On Aug. 27, the New York County District Attorney’s Office finally rested its case against three former executives at defunct Dewey & LeBoeuf. Now it will be the defense’s turn to make its case. For the three defendants—ex-chair Steven Davis, former executive director Stephen DiCarmine and former CFO Joel Sanders—a fateful decision awaits: whether to take the stand.
Although lawyers for Davis, DiCarmine and Sanders stress that their clients have not yet decided whether to take the stand, several white-collar defense experts say they may be tempted to tell their story directly to jurors. Like other executives facing criminal charges, they may feel confident in their ability to explain. “They’ve had years of experience talking to people and convincing them,” notes Paul Hastings’ Michael Levy, a former federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. “They didn’t get to where they are by not being pretty compelling individuals. There’s a strong attraction to laying that in front of a jury.”
