Jed Rakoff

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Jed Rakoff
Current Court Information:
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Title:   Senior Judge
Position:   Seat #6T
Station:   New York, NY
Service:
Appointed by:   Bill Clinton
Active:   01/04/1996 - 12/30/2010
Senior:   12/31/2010 - Current
Preceded by:   David Edelstein
Succeeded by:   Katherine Forrest
Personal History
Born:   1943
Home State:   Philadelphia, PA
Bachelors:   Swarthmore College, B.A., 1964
Law School:   Harvard Law, J.D., 1969
Graduate School:   Oxford U., Balliol College, M.Phil, 1966

Contents

Jed Saul Rakoff is a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He joined the court in 1996 after being nominated by President Bill Clinton. Rakoff assumed senior status on December 31, 2010.

Early life and education

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rakoff graduated from Swarthmore with his Bachelor's degree in 1964 and later from, Oxford-England with his Masters of Philosophy degree in 1966. Rakoff received a J.D. degree from Harvard Law in 1969. [1]

Professional career

Rakoff was a law clerk for former Federal Appeals Judge, Abraham Freedman in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia from 1969 to 1970. Rakoff entered private practice in New York City from 1970 to 1972 before serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York from 1973 to 1980. Rakoff was Chief Prosecutor of the Business and Securities Fraud Prosecutions Unit from 1978 to 1980 before resuming private practice work until 1995. [1]

Judicial career

Southern district of New York

On the recommendation of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Rakoff was nominated to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by Bill Clinton on October 11, 1995 to a seat vacated by David Edelstein. Rakoff was confirmed by the Senate on December 29, 1995 on a majority vote and received commission on January 4, 1996.[2]

Judicial style

Judge Rakoff, in the opinion of fellow colleagues among lawyers and judges, is known as a stickler for transparency and fairness. Gregory Diskant, an Attorney and a long time friend of the judge said there is a consistent theme his rulings: “making sure that public institutions behave appropriately and private institutions behave properly” about the judge's demeanor. Lee Ginsberg, a noted New York city lawyer has noted the judge of having a record of exposing an issue of public importance and pushing for a solution.[3]

Judge Rakoff was noted for this demeanor in 2003 when he forced WorldCom to pay an extra $250 million in damages after investors for the company criticized the judge for having an inadequate settlement of $500 between the company and the Securities and Exchange Commission[3].

Economic crisis

Judge Rakoff was noted in the April 10, 2010 edition of The Los Angeles Times as being the most outspoken federal judge on issues involving the economic crisis. It was noted in the article that Judge Rakoff has not just criticized banks like JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, but has criticized regulators for not doing enough on their part to regulate the nation's banking laws.[4]

Before being nominated to the federal bench in 1996, Rakoff was a federal prosecutor for eleven years in the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office in the financial crimes unit.[4]

Rakoff told the Los Angeles Times: "once I really got into securities fraud prosecutions, I came to realize how central they were to the maintenance of a free market and how, in many ways, they are far more important to the welfare of our society than many of the more sensational criminal cases that one (person) hears about".[4]

Some defense attorneys have been critical of this judge for seeking publicity. Some who are supportive of the judge say he can be very harsh on prosecutors. One former Assistant U.S. Attorney told the Los Angeles Times that even prosecutors have to be on the top of their game when appearing in front of Judge Rakoff.[4]

Notable rulings

Madoff trustees cases

Judge Rakoff announced, on October 14, 2011, that he would be taking over a lawsuit between Irving Picard, the liquidator of Bernard Madoff’s firm, and 32 trustees who withdrew money before the firm's 2008 bankruptcy. Judge Rakoff took the cases after being asked by investor Gerald Blumenthal, who is being sued by Picard, whether the Madoff estate owes him the money reflected on his Madoff brokerage statements. Blumenthal was then joined by 31 other investors facing similar lawsuits, which inspired Judge Rakoff to take all the cases because of their similarity to each other.[5]

S&P/Moody's case

Judge Rakoff ruled on June 1, 2010, that credit rating agencies like S & P and Moody's are not underwriters of securities. A group of plaintiffs sued the two credit rating agencies on claims that they used credit ratings to obtain $63 million dollars in mortgage-backed securities. The judge wrote in his ruling that the plantiffs in the case had a very broad view of what a underwriter does and found no evidence that S & P and Moody's were involved in underwriting[6].

Rajaratnam wiretaps

Judge Rakoff ruled on February 10, 2010 that Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and his associates turn over wiretaps that were used in the discovery of evidence for their criminal case to be used in a civil case. The Securities and Exchange Commission asked the court for Rajaratnam to turn over the wiretaps as they have filed a civil lawsuit over insider trading charges. Judge Rakoff said in his ruling that it would be unfair to have one side have important information such as wiretaps and felt it was important for Rajaratnam and his associates to turn over the wiretaps to the SEC[7].

Bank of America-SEC Settlement

Judge Rakoff is presiding in a lawsuit between the Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC alleged that Bank of America failed to disclose to investors an agreement to pay $5 billion in bonuses when they took over Merrill Lynch last fall. [8] [9]

On September 14, 2009, Judge Rakoff rejected the settlement deal between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The veteran judge called the settlement deal worth $33 million "unreasonable and unfair" after the two sides first agreed to settle on charges Bank of America misled investors. Judge Rakoff's decision has raised speculation that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may file charges against top Bank of America executives[10].

