Join us to celebrate the federal trial bench and to hear from Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave, of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, as she describes her judicial “origin story” traveling a path from clerkships in the District Court and Court of Appeals, to private practice, and then to the bench. Judge Cave explains the role that public and community service has always played in her professional life, and shares her insights on the importance of pursuing a goal consistently, persistently, and from the heart.

The Madoff team included many experienced attorneys, as well as many new lawyers. A new attorney can get lost in a case like Madoff. Our guest for this episode, Attorney Camille Bent, joined the Madoff team at Baker Hostetler immediately after her two-year clerkship with Bankruptcy Judge Pamela Pepper, who is now the Chief District Judge in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Camille describes how she and the firm navigated her career while working on this fascinating and at times all-consuming case, which is a story unto itself. This episode will be of special interest to younger lawyers and law firm management in processing pathways for advancement in firms for lawyers that are working on high-stakes cases in which there is global interest. Unsurprisingly, Camille underscores that she needed to be intentional about getting exposure to a range of cases and partners beyond those involved in the Madoff case.

Preparing for the mediation session is key. This session will cover how to evaluate your case and determine an appropriate settlement range, how to consider and evaluate risks, and more.

In episode three we turn to the cutting-edge legal issues legal issues of law that were raised in the Madoff case. Because it presented circumstances unlike any that had come before it, the Madoff case required the legal team to develop a new legal playbook. In this episode David Sheehan and Camille Bent of the Baker Hostetler team offer a tutorial on the new precedents established in the case that will provide a game plan for those that are charged with managing recovery after massive Ponzi schemes and will benefit victims of such cases. The most significant of these legal victories is court acceptance of the use of a net equity approach to fairly determine the claim amounts of investors in what has become known as a “net winners/net losers” game plan.

Join us to celebrate the federal trial bench and to hear from Bankruptcy Judge Elizabeth Gunn, of the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia, one of the first COVID-era judges to take the bankruptcy bench, taking the oath of office from her living room as the sole bankruptcy judge in the District of Columbia and DC Circuit. An active member of several local, regional, and national bar associations, Judge Gunn may be best known to some as the moderator of the ABA’s popular podcast series “Bad Boys of Bankruptcy,” and previously worked in private practice and as an Assistant Attorney General in Virginia’s Division of Child Support Enforcement. Judge Gunn shares her thoughts and offers practical insights on balancing her many roles and responsibilities – and her hobby of running marathons!

Join us to celebrate the federal trial bench and to hear from Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga, of the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a true career public servant, as she describes her path from a federal judicial clerkship to Texas’s Rio Grande Legal Aid, to service as an Texas Assistant Attorney General and Assistant United States Attorney in the Laredo Division, where she now serves as a judge. Judge Song Quiroga shares her positive outlook on the value of making a difference every day in your work, and the importance of keeping an open mind to new opportunities to do so.

In episode two we hear about the extraordinary coordination of the Baker Hostetler team with federal, state and international investigators, including those from the FBI, the SEC, the United States attorney and other law enforcement agencies. Attorneys David Sheehan and Camille Bent are back to discuss how the criminal investigation proceeded hand in hand with the complex work of collecting assets to return a dividend to the thousands of investors that lost billions to the Madoff scheme. In addition to Madoff, several people associated were charged, convicted and sentenced to prison for their roles in this massive fake investment business.

This first episode focuses on the first days after the shocking discovery that the Madoff multi-billion-dollar investment enterprise was a complete fraud. Unlike most Ponzi schemes, there were actually no investments at all in what on paper appeared to be a massive investment fund. Our guest, attorney David Sheehan of Baker & Hostetler LLP, is retained along with Irving Picard to begin the process of an orderly liquidation of the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The enormity of the case is unveiled as David and his team learn that $64 billion in supposed investments have in fact never existed despite years of reports to investors that the funds were returning up to 17% profits annually.

This session will set up the basis of why and when to mediate, including the benefits of mediation, figuring out whether mediation is right for your dispute, selecting the right mediator and determining the right time to mediate. Speakers: Kate Gonzalez, Senior Legal Counsel at Airbus, Chris McDonald, ADR Office of Chris McDonald.

Host Gary J. Ross talks with Chris Harvey, Managing Partner at Harvey Esquire and a prolific LinkedIn contributor, about three bipartisan bills pending in Congress that could reshape the VC ecosystem: the Equal Opportunity for All Investors Act (HR 3339), which would create an exam-based path to accredited investor status; the Improving Capital Allocation for Newcomers Act (HR 4431), which would raise Section 3(c)(1) fund limits to 500 investors and $50 million; and the Venture Capital Advisor Flexibility Act (HR 4429), which would increase the allowable percentage of secondaries and fund-of-funds investments for exempt reporting advisers.

Join us to celebrate the federal trial bench and to hear from Chief Magistrate Judge Willie Epps, Jr., of the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, as he describes his path from Natchez, Mississippi, to public service as a Judge Advocate and Captain in the US AirForce JAG Corps, and then as Assistant Special Counsel-US Department of Justice in the Waco Investigation – and then to solo practice, big firm practice, and head of litigation for a leading financial services firm. Judge Epps offers his insights on how each of these positions contribute to who he is a judge today, and shares practical tips on how to have a good day in his courtroom.

