Indicted Hedge Fund Honcho Rajaratnam Replaces Gibson Dunn with Akin Gump
By Andrew Longstreth
October 26, 2009
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When it comes to white-collar defendants, hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam is right now at the crest of the news cycle. Last week, James Walden of Gibson Dunn, & Crutcher seemed to be all set to ride the headlines with the Galleon Group founder, who, as you know, was arrested on insider trading charges earlier this month. But on Monday, Walden was pushed overboard in favor of a new lawyer: John Dowd of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.DealBook, which broke the story, is reporting that Rajaratnam was in discussions with other firms--including Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman--even after he first handed Gibson Dunn the assignment. Sources told The Am Law Daily's Brian Baxter that Rajaratnam also considered Barry Berke of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, though it would seem to us that Berke has his hands full these days with the upcoming trial of jailed ex-New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik.
Dowd, whose high-profile clients have included Senator John McCain (in his Keating Five days) and former Major League Baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (who hired Dowd to conduct the Pete Rose gambling investigation), was not immediately available for comment to The Am Law Daily. Walden of Gibson Dunn confirmed the change of counsel in a statement.
"Mr. Rajartnam has retained John Dowd of Akin Gump to represent him going forward, and we are pleased he will continue to get great legal representation," said Walden's statement. "We've laid a strong foundation for Mr. Rajartnam's defense and will work to make sure his defense may continue without missing a step in fighting these charges to clear his name."
