Stoneridge looms large in a decision that sees Refco lawyer Joseph Collins and the firm of Mayer Brown off the hook for the commodity firm's fraud and subsequent flame-out. This would be a bit of a strikeout for Refco's shareholders and for uber-securities litigator John Coffey of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann.

You can view the judge's dismissal order here, thanks to the AmLaw Daily. While your at it, check out Judge Gerard Lynch's juicy footnote on page 25 where he basically calls the Stoneridge decision out as a steaming pile of crap that we'd be better off without. But he says it all Judge-like and nice.

Despite the decision in this case, none of these folks are quite done with Refco yet. John Coffee has more parties to chase on behalf of the aggrieved - someone signed off on those Refco books Grant Thornton . For Mayer Brown there is still the small matter of the Refco-related RICO suit brought by Thomas H. Lee Partners and a multi billion dollar lawsuit filed by Refco's bancruptcy trustee.

Oh and Joseph Collins also has the small matter of his own federal criminal trial on security fraud charges. That'll start in April.

Call it a full docket all around. More on this mess via Law.com

-- MDT

Labels: Joseph Collins, Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw, Refco, Stoneridge

That is some pretty hard time for the once high-flying Phillip Bennett, but then few falls have been as staggering as that of former futures trading behemoth, REFCO.

Bennett's conviction follows that of his former Partner, Tone Grant. Grant was indicted on REFCO-related charges back on July 3rd '07. He was convicted in April of 2008.

And just so you can fill out your scorecard former REFCO finance chief, Robert Trosten and former executive Santo Maggio each plead guilty on fraud related charges - Trosten in early '08 and Maggio in late '07.

The last man standing appears to be Joseph P. Collins, of the law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw -- indicted and awaiting trial.

- MDT

Labels: Joseph Collins, Phillip Bennett, Refco, Robert Trosten, Santo Maggio, Tone Grant

An indictment of Joseph Collins, Refco's lawyer for a decade, has been in the wind for some time. This week it became a reality.

While the murmurs about his own legal troubles swirled, Collins saw his firm, Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw become a class action lawsuit target brought by angry shareholders of the now defunct commodity trading firm.

Collins has plead not guilty to the 11-count indictment filed by U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which alleges securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy. A separate civil complaint from the SEC was also filed.

Check out further comment on the Collins case from Thomas O. Gorman at Porter, Wright's SEC Action blog. Bookmark the blog while you're there if you follow the SEC. Good stuff.

-- MDT

Labels: indictment, Joseph Collins, Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw, Refco

Refco's bankruptcy examiner is lobbing allegations of impropriety at Joseph Collins of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, a Chicago-area law firm. Collins had for many years served as a close confidant of Refco management and, although his firm faced the ire of Refco investors after being I.D.ed as reviewing Refco's books, Collins himself had thus far stayed somewhat above the fracas. In a 400+ page report, culled from millions of pages of billing records, Refco's bankruptcy examiner concluded that Collins "knew or should have known" about that fraud and financial illegalities that led to Refco's failure.

Get further details on the report, and Mayer Brown's response via the Chicago Tribune.

-- MDT

Labels: Joseph Collins, Mayer Brown Rowe and Maw, Refco