Securities and Exchange Commission v. Mozilo

In one of the most prominent cases arising from the financial crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Angelo Mozilo and other executives for securities fraud and insider trading related to their work running Countrywide Financial and its mortgage businesses. David Siegel, Dan Lefler, and Chad Elder at Irell & Manella LLP engaged Compass Lexecon affiliate Professor Kenneth Lehn to testify about materiality of alleged misstatements and Compass Lexecon affiliate Professor Christopher Culp to testify about the financial crisis and its effect on Countrywide’s operations. David Gross supervised a team at Compass Lexecon Chicago office, including Mike Keable, Peter Clayburgh, Andrea Neves, Sam Hollander, Laura Yergesheva, Anne Marie Yale, and George Hickey. After depositions, the Defendants settled with the SEC on the eve of trial on favorable terms that were widely described as a “slap on the wrist” in the press.