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April 30th, 2009UncategorizedMore than a dozen new DOJ lawyers come from private firms representing Guantanamo Bay detainees, creating potential conflicts of interest as the agency begins its review of about 245 detainees. Conflict-of-interest issues are common in new administrations, but Guantanamo poses a singular challenge due to the sheer scope of legal work. About 150 separate law firms, federal public defender offices, law school clinics and nongovernmental organizations have been involved in detainee litigation. -
April 29th, 2009UncategorizedWith a six-month severance package capped at $100,000, Latham & Watkins signaled Friday it means to continue to lead the pack, even when delivering bad news. The offer to 190 associates and 250 staffers is generous by industry standards and could help Latham recruit talent when the economy improves. But some worry that the size of the layoff could hamper Latham's workforce for years. "It's a very dismal statement of their view of the economy and the likelihood of a turnaround in the short term," says one recruiter.
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April 28th, 2009Uncategorized
The interim U.S. attorney in Alaska will return to his former post in Pittsburgh.
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April 27th, 2009UncategorizedANAHEIM, Calif. -- A Muslim advocacy organization said Friday that American Muslims are feeling "anger, disillusionment and mistrust" toward the FBI in the aftermath of reports that it used an informant to infiltrate Southland mosques.
"The American Muslim community has never wavered from its commitment to keeping America safe, nor has it hesitated from cooperating with various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, in ensuring the security of all U.S. citizens," the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement.
But, it said, reports that informants have been paid "to monitor and provoke law-abiding Muslims in houses of worship" and the recruitment by the FBI of Muslims "to become informants" have left American Muslims with "deeply troubling concerns."
One of them is that "these coercive and intimidating methods highlight the fact that the FBI continues to view the entire American Muslim community as suspect and treat it as such," the statement said.
"Infiltrating mainstream mosques the way FBI informants infiltrate white supremacist groups illustrates the FBI's perception of American Muslims as a community that must be constantly monitored, instead of being treated as an equal partner in fighting crime and terrorism," according to the statement.
An Irvine man who claims he worked as an FBI informant to infiltrate mosques and gather information about a man now accused of lying about ties to al-Qaida said this week that he spent four to five hours a day with the suspect, and he now fears his life may be in danger from extremist groups.
Craig Monteilh, 46, says he recorded Ahmadullah Sais Niazi discussing jihad, weapons and plans to blow up abandoned buildings.
Monteilh filed court documents Wednesday saying he served as a confidential informant for the FBI from July 2006 to October 2007 to identify and thwart terrorist operations in the Orange County Islamic community.
The CAIR statement said Monteilh's story coupled with an FBI agent's court testimony this week in Niazi's trial regarding the use of an informant "to infiltrate" Southland mosques "have re-ignited feelings of anger, disillusionment and mistrust among American Muslims toward the FBI."
"...The FBI's counter-productive actions damage the trust between Muslims and law enforcement and trample our constitutionally mandated civil liberties," it said. -
April 26th, 2009Uncategorized
The first criminal charges have come down in the investigation of Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford, though they weren’t against the cricket-loving financier. Rather, charges were filed Thursday against Laura Pendergest-Holt (pictured), Stanford Financial Group’s top investment executive. An FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Dallas alleges that she misled SEC investigators who took her testimony in the probe of alleged fraud at Stanford International Bank. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the NYT story.
Pendergest-Holt was named in the SEC civil complaint filed earlier this month which also named Stanford and James M. Davis, chief financial officer of Stanford International Bank. The SEC alleges that the bank defrauded investors and account holders of an estimated $8 billion in deposits.
Pendergest-Holt’s lawyer, Jeff Tillotson, said she committed no crime. “We’re disappointed in the actions of the government and the SEC,” he said.
Call us crazy, but we’d suspect that the feds will try to flip Pendergest-Holt and use her testimony to bring down others. Indeed, we’d even hazard to guess that this prospect motivated the feds to bring such charges.
The outline of the alleged crime, according to the affidavit: Pendergest-Holt met with Stanford officials in Miami earlier this month to prepare for her testimony with SEC investigators. In SEC interviews later, the FBI affidavit says, Pendergest-Holt made “misrepresentations” about her knowledge of Stanford’s investment portfolio and about whether she met with other Stanford officials to prepare for her testimony.
Pendergest-Holt, of Tupelo, Miss., was arrested Thursday afternoon in Houston. Her lawyer said she was there seeking to cooperate with authorities. He said she will be arraigned Friday and will plead not guilty.
For more information about Pendergest-Holt, check out this story from the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
A bit strange, however, is the story’s several mentions of Pendergest-Holt’s looks. The story notes that while the Baldwyn, Miss., native, now 35, “had no financial services or securities industry experience” before joining SFG in 1997, “less than a decade later she was managing more than $15 billion in assets and running a worldwide team of equity, policy and sector anaylsts.”
According to the story, Pendergest-Holt had a “killer combination of beauty, brains and connections,” was was “an expert number-cruncher” and “has been described as strikingly beautiful and statuesque.”
Finally, in the story, there’s this oddly worded quote, from “one commentator at Business Week’s online forum”: “Laura Pendergest may have had no financial experience, but she is also not unattractive.” (We placed a call to the Daily Journal, but have yet to hear back.)
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April 16th, 2009UncategorizedWhat should you do when confronted with possible disclosure of confidential metadata? Conversely, what should you do if you learn that confidential metadata has been disclosed? Browning Marean, a partner at DLA Piper, delves into recent e-discovery cases that may offer insight.
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April 15th, 2009UncategorizedThe U.S. Supreme Court Twitter site looks official enough. But any thoughts you might have had of Justice David Souter fast-forwarding himself into the BlackBerry Age will have to wait. A Supreme Court spokeswoman confirmed that the Twitter site is not connected to the high court.
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April 14th, 2009Uncategorized
It's left some farmers feeling bemused and more than a little frustrated. "It's such a non-commonsense idea that you can keep dust within a property line when the wind blows," said Sen.
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April 13th, 2009Uncategorized
Three and a half years after Hurricane Katrina, the National Guard is pulling the last of its troops out of New Orleans this weekend, leaving behind a city still desperate and dangerous.
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April 12th, 2009UncategorizedThe Securities and Exchange Commission's reinvigorated enforcement focus in the new presidential administration and under the leadership of new Chairwoman Mary Schapiro increases prosecution risks for public company directors. Schapiro has also instituted SEC policy changes to increase the commission's enforcement powers. Michael Dockterman, a litigation partner at Chicago's Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, discusses why boards need to boost compliance, even amid corporate budget cutbacks.