Ann Woolner

February 25, 2010 | Daily Report Online

U.S. District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff really, really, really wanted to toss out a $150 million settlement between Bank of America Corp. and federal regulators this week. He called the agreement "half-baked justice," "inadequate and misguided" even as he approved it, fingers firmly grasping his nose.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

December 19, 2005 | Daily Report Online

by Ann Woolner In the accounts of all the corporate scandals of the last four years, one executive's name has been most bandied about as the biggest, baddest boogeyman of them all. He is Kenneth Lay, Enron Corp.'s former chief executive officer. If his last name weren't already a verb, surely it would have long ago entered the popular lexicon to become to corporate corruption what Google is to Internet searching.

By Ann Woolner

4 minute read

January 04, 2002 | Daily Report Online

Ann Woolner Attorney General John Ashcroft has complained that his critics had thrown about so much misinformation on his department's anti-terrorism efforts that they've given new meaning to the term "the fog of war.'' He accused his critics of fear-mongering, even aiding the enemy. A mean charge, indeed.

By Ann Woolner

4 minute read

May 06, 2004 | Daily Report Online

Ann WoolnerVice President Richard B. "Dick" Cheney would be having an easier time in court right now if it hadn't been for those pesky people who kept suing the Clinton White House. Ordered to cough up information about the private citizens who advised his task force that wrote White House energy policy, Cheney has to show why his case is different from the ones that didn't go so well for William J.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

December 01, 2009 | Daily Report Online

Google Inc.'s top lawyer, David Drummond, appealed to a London audience in October to help fight censorship of the World Wide Web. He mentioned China, Turkey and Thailand as some of the worst offenders of free Internet speech. Yet Italy is where prosecutors want Drummond to serve a yearlong prison term because of a 2006 video posting on Google.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

May 28, 2010 | Daily Report Online

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

November 05, 2008 | Daily Report Online

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says that however serious the mortgage-fraud crisis, it essentially amounts to a series of "white-collar street crimes.''So, no, he wouldn't be setting up a special federal task force to coordinate criminal prosecutions related to the crisis, he told reporters in June."It is a problem that arises in particular markets,'' Mukasey said.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

January 25, 2006 | Daily Report Online

by Ann WoolnerUnable to stir up sufficient outrage over the nominee, Senate Democrats have all but conceded Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s inexorable ascension to the U.S. Supreme Court.The realization settled in this week, even as events unfolded in three separate courthouses to remind us why Alito's future matters so much and in so many ways.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

February 19, 2002 | Daily Report Online

Ann WoolnerWatching senators excoriate the silent Kenneth Lay might lead one to conclude that the primary purpose of congressional hearings is the re-election of the interrogators.For the 90 minutes that the senators lambasted the founder of Enron Corp. on Tuesday, no facts were found or truths discovered.For the senators, bringing Lay in was no waste of time, even though they knew he wouldn't testify.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

June 27, 2007 | Daily Report Online

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE says product demand is high when it's low. He says a new product is ready for delivery when it's not. His financial reports and future guidance turn out to be far rosier than reality. When the truth comes out, the share price drops from a high of $67 to a low of $16, and shareholders sue.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read