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☆ Michael Klausner, the SPAC boom's chief naysayer, is trying to prevent another frenzy for good
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Stanford Law professor Michael Klausner is suing a SPAC sponsor, claiming it misled investors. Michael Klausner, the Stanford Law professor who has become the chief critic of the SPAC boom, remembers the exact moment he realized SPACs were broken. It was 2017 – way before the investment vehicles took off in 2020 – and he was teaching a class on business transactions at Stanford Law School. In addition to getting all their money back with interest, they also get 20% of the final public company. Klausner was thrust into the role of being the SPAC boom's resident Cassandra, warning of calamity but never taken seriously.

☆ Who are Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke — the two people who paid part of Sam Bankman-Fried's bail?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Sarah Jackson | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

They are Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke, both of whom have ties to Stanford, where SBF's parents work. On Wednesday, unsealed court records identified the FTX founder's bail guarantors as Larry Kramer, a former dean of Stanford Law School, and Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at Stanford. A screenshot of Larry Kramer's bio on a Stanford Law School web page shows that he's emeritus dean of the institution. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1984, according to his Stanford Law bio page. On his personal page, Paepcke listed hobbies including "piano studies and simple composition, worrying, and poetry."

☆ Two Stanford Academics Helped Secure Sam Bankman-Fried’s Release on Bail
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( James Fanelli | Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Two Stanford University academics helped secure FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s release on bond while he awaits trial on criminal charges. Two Stanford University academics helped secure FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried ’s release on bond while he awaits trial on criminal charges related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, according to court filings unsealed Wednesday. Stanford Law School dean emeritus Larry Kramer signed a $500,000 bond in January on behalf of Mr. Bankman-Fried while Andreas Paepcke , a senior research scientist at the university, signed a $200,000 bond, records show. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents are both professors at the law school.

☆ FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's two bond guarantors unsealed, both with ties to Stanford
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried (C) arrives to enter a plea before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Manhattan federal court, New York, January 3, 2023. The names of two of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's guarantors were revealed on Wednesday, after an unsealing motion from media companies including CNBC was granted by a Manhattan federal judge. In all, there were four guarantors, including his parents, to ensure Bankman-Fried's cooperation with pretrial detention requirements. Kramer signed a $500,000 unsecured bond, while Paepcke signed the same bond for $250,000. WATCH: Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried's contact with FTX employees suggests witness tampering

☆ Stanford law professor, researcher co-signed Bankman-Fried's bond -court records
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A former dean of Stanford's law school and a computer science researcher at the university co-signed indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried's bond, according to court records made public on Wednesday. His parents are both professors at Stanford Law School. On Jan. 25, an individual named Larry Kramer signed a $500,000 bond to ensure Bankman-Fried's return to court, and an individual named Andreas Paepcke signed a $200,000 bond, the newly-unredacted records showed. According to Stanford's website, Kramer is a former dean of the law school while Paepcke is a computer science researcher. The bond represents the amount of money Kramer and Paepcke would be liable to pay if Bankman-Fried does not return to court.

[1/3] Representations of cryptocurrencies are seen in front of displayed FTX logo in this illustration taken November 10, 2022. Sequoia, Thoma Bravo and Paradigm did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment. The 30-year-old son of Stanford Law School professors has pleaded not guilty to fraud and other charges for allegedly looting billions of dollars from FTX customers. A Manhattan federal court hearing on whether to tighten bail is scheduled for Thursday, after Bankman-Fried allegedly tried to communicate improperly with potential government witnesses. The case is Rabbitte v Sequoia Capital Operations LLC et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

☆ We just learned the names of the 2 people secretly guaranteeing Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke are the two previously anonymous sponsors of Samuel Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond. A federal judge sided with Insider and other media organizations and made their names public. Larry Kramer, a former dean of Stanford University's law school, contributed $500,000 to the bond, according to court records unsealed Wednesday afternoon. Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, who are both professors at Stanford University's law school, have also contributed to the bond. He also said he had no business interest in the $500,000 he contributed towards Bankman-Fried's bond.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. Prosecutors had asked last month to tighten bail, citing Bankman-Fried's efforts to contact both the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate and new FTX Chief Executive John Ray, ostensibly to provide assistance. Bankman-Fried would have also withdrawn his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. They cited the cases' substantial overlap, and the risk Bankman-Fried could gather evidence in the civil cases to help his criminal defense.

