Dewey Closing Arguments: The trial of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s is in its final, closing statement days. After weeks of hearing the prosecution’s case and a parade of witnesses, the defense called no one to testify. Julie Triedman for AmLawDaily highlights this closing argument from Bryan Cave defense attorney Austin Campriello for his client Stephen DiCarmine: “What you can give him back, based on the evidence and lack of evidence,” Campriello told jurors, is “his life, by finding him not guilty of each and every crime in this indictment.” The New York Times notes that the strategy of the defense thus far has been “to point out to the jurors that most of the employees who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify never thought they were doing anything wrong when they made year-end adjustments to the firm’s financial books.” Another closing statement for co-defendant Joel Sanders is scheduled for today, followed by the prosecution’s closing arguments.
Seeking Compensation: Lambda Legal and Faegre Baker Daniels, which represented gay couple challenging North Dakota’s ban on same-sex marriage, have asked for $124,000 from the court to reimburse their 380 billable hours of work on the case. Some attorneys involved in the case settled with the state for less, at $58,000, according to the Associated Press, but the quarter-million-dollar amount is more than what gay rights attorneys have asked for in Wisconsin and Idaho.
Turnover at the Top: Arnold & Porter announced a new chairman, Richard Alexander, who is currently the firm managing partner. The change has been planned for more than a year, and current chairman Thomas Milch will stay at the firm after the Jan. 1 transition. James Sandman, a former Arnold & Porter managing partner and president of the Legal Services Corporation, called Alexander “a mensch and he bleeds Arnold & Porter.”