Join us to celebrate the federal trial bench and to hear from Magistrate Judge Gina Simms, of the US District Court for the District of Maryland, as she describes her path first in public service, including a judicial clerkship, and some seventeen years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia and Maryland and as an Associate Independent Counsel tasked with investigating a former Cabinet secretary – and then in private practice for six years, where she continued to work on criminal and civil compliance and enforcement matters. Judge Simms shares her thoughts on how to have a good day in her courtroom, and what missteps to avoid.

In Episode 7, host Jordan L. Fischer, Esq. interviews Representative Stephanie Scialabba, a state representative in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who is using her experience in her prior career as a practicing attorney in data privacy and cybersecurity to advance the privacy rights of Pennsylvanians and create realistic solutions for evolving issues. In this episode, Representative Scialabba discusses her perspective on the legislative process around technology, privacy, and how she is approaching such a fast-paced and highly influential area of the law. For more information on Representative Scialabba, visit: https://www.repscialabba.com/. To contact our host, Jordan L. Fischer, Esq., regarding this podcast or to inquire into becoming a guest, please contact Ms. Fischer at jordan@jordanfischer.me.

Host Gary J. Ross speaks with Ruth Jin, Partner at Mintz Levin, about GP-led secondary transactions, in which a general partner of a fund initiates a sale of one (or more) of its portfolio companies to a new fund, called a continuation vehicle (CV), which is typically managed by the same GP. Ruth describes the setting up and marketing of the continuation vehicle, and the options given to the current fund’s limited partners. Gary and Ruth spend significant time on the conflict of interest issues, and how they are mitigated. Ruth also touches on the necessary disclosures that must be made in the CV’s offering documents.

Host Gary J. Ross speaks with Erik Syvertsen, Chief Legal Officer of AngelList. After a brief introduction, Erik starts off the chat by outlining some of AngelList’s key offerings, including SPVs, Rolling Funds, and Roll Up Vehicles. Gary and Erik then go into how AngelList funds tend to be structured, as well as how AngelList navigates regulatory concerns such as general solicitation and the investment adviser and broker-dealer rules. The episode concludes with a conversation about regulatory trends affecting the platform and the broader venture capital ecosystem, including potential initiatives to expand VC access to retail investors.

Stephen Lawrence and Thomas Thompson both sat in prison, holding the proverbial keys to their own cells, for years on end. One was alleged to have stashed assets in an offshore trust before filing for bankruptcy; the other was alleged to have stashed the golden spoils of a shipwreck beyond the reach of creditors. Joined by Professor Christopher Hampson and Mac VerStandig, Judge Gunn explores two cases where people seemingly valued riches over freedom, and how those cases yielded two of the longest stretches of civil incarceration in modern American history.

In this episode, Judge Elizabeth Gunn is joined by attorneys Abigail Ryan and Jason Binford to discuss the astonishing saga of a relentless debtor who turned the bankruptcy system into his personal battlefield. It began when Abigail Ryan’s client needed to evict a tenant for unpaid rent. But instead of leaving quietly, the tenant filed for bankruptcy, halting the eviction and launching a wave of litigation. As Abigail and Jason soon discovered, he was no stranger to this tactic, filing bankruptcy petitions on the eve of evictions, contempt hearings, and other legal trouble to stall proceedings and frustrate creditors. After exhausting his welcome in state court, where he was declared a vexatious litigant, he shifted to federal court, flooding dockets with motions, adversary proceedings, and procedural maneuvers. Join them for a riveting exploration of legal strategy, courtroom battles, and the fight to protect the integrity of the bankruptcy system from serial abusers.

This is the second of two episodes with MIT Professor David Mindell. In these conversations we are exploring the detailed realities of "human in the loop" systems. In the first session we learned about the Apollo Program's lunar landing control system. In this episode we are going to explore a contemporary human plus computer control system failure involving a US Navy warship. We will be looking at a collision in the Singapore Strait in the pre-dawn darkness of August 21, 2017. The National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, determined that the causes of the collision between the destroyer USS John S McCain and the tanker Alnic MC included a lack of effective operational oversight, insufficient training, and inadequate bridge operating procedures. Also contributing to the accident were the McCain bridge team’s loss of situational awareness and failure to follow steering loss emergency procedures.

In Episode 6, host Jordan L. Fischer, Esq. interviews Rachael Pashkevich Koontz, Associate General Counsel of cybersecurity and data protection for a large U.S. Government Contractor in the technology space. Rachael provides key insight into her unique role as an in-house cyber attorney, and the day-to-day role she plays in shaping the cyber policy and approach within her organization. Rachael and Jordan discuss how the cybersecurity industry is changing, and how that has made in-house advising on cyber more dynamic and impactful across the business and its operations. For more information on Rachael Pashkevich Koontz, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-pashkevich-koontz-esq-8915ba48/. to contact our host, Jordan L. Fischer, Esq., regarding this podcast or to inquire into becoming a guest, please contact Ms. Fischer at jordan@jordanfischer.me.

Welcome to To the Extent That, presented by the ABA. Today’s From Boardroom to Courtroom features Kurt Wolfe—a Partner in Quinn Emanuel’s SEC Enforcement group, former in Securities co-host, and adjunct securities law professor at the University of Richmond. We’ll discuss the SEC’s landmark Stable Road / Momentus enforcement, examine newly minted SPAC accounting and disclosure reforms, and explore the surprising 2025 SPAC resurgence.