Judge Rakoff is expected whether to approve a new settlement between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 19, 2010[11].

The judge approved the settlement between Bank of America and the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 22, 2010. The two sides agreed to a settlement of $150 million. As part of the settlement, Bank of America must also agree to oversight changes in addition to paying the fine in relation to its acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Rakoff still had criticisms over the new settlement calling the agreement "half-baked justice", but said that the $150 million settlement is "better than nothing"[12].

  • CLICK HERE for a copy of the settlement agreement.

SEC v Bank of America Corporation (1:09-cv-06829) - Alternative View

In December 2010 request was filed with the US Congress for initiation of investigation, and if appropriate - impeachment proceedings - against Judge Jed Rakoff and Clerk Ruby Krajick, relative to their conduct in the case. [13] [14]

The request for investigation and impeachment was based on analysis of the court records in PACER (the court's online public access system), on requests for access to missing court records (which were denied), and FOIA-response by SEC relative to court records in the case. The finding were summarized in a report, [15]

The main findings in the report were:

1) There was no Assignment Order to Judge Rakoff to preside in the case.

2) No valid summons was ever issued, as discovered through FOIA-response by SEC [16] and no summons was ever served. Neither was execution of service of the summons waived. Therefore, the court was required by US law to dismiss the case within 120 days from commencement. Judge Rakoff failed to do so.

3) No motions were docketed in the case. Regardless, Judge Rakoff purported to rule on the motions.

4) No minutes were docketed in the case, and SEC claimed that it had no records of the proceedings either, in response to FOIA request.

5) The records show that at least two proceedings were conducted entirely off the record.

6) The Court refused to permit access to the electronic certificates of authentication/attestation (NEFs - Notices of Electronic Filing) of court minutes, orders, and judgments in the case. Therefore, there is no way to ascertain that any of the records was deemed by the court itself as valid and effectual.

The case as a whole was opined as a reflection of proceedings that were conducted in a manner that is inconsistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the PACER docket was opined as false and deliberately misleading court record.

SEC v. Marc S. Dreier

SEC v. Marc S. Dreier, USDC, SDNY Civil Case No. 08 Civ. 10617[17]

Judge Rakoff was the presiding judge in the case of Marc S. Dreier, a former New York City attorney who pleaded guilty to committing a securities investment fraud scheme.[18]

Dreier faced a possible prison sentence of up to 145 years. On July 13, 2009, Judge Rakoff sentenced Drier to 20 years in prison and criticized federal prosecutors that asked for a 145-year sentence. "Is the government serious about asking for 145 years? To me, for the government to ask for 145 years is to demean the sentence Judge Denny Chin imposed on Mr. Madoff," he said. [19]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jed Saul Rakoff Federal Judicial Center Biography
  2. ↑ "THOMAS" Jed S. Rakoff USDC, SDNY confirmation:PN677-104
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Bloomberg" September 17, 2009
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Los Angeles Times "Judge Jed Rakoff taps into nation's outrage over economic crisis", April 10, 2010
  5. ↑ Bloomberg "U.S. District Judge May Review 30 Madoff Trustee Suits," October 17, 2011
  6. ↑ Bloomberg "S&P, Moody’s Found by Judge Not to Be Underwriters", June 1, 2010
  7. ↑ FINalternatives "SEC Can Have Rajaratnam Wiretaps, Judge Rules", February 10, 2010
  8. ↑ Wall Street Journal: Law Blog "Over Before It Starts: SEC, BofA Settle Suit Over Merrill Bonuses" August 3, 2009
  9. ↑ Wall Street Journal: Law Blog "Rakoff on BofA, SEC Settlement: Not So Fast, Fellas" August 6, 2009
  10. ↑ "McClatchy" Federal judge rules Bank of America-SEC deal is 'unfair and unreasonable, September 15, 2009
  11. ↑ MarketWatch "Judge to rule on Bank of America-SEC settlement by Feb 19", February 19, 2010
  12. ↑ The Washington Post "Judge criticizes, but approves, settlement with Bank of America", February 23, 2010
  13. ↑ "10-12-08 Securities and Exchange Commission v Bank of America Corporation(1:09-cv-06829) - Request for Investigation, Impeachment of RUBY KRAJICK, Clerk of the Court, US District Court, Southern District of New York", February 23, 2010
  14. ↑ Human Rights Alert (NGO) "Author’s Biography – Joseph Zernik, PhD"
  15. ↑ "Zernik, Joseph: Securities and Exchange Commission v Bank of America Corporation - Pretense Litigation and Pretense Banking Regulation in the United States"
  16. ↑ "10-12-19 RE: Securities and Exchange Commission v Bank of America Corporation (1:09-cv-06829) - Addendum to Request for Investigation-impeachment of Judge Rakoff and Clerk Krajick"
  17. ↑ SEC v. Marc S. Dreier, USDC, SDNY Civil Case No. 08 Civ. 10617
  18. ↑ SEC v. Marc S. Dreier, USDC, SDNY Civil Case No. 08 Civ. 10617
  19. ↑ Securitiesdocket.com, July 8, 2009 article on sentencing hearing in Dreier case
Federal judicial offices
Preceded by:
David Edelstein 		Southern District of New York
1996–2010 		Succeeded by:
Katherine Forrest
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