How low can you get?  One of the lawyers at Dewey & LeBoeuf actually was stupid enough to get caught in securities fraud by insider trading with client secrets.  Sure, securities fraud is bad enough of a crime.  Violating the sanctity of the client relationship by using client secrets for profit is "officially" one of the worst things a lawyer can do.  (outside of complaining about client overbilling, sorry couldn't resist)

Maybe this instance of SEC Fraud using Client Secrets was really just another case of Too Bad You Got Caught.

D&L is making themselves pretty famous here on the pages of BankruptcyMisconduct and their future is so bright, we've got to wear nose plugs.  If Dewey LeBoeuf intentionally wants to take on partners with at best questionable ethics track record, maybe this activity wasn't such an aberration? 


Download Dewey_LeBoeuf_lawyer_uses_client_secrets_for_SEC_fraud.pdf for free.

How often do you see a BigLaw firm getting sued for contributing to the collapse of an insurance company?  Make that $3 Billion dollars.  Sued by some established and respected law firms whose filing is filled with a scorching characterization of Dewey LeBoeuf's modus operandus:

conflicts, negligence, and self dealing which permeated its representation

John M. Huff vs. Dewey & LeBoeuf et al. Missouri Circuit Court, Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, Cole County, Case No: 09AC-CC00278 filed on May 26 2009 by Armstrong Teasdale LLP of St. Louis and Shaffer Lombardo Shurin of Kansas City.

We don't even care how this particular lawsuit gets resolved.  Corruption, or even just the practical realities of advocacy, could force the Liquidator to accept a few dollars from Dewey's malpractice insurance company - when what the Nation really needs is a Federal Special Prosecutor to put the Neo-Mafia Bankruptcy Rings out of business.  

Fact is, the law firms signing this filing would have faced serious repercussions if the filing was based upon falsehoods. There is too much here for the judge hearing the case to ignore his obligation for criminal and ethical referral.

We believe that a special place in heaven exists for those who forgo the easy profits of complacency and collaboration which dissuade many lawyers from representing clients brave enough to battle corrupt law firms.  Kudos to the honorable officers of the court who "Show Us" that among some private practice lawyers: Duty Trumps Comfort.

Read about our prognosis for Dewey LeBoeuf here.   And hey, don't just take the opinion of BankruptcyMisconduct about these alleged Demon Swallowers when you can freely download Dewey_LeBoeuf-Accused_of_Conflict_of_Interest_Negligence_3Billion_Suit.pdf and read it for yourself.

Steven H. Davis, Chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP just announced in March of 2012 a "reduction" of 5% of lawyers and 6% of support staff.  But we'd be remiss if we failed to quote this little tidbit:

Dewey & LeBoeuf has, in the last couple of days, been the subject of press stories on U.S. legal blogs.

Hmmmm...
How about that.  The top dog could have just announced the "right sizing" - but no.  Mr. Davis willfully chose to bestow credibility upon an unnamed collection of internet sites dealing with the legal industry.  BankruptcyMisconduct is neither insulted nor unsurprised.  Shan't we revel in life's simple pleasures?
And interestingly, the press release also reveals:

Some recent partner departures have been consistent with the firm’s strategic planning for 2012, and we expect some additional partners to leave.

How do partner defections fit into "strategic planning"?  That could make sense if they really meant to say "terminations" instead of "departures".  Remember that whenever a firm operates in the zone of insolvency - the corporate doublespeak can flare up to aid the hope for plausible deniability, and such might be the case here.  But the point which really tweaks our bullshit meter is that they expect more partners to leave.  Really?  Why don't you just tell us who, or at least how many and when?  Do you expect any more rainmakers or department heads to leave?

Well, Dewey & LeBoeuf are a private company so they need not tell us the truth.  And we've got a feeling that their remaining employees, and the non-terminated partners 'expected' to abandon ship, don't expect it either.

Download the file Dewey_LeBoeuf-legal-blogs-rumors-confronted.pdf for free from BankruptcyMisconduct.com

Lawsuit filed in March of 2011 seeking Class Action status based upon allegations of willful and repeated violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act including failure to pay overtime.

