The Dewey & LeBoeuf Mess

Who knows what happened at the once 1,300-lawyer firm? Well, post-2008, the law firm was not doing as well as it would have liked. Revenue was not what it needed to be, particularly if the firm was to meet the revenue requirements under its loan covenants. So, the powers that were at the firm found a young collections employee to allegedly participate in a multiyear scheme to cook the books. The firm collapsed anyway. Three Dewey partners and the young man, who was not a lawyer at the time, were charged with multiple felony counts, some of which included grand larceny.

The three partners, after an arduous trial, had a jury deadlock. That left the young man standing alone to face his trial. He will not be going to trial because he entered into a deferred prosecution agreement this week — 350 hours of community service. The chairman/partner of the collapsed firm also has a five-year deferred prosecution agreement, but he cannot practice law during that time. The other two partners have rejected plea deals that would have required a guilty plea to at least one felony charge and jail time for one of them. Back to a jury trial for them.

The Barometer suspects that the young man may have offered some insights for the prosecutors on the new trial. He escapes all charges if he stays out of trouble for one year. The Barometer knows that there will be no trouble from this young man during his one year. His head was turned by powerful law partners who persuaded him to do some things that were just plain wrong. The jury is still out, as it were, on whether they were criminal. This young man, who did not have an accounting course to his name, should not have been dabbling in revenue adjustments. Regardless of what the law partners did or did not do, one thing is certain. They should be ashamed of roping him into the revenue inflation plans. The Barometer wishes this young man well following a big mistake that cost him headlines and a headline-filled postponement for his legal career.

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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