02/02/09
Another Attorney Faces Charges of Fraud
After reading several of the signs of a large fraud set up from the Bernard Madoff case, a partner of a hedge fund in Florida began to get suspicious of the fund's adviser. Arthur G. Nadel, 76, had been the adviser for years and partners had requested him to have an independent audit done. He finally agreed, and then disappeared for two weeks. He finally turned himself in and is now awaiting trial. More than $200 million is missing. Nadel graduated from New York University School of Law in 1957, but was disbarred for stealing client escrow funds. He eventually paid back what he had taken ($50,000), but that is unlikely to happen this time.
Firms Advise Non-Profit Charities in Hard Times
On Tuesday just over one hundred high-powered women attended a breakfast co-hosted by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Accenture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The breakfast, ''Women in Non-Profit Board Leadership,'' discussed options for non-profit leadership in a hard economy. The panel which discussed this topic consisted of executives, partners, and non-profit leaders. Attendees ranged from employees of firms and non-profits to other organizations. Some advice offered was to have donors give time if they could no longer afford to give money. Another panelist suggested organizations with similar missions merge to cut on costs; however, attendees were warned against merging organizations which may have similar concentrations but very different missions. Hopefully non-profit leaders were uplifted and given some hope as well as valuable ideas of how to weather this time.
Midsize Bay Area Firms Optimistic but Cautious
Several midsize firms, ranging from about 30 to 150 lawyers, had a good year in 2008 amidst all the economic turmoil. Their size helps them by avoiding too-high costs and allows them to accept cases that are too small for larger firms. While they did see an increase in profits last year, it was not as large of an increase as in future years. Now these firms are bracing for the future year, trying to be optimistic, but remaining very cautious. At least some have learned from others' mistakes in the past. Now several firms are setting money aside in bank accounts against unforeseen conditions which could arise this year and require a little extra cash. All staff members are prepared to see a slight decrease in income. Everyone seems to be preparing for the worst while hoping for better, and being grateful that they are already not in a worse place than they are right now.
|