Dumay vs. Robert Half International, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and John Does #1-10 case number 11CIV2207 before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

BankruptcyMisconduct has been unable to confirm the status of the lawsuit, if class action status was obtained, or whether John Doe #9 was equivalent to or affiliated with #9 f/d/b/a Eliot Spitzer.  (Sorry for that, but please keep your helpful hints coming.)  No matter what the current status, we think the allegations and factual circumstances described in the lawsuit are certainly germane to the Dewey & LeBoeuf discussion.

Read about our analysis and opinion of the financial troubles at Dewey LeBoeuf here, and on our (coming soon) page focusing on the law firm's own legal troubles.

You can download this lawsuit Dewey_LeBoeuf_v_Dumay-Labor_Violations_Class_Action_Complaint.pdf for free at BankruptcyMisconduct.com

BankruptcyMisconduct is not 100% sure how candid The Gang Of Four and the Chairman intended to be on this memo.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the following memo was sent to all employees at Dewey LeBoeuf.  We wonder if the phrase "nothing definitive" was intended to include things like "future paychecks", whether the office doors will be padlocked in a few days, and whether the firm intends to go lawsuit crazy on its own former partners.

    TO: Global Personnel

    You have undoubtedly read press reports speculating about the future of the firm, including one in the Wall Street Journal based upon anonymous stating that we have “discussed filing a prepackaged bankruptcy plan that would allow a merger partner to take on the firm free of its mounting debts and substantial unfunded pension obligations.” The fact is, like any good managers, we are considering various paths including continuing to operate as an independent global law firm and a strategic combination with another leading law firm, the latter of which could take many forms. Nothing, however, at this point, is definitive. As soon as something more definitive comes into focus, we will of course let you know. In the meantime, the best way to ensure the firm’s success is to continue to focus on doing great work for our clients.

    Office of the Chairman

    Charley, Jeff, Martin, Rich and Steve

 

We note for the record that Marty is being formal.

Dewey_LeBoeuf_NothingIsDefinitive.pdf

 

 Hey Gang,

Do we feel a new page coming on?  Yeah, Baby! 

As Dewey LeBoeuf seems to be revealing itself as having operated as a criminal enterprise, the moiety forming the cover up will likely be first to splash the Zeitgeist.   How ironic that a law firm would take part in developing a private placement memorandum which willfully and knowingly hid extremely important "guarantee" details.  We believe it is called "Fraud".  We also think that it will be very, very difficult for the underwriters to escape RICO consequences, unless they run to a DA and cut a deal. 

And now we see that J.P. Morgan is now also "in play" due to the collapse of Dewey LeBoeuf.  We can only wonder which parties will be more eager to rat on the other.

Assuming al arguendo that a prosecutor tees up Dewey LeBoeuf, let's put ourselves in her shoes for a moment.  First, she may be a little upset at having had her precious little derriere backed down into a corner.  Right?  I mean what prosecutor would break the first rule from the Planet Of The Apes and actually bring charges against another ape?  Well take a step back.  Which of you believed any of the predictions of BankruptcyMisconduct concerning Dewey LeBoeuf, like our prescient point about brother attorneys in the firm ratting out their own former management?  OK, you should be ready to have an open mind now.

So let's wonder what madam prosecutor will ask J.P. Morgan.  "Who provided information for, wrote, and read the prospectus?"  is a good opening.  What possible contortion of truth will these lawyers construct?  The easiest out for them will be to indicate that they fully informed J.P. Morgan and J.P. Morgan were the professionals who wrote the prospectus which even Blago would remark was fraudulent. 

And thus, J.P. Morgan is in play.  What will J.P.Morgan claim?  "We asked them if there were any problems or hidden stuff under the rug and they said there is was none", or something like that.  It doesn't really matter, because at least one party was a crook, and perhaps they both conspired.

