United States v. Stein

435 F. Supp. 2d 330, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 3138, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42915, 2006 WL 1735260
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided June 26, 2006·No. S1 05 Crim. 0888(LAK)·Published·Cited by 42 cases

Opinion

OPINION

KAPLAN, District Judge.

Table of Contents

Facts..........................................................................336

The Thompson Memorandum................................................336

KPMG Gets Into Trouble and “Cleans House”.................................338

KPMG’s Policy on Payment of Legal Fees.....................................340

The Initial Discussion between the USAO and Skadden.........................340

KPMG Gets the Message....................................................344

The Government Presses Its Advantage.......................................347

The Conclusion of the Investigation, KPMG’s Stein Problem and the Deferred

Prosecution Agreement...................................................347

The Deferred Prosecution Agreement and the Indictment in This Case............349

The Present Motion........................................................350

The Government’s Initial Response.....................................350

Prehearing Proceedings...............................................352

The Hearing.........................................................352

Ultimate Factual Conclusions................................................352

Discussion......................................................................353

I. The Relationship Between KPMG and its Personnel With Respect to Advancement of Legal Fees and Defense Costs.........................353

A. Indemnification and Advancement Generally.........................353

B. KPMG..........................................................355

II. The Government Violated the Fifth and Sixth Amendments by Causing KPMG to Cut Off Payment of Legal Fees and Other Defense Costs Upon Indictment........................................... 356

A. The Right to Fairness in the Criminal Process........................356

1. Nature of the Right...........................................356

2. The Right to Fairness in the Criminal Process Is a Fundamental Liberty Interest Entitled to Substantive Due Process Protection Where, As Here, the Government Coerces a Third Party to Withhold Funds Lawfully Available to a Criminal Defendant..................................................360

3. The Government’s Actions Violated the Substantive Due Process Right to Fairness in the Criminal Process..................362

B. The Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel.............................365

1. The Nature and Scope of the Right to Counsel....................365

a. Attachment of Sixth Amendment Rights................366

b. “Other' People’s Money”...............................367

*335 2. The Thompson Memorandum and the Government’s Implementation Violated the KPMG Defendants’ Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel............................................367

3. The KPMG Defendants Are Not Obliged to Establish Prejudice, Which in Any Case Would Be Presumed Here.....369

III. It is Premature to Consider the Government’s Actions With Respect to Payment of Legal Expenses Incurred Before Indictment.................373

IV. The Remedy.........................................................373

A. Monetary Relief Against the Government Is Precluded by Sovereign Immunity............................................374

B. Monetary Relief May Be Available Against KPMG....................377

1. This Court Has Subject Matter Jurisdiction ......................377

2. Personal Jurisdiction, Even If It Does Not Already Exist, May Be Obtained Over KPMG....................................378

C. Possible Dismissal and Other Remedies .............................380

V.Some of the Actions of the USAO in Response to the Motion Were Not

Appropriate........................................................380

Conclusion......................................................................381

The issue now before the Court arises at an intersection of three principles of American law.

The first principle is that everyone accused of a crime is entitled to a fundamentally fair trial. 1 This is a central meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.

The second principle, a corollary of the first, is that everyone charged with a crime is entitled to the assistance of a lawyer. 2 A defendant with the financial means has the right to hire the best lawyers money can buy. A poor defendant is guaranteed competent counsel at government expense. 3 This is at the heart of the Sixth Amendment.

The third principle is not so easily stated, not of constitutional dimension, and not so universal. But it too plays an important role in this case. It is simply this: an employer often must reimburse an employee for legal expenses when the employee is sued, or even charged with a crime, as a result of doing his or her job. Indeed, the employer often must advance legal expenses to an employee up front, although the employee sometimes must pay the employer back if the employee has been guilty of wrongdoing.

This third principle is not the stuff of television and movie drama. It does not remotely approach Miranda warnings in popular culture. But it is very much a part of American life. Persons in jobs big and small, private and public, rely on it every day. Bus drivers sued for accidents, cops sued for allegedly wrongful arrests, nurses named in malpractice cases, news reporters sued in libel cases, and corporate chieftains embroiled in securities litigation generally have similar rights to have their employers pay their legal expenses if they are sued as a result of their doing their jobs. This right is as much a part of the bargain between employer and employee as salary or wages. 4

*336 Most of the defendants in this case worked for KPMG, one of the world’s largest accounting firms. KPMG long has paid for the legal defense of its personnel, regardless of the cost and regardless of whether its personnel were charged with crimes. The defendants who formerly worked for KPMG say that it is obligated to do so here. KPMG, however, has refused.

If that were all there were to the dispute, it would be a private matter between KPMG and its former personnel. But it is not all there is.

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United States v. Stein, 435 F. Supp. 2d 330, 97 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 3138, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42915, 2006 WL 1735260 (S.D.N.Y. 2006).

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