☆ People who posted Sam Bankman-Fried's bail should be named, U.S. judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | Industry Insight | Upcoming Sec Climate Disclosure Rules Bring Urgency To Esg Data Strategy Planning | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan ruled in favor of several media outlets including Reuters that sought the names. The judge said that while the public had only a "weak" right to know who Bankman-Fried's guarantors were, it outweighed Bankman-Fried's arguments for confidentiality, including that the guarantors' safety could be imperiled. Kaplan disagreed, noting that long before bail was posted, the parents had faced "intense public scrutiny" over their relationship with their son, who was once worth an estimated $26 billion. They said there was less "stigma" from being associated with Bankman-Fried than from being associated with the late sex offender. Other media seeking to identify Bankman-Fried's guarantors included the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, CoinDesk, Dow Jones, the Financial Times, Insider, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

☆ The DOJ's antitrust case against Google is ambitious but risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

But alongside the possibility of great reward comes significant risk in seeking to push the boundaries of antitrust law. "All antitrust cases are an uphill battle for plaintiffs, thanks to 40 years of case law," said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. But, Allensworth added, the government's challenges may be different than those in many other antitrust cases. Like all antitrust cases, this one is unlikely to be concluded anytime soon. "This is clearly the blockbuster case so far from the DOJ antitrust division," Francis said.

☆ Stanford, Columbia, Penn Medical Schools Expand the Exodus From U.S. News Ranking
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Melissa Korn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The medical schools at Stanford, Columbia and Pennsylvania universities are withdrawing their cooperation from U.S. News & World Report rankings, pulling out less than a week after Harvard Medical School said it would no longer provide data to the publication. The moves by Stanford Medical School, Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine suggest a prolonged cascading effect after Yale Law School said in November that it wouldn’t provide data for U.S. News’s law-school rankings. More than a dozen other top-ranked schools—including Stanford Law School—followed suit. Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley said the law schools’ decisions compelled him to act.

☆ Stanford Medical School Withdraws From U.S. News Ranking, Expanding Exodus
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Melissa Korn | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Stanford Medical School is withdrawing its cooperation from the U.S. News & World Report rankings of medical schools, pulling out six days after Harvard Medical School said it would no longer provide data to the publication. The move suggests a prolonged cascading effect after Yale Law School said in November that it wouldn’t provide data for U.S. News’s law-school rankings. More than a dozen other top-ranked schools—including Stanford Law School—followed suit. Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley said the law schools’ decisions compelled him to act.

The lawyers, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, did not specify when the incident took place, describing it only as recent. The news organizations argued last week that the right of the public to know the two sureties' identities outweighed their privacy and safety rights. Bankman-Fried's lawyers said the media groups "assign far too much weight to the presumption of access" and ignored the safety of the guarantors. Prosecutors took no position on whether to disclose the sureties' identities or not, Bankman-Fried's lawyers wrote in the filing. Prosecutors interviewed and approved the two individuals on Jan. 4, Cohen and Everdell wrote.

☆ Robert Hur: special counsel on Biden classified document probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Kanishka Singh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Michael A. McCoyWASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named Robert Hur as special counsel to investigate whether President Joe Biden had improperly handled sensitive government documents. Hur was the U.S. attorney in Maryland during the Trump administration and most recently served as litigation partner at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. A graduate of Stanford Law School and Harvard College, Hur served as top aide to then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein before his appointment as the U.S. Attorney in Maryland. He knows what he is getting into," Rosenstein told CNN on Thursday after Hur's appointment as special counsel. "I will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment," Hur said in a statement released after his appointment as special counsel.

NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Eight major media outlets on Thursday asked the U.S. judge overseeing Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal case to make public the names of two people who helped guarantee the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder's $250 million bond. Saying the public interest "cannot be overstated," lawyers for the outlets, including Reuters, said the public's right to know Bankman-Fried's guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights. Media seeking to identify Bankman-Fried's sureties also include the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, the Financial Times, Insider and the Washington Post. Cohen and Everdell also represented Maxwell in her criminal case. In seeking to keep the sureties' names under wraps, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said their client's parents, who co-signed the $250 million bond, had been harassed and received physical threats since FTX's early November collapse and bankruptcy.

☆ Who is Robert Hur? Special Counsel looking into Biden’s classified documents
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Rebecca-Shabad-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Rebecca Shabad | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON — Robert Hur, named Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents, is a former federal prosecutor who has worked with many Republicans throughout his law enforcement career. Garland appointed Hur as special counsel on Thursday after the White House acknowledged that Obama administration documents with classified markings were found in one of Biden’s Delaware homes. On Monday, the White House said that similar documents had been found in a Washington office. Hur has served as a partner at the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher since April 2021 where he has focused on enforcement, investigations and litigation. In between his jobs at the Justice Department, Hur worked at another private law firm, King & Spalding.

