Summary: The defense attorneys have not had much evidence to support their clients, Dewey and LeBoeuf executives during the four month trial.
The trial for the three Dewey and LeBoeuf executives charged with defrauding lenders and investors before the law firm went bankrupt is drawing to a close. For four months, the jury has been hearing from previous employees of the firm and been shown evidence like emails to prove their knowledge and involvement in the plan.
Assistant District Attorney Peirce Moser is calling for the jury to convict the three men, stating that they ordered the fraud even though they may not have personally carried it out. Each man faces dozens of counts, some of which are conspiracy, falsifying records, and grand larceny. The grand larceny charge, the most serious of all the charges, carries a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
Prosecutors in the case have presented evidence showing how the three men schemed to manipulate the financial records of the firm in order to avoid detection of their looming demise. The law firm ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2012, which is the largest ever U.S. firm to do so.
Defense attorneys have had the trouble of trying to prove that the men did not know about the accounting fraud. Moser has been able to show that although the men might not have known all the details of the fraud, they were the ones that ordered it. The prosecutions key witness, former finance director Frank Canellas, was key in displaying the knowledge and orders that the executives gave to fix the books so that the firm could meet cash-flow covenants with lenders.
Lawyers for both sides are starting to present their summations.
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