More Firms Snag Defense Roles in College Admissions Cases
Orrick, White & Case and Skadden are among several firms that have made appearances in the last week. Some firms are doubling or even tripling up on clients.
March 27, 2019 at 05:56 PM
4 minute read
The college admissions corruption takedown that resulted in criminal charges against dozens of coaches, consultants and high-powered parents has also resulted in lots of business for Big Law.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; White & Case; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Covington & Burling; Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo; and Goodwin Procter have all made appearances in the last week.
With about two weeks having passed since the Justice Department announced racketeering and fraud conspiracy charges against 50 people who are alleged to have corrupted the college admissions process, nearly all the defendants have lawyered up, including with large law firms, midsize firms and solo attorneys. Lawyers from across the U.S. are poised to descend on Boston to negotiate with prosecutors and fight the charges.
In all, more than 15 Am Law 100 firms appear in court records as counsel for defendants in the college admissions cases.
Skadden is listed as counsel for Marci Palatella, a liquor businesswoman, while Covington represents Marcia Abbott. Abbott's husband Greg, who runs a food and beverage packaging company, is represented by Mayer Brown.
Lawyers from White & Case have appeared on the docket on behalf of John Wilson, the CEO of a private equity and real estate development firm, according to court documents. Meanwhile, a trio from Orrick is representing Manuel Henriquez, the CEO of a finance firm.
Mintz has appeared on behalf of Elisabeth Kimmel, described in court documents as the owner of a media company, while two lawyers from Goodwin have entered appearances in the past week for Jane Buckingham, who runs a boutique marketing firm.
For its part, Ropes & Gray appears three times, including as co-counsel for suspended Willkie Farr & Gallagher co-chairman Gordon Caplan, who is accused of paying $75,000 to improve his daughter's score on the ACT exam. (Ropes also represents Elizabeth Henriquez, spouse of the finance firm CEO.)
Latham & Watkins represents both Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli, the TV actress and her fashion designer husband accused of paying $500,000 to secure their daughters' admissions to the University of Southern California by dressing them up as champion rowers. Loughlin is scheduled to make her initial appearance at the same time as Caplan next week.
Loughlin and Giannulli appear to be one of three married couples who are being represented by the same lawyers, while other couples have hired separate lawyers.
It can be risky for a firm to represent multiple criminal defendants in the same matter, according to John Lauro, a former federal prosecutor who now runs his own defense firm, the Lauro Law Firm, in New York and Tampa. While the clients would have to waive any potential conflicts, there is a chance that the government could raise objections, he noted.
“Even in situations where it would appear that there's an alignment, like between a husband and a wife, even in those situations it can get very dicey,” he said. A lawyer may be pulled in two different strategic directions if the evidence against one client is stronger than the evidence against another, Lauro added.
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan appears twice on the docket, with its partner William Weinreb, formerly the acting U.S. attorney in Boston, representing Robert Flaxman, a developer, and two other Quinn attorneys representing Bruce Isackson, another real estate businessman. Boies Schiller Flexner also appears twice, representing Davina Isackson and investment firm CEO Robert Zangrillo.
Other firms representing two defendants include Duane Morris, Nixon Peabody, Miner Orkand Siddall, Donnelly Conroy & Gelhaar and attorney Martin G. Weinberg.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllDechert Partners With Wharton School for Associate-Level Business Training Program
Law Firms Are Turning to Online Training Platforms as Apprenticeship Model Falters
K&L Gates Partners With AltaClaro to Offer Gen AI Supervisory Course for Firm Partners and Managers
6 minute readNorton Rose Fulbright's New Houston Office Features Views of Urban Park
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Mental Health Issues Don’t Get a Holiday
- 2'It's Got to Be a Wake-Up Call:' Atlanta Attorney Hopes $16M Verdict Spurs Training Changes at Hotels
- 3FTC Bans 'Junk Fees' in Live-Event Tickets and Short-Term Lodging
- 4California Legal Awards Moving to Mid-Summer Date in 2025, Adds New Categories
- 5Law Student Sues NY Attorney Grievance Officials, Seeking Materials Over Sexual Assault Claims
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250