The executives of defunct firm Dewey & LeBoeuf have been cleared of multiple criminal charges related to the largest collapse of a law firm in history.
A jury in Manhattan made the partial verdict on Wednesday (7 October) to acquit the three defendants on charges of falsifying business records.
However the decision means each defendant still faces substantial charges, including numerous counts of grand larceny and fraud.
The Supreme Court judge ordered jurors to proceed in their deliberations with an open mind and “a fresh slate”.
It followed news the jury could not reach a unanimous agreement on most of the charges earlier this week.
The decision comes four months after the start of the trial to rule whether former Dewey chair Steven Davis, former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former chief financial officer Joel Sanders committed criminal fraud and altered accounts in a bid to prevent the firm going into administration.
Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello lawyer Elkan Abramowitz is acting for Davis, Bryan Cave partner Austin Campriello for DiCarmine, and Hughes Hubbard and Reed securities litigation co- chair Edward Little for Joel Sanders.
A parallel trial in the UK of four ex-Dewey partners against Barclays Bank concluded in June, with three partners settling and one, Londell McMillan, ordered to repay a £352,000 capital loan to the bank following a High Court ruling.
Barclays launched the High Court litigation in order to recoup money from partners of the now defunct firm, which collapsed in May 2012. When Dewey folded, more than 200 partners owed Barclays Bank around $60m (£39m), which they had borrowed to fund their equity contributions to the firm and which had been lost in the firm’s bankruptcy.
Barclays is seeking over $15m from 50 former partners in repayment of capital loans granted to them before the collapse.
