Federal and state prosecutors issued a stern warning to banks on Nov. 19 as enforcement officials announced a record $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. over its role in the financial crisis: Investigations continue. The deal does not preclude criminal charges against the bank or any individual. “Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,” Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. said. “No firm, no matter how profitable, is above the law, and the passage of time is no shield from accountability.”
ROPES WINS VERDICT
A Boston federal jury took 2 1/2 hours on Nov. 20 to reject former associate John Ray III’s retaliation case against Ropes & Gray, which he’d accused of lashing out after he complained of racial discrimination. The panel concluded that Ray hadn’t filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in good faith. Ropes argued Ray threatened embarrassment unless it met demands that at one point hit $40 million. “His discrimination claim was not about discrimination. It was about threats and it was about money,” trial lawyer Michael Keating told the jurors.
