg has made it on a legal publication’s list of hot plaintiffs law firms. The Milberg law firm had been charged with participating in a scheme to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs, but the charges were dropped last year when the law firm agreed to…

Oct 6, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Trustee Sues Madoff Kin for $199M, Says ‘Family Piggy Bank’ Broke Fiduciary Duty

Four relatives of Bernard Madoff employed at an investment firm they treated as a “family piggy bank” should have to return nearly $199 million handed to them during the years they worked in high-level positions there, a New York bankruptcy court filing today by Irving Picard contends. Athough no one…

Oct 3, 2009 12:24 AM CDT

Broadcom CFO’s Talks With Law Firm re Backdating Probe Weren’t Privileged

A former chief financial officer of Broadcom Corp. says he expected his 2006 conversations with Irell & Manella about stock options grants to be confidential, because the law firm was representing his employer as outside counsel in an internal probe. And a federal district court judge found that Irell &…

Sep 30, 2009 10:32 PM CDT

Ex-Paul Hastings Associate to Serve Time in Halfway House for Insider Trading

A former Paul Hastings associate who pleaded guilty to securities fraud and conspiracy in a $4.8 million insider trading scheme won’t have to go to jail. Instead, former tax associate Eric Holzer will have to spend nine months in a halfway house, time that can be served on weekends, the…

Sep 30, 2009 12:26 PM CDT

Big Law Firms Face Legal Malpractice Suits Over Unraveling Ponzi Schemes

Securities work is one of the riskiest areas of law, as some large law firms are learning. Among the firms hit with legal malpractice suits brought by victims of alleged Ponzi schemes or court-appointed receivers are Holland & Knight, sued over alleged wrongdoing by disbarred lawyer Arthur Nadel, and Proskauer…

Sep 29, 2009 12:33 PM CDT

Trustee to Sue Madoff Kin for $150M, Says ‘60 Minutes’ in Upcoming Interview

A court-appointed trustee in charge of recovering assets for those victimized by Bernard Madoff’s record-breaking $65-billion Ponzi scheme reportedly plans to sue the convicted swindler’s two sons, Andrew and Mark, brother, Peter, and niece, Shana. In a 60 MInutes segment scheduled to broadcast on Sunday evening, trustee Irving Picard and…

Sep 26, 2009 12:12 AM CDT

Stanford’s Wife Sues Divorce Lawyer, Claims $200M Offer Not Disclosed

The estranged wife of indicted billionaire R. Allen Stanford has filed a lawsuit alleging her former divorce lawyer didn’t tell her about a $200 million settlement offer last year. Susan Stanford wants her former lawyer, Nancy Rommelmann, to pay $200 million in damages for not telling her of the verbal…

Sep 25, 2009 4:55 PM CDT

SEC Seeks ‘Clawback’ Against Investors in Money Market Fund

Last year, the Reserve Primary Fund made headlines when the money-market fund “broke the buck” on Sept. 16, 2008, after suffering losses on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. debt. Now it is in the news again as a federal judge in New York mulls a plan by the U.S. Securities and…

Sep 23, 2009 6:34 PM CDT

BofA Misses Deadline to Turn Over Merger Documents, as SEC Broadens Probe

The Securities and Exchange Commission is broadening its investigation of Bank of America’s disclosures to shareholders, and the probe could include information revealed after a waiver of attorney-client privilege. The SEC released a statement Monday pledging a vigorous investigation, the Washington Post reports. The development follows a judge’s refusal to…

Sep 22, 2009 2:17 PM CDT

Bank Legal Dept. Might Have Known of Spy Scheme Against Retired Lawyer

Although Deutsche Bank AG officials say otherwise, an internal report by a U.S.-based law firm suggests that the leader of the German bank and its legal department may have known of a controversial corporate spying scheme, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). In one of the most controversial aspects…

Sep 21, 2009 11:20 PM CDT

US Rep. to BofA: Turn Over Lawyers’ Merrill Merger Advice by Noon Monday

The chairman of a House committee has told Bank of America the attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply when dealing with Congress, and the bank must disclose lawyers’ advice on its merger with Merrill Lynch by noon Monday. U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government…

Sep 21, 2009 12:01 PM CDT

Ex-GC’s Suit Claims Howrey, Wilson Sonsini Aided Scapegoat Effort

McAfee’s former general counsel alleges the company tried to use him as a scapegoat in a backdating probe with the help of two outside law firms, according to new details of a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The suit filed by Kent Roberts, acquitted last year in a criminal backdating case, claims…

Sep 18, 2009 2:43 PM CDT

As New Panel Probes Financial Crisis, Why Is Perp Walk Seldom Seen?

As the chairman of a new congressional committee today promised a no-holds-barred investigation into the causes of last year’s sudden financial crisis, some observers are saying it’s about time. Despite announcements of amped-up investigations of the widespread mortgage fraud and dubious investment products that are blamed for precipitating a global…

Sep 17, 2009 8:35 PM CDT