David Laigaie comments on insider trading verdict (Law360)
February 10, 2016
David Laigaie, chair of Eckert Seamans’ White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations Group, commented to Law360 on a case involving a former Fox Rothschild partner who was found guilty by a Pennsylvania federal jury of violating internal policies by buying and selling stock of a publicly held client. Evidence and testimony demonstrated that the former law firm partner walked in on a conversation about his firm’s work on an imminent $760 million insurance industry merger, and used that information to trade ahead of the merger.
Laigaie stressed that attorneys across the industry should be aware of internal policies at their own firms in order to avoid any appearance of a violation, noting “I would caution lawyers to understand what their firm’s policies are. That’s the real lesson that lawyers need to take to heart: Understand what insider trading amounts to and what your firm requires of you. You need to make sure you stay several hundred feet from the boundary.”
The full article is available online to Law360 subscribers.