As the second week of testimony in the criminal fraud trial of three former Dewey & LeBoeuf executives got under way yesterday, defense lawyers attempted to put the most damaging evidence introduced by prosecutors into a context more favorable to their clients, the American Lawyer reported today. In several hours of cross-examination yesterday, former Dewey & LeBoeuf executive committee member Jane Boisseau admitted that the firm’s partnership agreement didn’t require former chair Steven Davis to seek the executive committee’s approval — or even to inform that committee — about employment terms he set with senior staffers, including executive director Stephen DiCarmine and CFO Joel Sanders, the two nonpartner defendants in the case along with Davis. Jurors learned last week that DiCarmine's and Sanders’ compensation doubled to more than $2 million a year after LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae merged with Dewey Ballantine in October 2007. Prompted by Peirce Moser, an assistant district attorney with the New York County District Attorney's Office, Boisseau testified last week that the firm’s top governance committee never authorized the firm’s long-term incentive agreements with DiCarmine and Sanders, including multimillion-dollar guarantees if their employment was terminated before Dec. 31, 2013. But under questioning by DiCarmine’s lawyer, Bryan Cave partner Austin Campriello, Boisseau admitted in her third day of questioning that such "golden handcuffs" contracts aren’t unusual in corporate America.