The funny thing is that these lawyers just don't get it.  They are soooo used to lying under oath in their affidavits of disinterestedness, and getting away with when caught, that they just couldn't conceive of getting jail time for lying in a private placement memorandum.

Remember what BankruptcyMisconduct said about the Culpability Gradient, and what we've always said about getting your deal first.  Oh, this story about the firm which believed that Bruce Bennett's bankruptcy bamboozlers would fit right in...

 Come download Dewey_LeBoeuf_Private_Placement_Memorandum.pdf for free!

Thank you readers of BankruptcyMisconduct for your warm wishes, we apologize for our time away. Here is a treat for you, our way of saying thanks.

This document Dewey_LeBoeuf_Bunsow_Complaint.pdf is the actual lawsuit by the well known litigator Henry Bunsow against specifically named former managing partners of the bankrupt law firm Dewey LeBoeuf. The Defendants include Steven H. Davis, Jeffrey L. Kessler, Joel I. Sanders, Stephen DiCarmine, James R. Woods, and up to 200 unnamed persons.

From our reading, the clear allegations of fraud and such crime is enough to trigger all sorts of criminal and ethical referrals. Wethinks there will be many third parties for BankruptcyMisconduct to track as to their own obligations under the ABA model code rule Maintaining The Integrity Of The Profession Rule 8.3 Reporting Professional Misconduct. How will all of the lawyers witnessing this airing of embarrassing laundry explain their own failures to report the misconduct?

Oh, did we just telegraph something?

Yet another respectable lawyer from a top firm, each in turn represented by highly regarded law firms, are swearing facts showing that Dewey LeBoeuf et al. engaged in a series of intentional frauds.  BankruptcyMisconduct perceives that these frauds were committed by both mail and wire.  Hmmm... Ain't them predicates to RICO?

Citibank has some employees who were specifically named, including Rohit Malhotra and a certain Maggie.

Well, you's two's best gets youself's some criminal counsel and look into cutting a deal.  Because we all know that your boss and the Citibank CEO ain't gonna take one for the team. 

Get a lawyer, and have him start working on a deal now.

And as we've been saying on our Dewey Le'Perp page, the best white collar defense law firms in the NYC area are getting conflicted out right quick.

 

"If you like your settlement, you can keep your settlement"
                                                                  - B. Obama

“ADEQUATE INFORMATION” WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 1125(a) OF THE BANKRUPTCY CODE.  Quite the phrase, indeed.  We love to cut and paste:

Federal courts have long possessed an inherent authority to vacate judgments obtained through fraud upon the court. See Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 44, 111 S.Ct. 2123, 2132 (1991) ("the inherent power [to punish for contempts] also allows a federal court to vacate its own judgment upon proof that a fraud has been perpetrated upon the court"), citing Hazel-Atlas Glass Company v. Hartford Empire Company, 322 U.S. 238, 245, 64 S.Ct. 997, 1001 (1944)

Sure, the regular for profit media reported on the downfall of Dewey LeBoeuf.  After it clearly started and once they could no longer deny it.

It was only BankruptcyMisconduct that opined on the blantant criminal aspects of the firm, that the firm was operating as an organized criminal enterprise complete with mail & wire fraud.  (Um, that be some RICO predicates, beeeeyatches!)

Quod Erat Demonstrandum

Enough applause and accolades, please.  Settle down and put on your mouse ears so that you may receive the rest of the story.   Or, let's say a little bit more.

The beginning of the punitve phase of the Dewey LeBoeuf Denouement started with criminal charges against some of their managements core.  Read our spin on that opening act here.  Of course, we have a similar comment page devoted to the SEC complaint against a number of the same usual suspects COMING SOON, which interestingly enough includes a few new names.  Stay updated with all the names, and their quickly conflicting out white collar criminal defense firms on our Dewey LePerp page here.

After quite a long silence, we are warming up for another run marveling at Bennett's Disasterous Wake of professional entanglementation.  To be sure, we've only just begun.

Download Dewey_LeBoeuf_SEC_complaint-pr2014-45.pdf for free from BankruptcyMisconduct