December 19, 2022
Michael Schachter, partner and Co-Chair of the Firm's White-Collar Defense Practice Group, was recently interviewed on Law, disrupted, a podcast that dives into the legal issues emerging from cutting-edge and innovative subjects and current events.
In the podcast, Michael discussed the recent high-profile defense victory he obtained, along with partner Randall Jackson, on behalf of client Tom Barrack, founder of the global investment firm Colony Capital. The seven-week jury trial involved allegations of illegal foreign lobbying, obstruction of justice and other charges against Barrack and his former assistant Matthew Grimes. The jury acquitted Barrack and Grimes, finding them not guilty on all charges.
The podcast discussion included detailed dissection of the background of the charges against Barrack and evidence presented at trial, and how the defense’s use of cross-examination during the prosecution’s case helped him to establish his own themes with the jury. Michael also discussed the possible impacts this case might have on government policy, and suggested the case might convince the government to return to a more restrained approach to prosecutions under Section 951, confining them to espionage cases as in the past, instead of lobbying cases. He also suggests that the cross-examination of the FBI agents at trial might lead the FBI to record their interviews rather than relying on an antiquated process of relying entirely on one agent making handwritten notes as their only record of the interview.
The podcast episode of Law, disrupted can be found here.
To read more about the Barrack case, click here.
