[Defense costs in the $5 million range] would not strike me as being outside the norm in these types of cases, ... The lawyers come from the best firms. This is not the public defender's office. |
A target of a grand jury investigation would be out of his mind to testify because he isn't allowed to have his attorney in there. |
Companies a lot of times try to play it both ways. They can't comment (on a case) because of pending litigation, but if they do want to comment, they do so happily. |
Coughlin's in a tough position if he claimed (the money) was for secret union activity -- which may be illegal. That's a tough defense: 'I didn't do anything wrong because I was trying to do something nefarious on behalf of the company,' |
I wish I knew. To this point, no one has come up with one. It's so much easier if someone steals your purse. |
I would call (the civil case) an aggressive tactic, but there is nothing wrong with what they're doing. But because Coughlin knows there is a grand jury case going, he has to be very, very careful how he responds because it could be used against him. |
It's almost batting 500, which is impressive. |
It's the classic white-collar crime because it's the old adage: The best way to rob a bank is to work for it. |
or a very short sentence in a halfway house. |
Rather than betting on a conviction, which is rather unseemly, an interesting exercise would be to figure out other [proposition] bets on the trial that have nothing to do with the outcome, similar to prop bets on the Super Bowl, like which team will win the coin toss. Who will be the first attorney to attempt a Johnnie Cochran rhyme or which defendant will testify first? |
The average Joe should be just as concerned about embezzlement, even more so, because it's so easy to do. All you have to do is be trustworthy to do it. |
The statement is so general, it really doesn't tell you much. It's kind of what everyone knew already: If you cooperate, it's going to help you. If senior management were involved, it's going to be a problem. How extensive the wrongdoing was and what time frame it covered will be considered. |
There is no way of knowing in advance where the tipping point is on intent. |
They are going to dig through everybody on the supplier side. It's really starting to stick out like a sore thumb to investigators. |
When the judges are sentencing these people, in a lot of ways they see their neighbors. These are not violent people. They tend to be well-educated, well-spoken. Most have no prior criminal record. When you add that all up, that is the type of situation that tends to generate sympathy with the judge. |