☆ SBF, who was once worth $26 billion, says he tried to survive on a jar of peanut butter when in a Bahamian prison
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said he tried to survive on a jar of peanut butter while locked up. He told Puck News he would skip a meal and eat a peanut-butter sandwich instead. "I spent a while trying to see how far a jar of peanut butter could get me," Bankman-Fried told Puck News. At his peak, Bankman-Fried was worth $26 billion. Bankman-Fried told Axios in November that he only has $100,000 in his bank account.

☆ Bankman-Fried's parents have been physically threatened, his lawyers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried's parents have been getting physical threats since the collapse of their son's now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, his lawyers said on Tuesday. The disclosure was made in a filing in Manhattan federal court, where the lawyers asked that the names of two remaining sureties for Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond not be disclosed. Bankman-Fried has been required to live with his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, with electronic monitoring since bail conditions were set. In Tuesday's filing, his lawyers said the parents "have in recent weeks become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats. Among other things, Mr. Bankman-Fried's parents have received a steady stream of threatening correspondence, including communications expressing a desire that they suffer physical harm."

He is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes running FTX but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. The prosecution case was strengthened by last month's guilty pleas of two of Bankman-Fried's closest associates. Caroline Ellison, who was Alameda's chief executive, and Gary Wang, FTX's former chief technology officer, pleaded guilty to seven and four criminal charges, respectively, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Bankman-Fried, Ellison and Wang were also sued by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Bankman-Fried is accused of illegally using FTX customer deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and make millions of dollars in political contributions. He is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan to enter a plea. It is not unusual for criminal defendants to initially plead not guilty. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes running FTX but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. The prosecution case was strengthened by last month's guilty pleas of two of Bankman-Fried's closest associates.

☆ Bankman-Fried set to enter initial not guilty plea in FTX fraud case -source
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jack Queen | Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Bankman-Fried is accused of illegally using FTX customer deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and make millions of dollars in political contributions. He is scheduled to appear at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan to enter a plea. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate has been charged with two counts of wire fraud and six conspiracy counts, including to launder money and commit campaign finance violations. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making mistakes running FTX but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea next week to criminal charges he defrauded investors and looted billions of dollars in customer funds at his failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Kaplan was assigned to the case on Tuesday, after the original judge recused herself because her husband's law firm had advised FTX before its collapse. Before his Dec. 12 arrest, Bankman-Fried acknowledged risk-management failures at FTX, but said he did not believe he was criminally liable. Two of his associates, former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty over their roles in FTX's collapse and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Its new chief executive, John Ray, told Congress on Dec. 13 that the exchange lost $8 billion of customer money while being run by "grossly inexperienced, non-sophisticated individuals."

☆ How personal injury lawyers took over your TV
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —Drive down any highway in America or turn on the TV for 10 minutes and you’ll probably see an advertisement for a personal injury lawyer. Call this lawyer to get compensated now,” a typical ad for a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney goes. Many personal injury lawyers advertise aggressively because of competition and the unusual business model many practices have adopted. John Morgan runs Morgan & Morgan, the largest personal injury law firm in America. Most personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee, so they get paid only if they negotiate a settlement for a client or win a case at trial.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond package on Thursday while he awaits trial over the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, which a U.S. prosecutor called a "fraud of epic proportions." His defense lawyer, Mark Cohen, declined to comment after the hearing in Manhattan federal court. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein set Bankman-Fried's next court date for Jan. 3, 2023, before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who will handle the case. The bond is meant to ensure that if Bankman-Fried flees, the government could confiscate the family's assets - including their Palo Alto home - up to $250 million. Details of their cooperation were kept under wraps until Bankman-Fried left the Bahamas, according to court papers filed on Thursday.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried's mother is pictured arriving at his bail hearing in New York
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's mother, Barbara Fried, is a professor at Stanford Law School. Barbara Fried, a professor emerita at Stanford Law School, was seen laughing during Bankman-Fried's hearing earlier this month in the Bahamas when her son was called a "fugitive." Barbara Fried on her way to her son Sam Bankman-Fried's bail hearing. Until recently, Bankman-Fried's parents— both associated with Stanford Law School— have been accompanying their son in the Bahamas, where FTX was based. Joseph Bankman is described as a "leading scholar in the field of tax law," in his biography in the Stanford Law School directory.

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