After five years, four judges, three rulings, two appeals and the loss of their careers, John Flannery and James Hopkins this month won their legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The former State Street Corp. executives’ long legal fight took place almost entirely in the SEC’s in-house court system, which agency officials have lauded as offering a fast-track alternative to federal court. In fact, the SEC’s use of its own tribunal, more frequent in recent years, has coincided with longer delays in the agency’s handling of appeals, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of rulings stretching back a decade. Since Mary Jo White became SEC chairman in April 2013, the median time for the agency to decide appeals of its in-house judges’ decisions has increased to 19 months, the analysis found. That is almost double the median times under her two main predecessors, Christopher Cox and Mary Schapiro. Critics — including former SEC officials, business groups and defense lawyers — said the SEC’s approach means defendants often lose both ways. The trial portion of the civil case moves much more quickly than such matters typically would in federal court, giving limited time to prepare for trial, and defendants then can wait years for the SEC to decide appeals.
