The events leading up to the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf, once one of New York’s most prominent law firms, are about to be relived for a second time in a Manhattan state courtroom, the New York Times DealBook blog reported yesterday. Prosecutors will again try to secure convictions of two former Dewey executives — Stephen DiCarmine and Joel Sanders — nearly 15 months after a state judge declared a mistrial in an earlier criminal case and almost five years since the law firm filed for bankruptcy. Jury selection began yesterday in New York State Supreme Court, and prosecutors have suggested that the second trial may not be much shorter than the earlier proceeding, which stretched out over five months. It ended with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict after 21 days of deliberations. Some jurors from the first trial said the length of the proceedings and the number of charges — over 100 counts against the three defendants — had made it difficult to reach a unanimous verdict. This time around, prosecutors are expected to introduce much of the same evidence and call the same witnesses. But at least jurors will have to consider fewer charges against DiCarmine, Dewey’s former executive director, and Sanders, the firm’s former chief financial officer.
