A recent highly publicized fraud case against longtime members of the New York legal profession will be the focus of a session at Annual Meeting next week.
“The People v. Dewey LeBoeuf: Prosecuting and Defending Individual Responsibility for Corporate Mismanagement,” a program hosted by the State Bar of Texas Antitrust and Business Litigation Section, will explore the five-month trial of three managing attorneys of New York law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, who were accused of using illegal accounting to mask the firm’s financial problems between 2008 and 2012 and convince banking institutions that the law firm remained healthy.
In 2012, Dewey & LeBoeuf filed for bankruptcy—the largest ever for a U.S. law firm.
Elkan Abramowitz, the New York attorney who successfully represented the lead defendant and former managing partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf, will offer insight into the defense side of a corporate mismanagement case, while Paul E. Coggins, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas and a partner in Locke Lord in Dallas, will provide the prosecution’s perspective.
Royal Ferguson Jr., dean of UNT Dallas College of Law and a former U.S. district judge, will join the panel, with Dallas Baker Botts partner Rod Phelan moderating.
The 9:30-11 a.m. session—which provides one CLE ethics hour—is June 16 in the Fort Worth Convention Center, Room 102.