BusinessWeek has published a very interesting story about the [tag]outside counsel[\/tag] for [tag]Enron[\/tag], Vinson & Elkins. The firm played in integral role in Enron’s deals, and the [tag]SEC[\/tag] is investigating the advice that the firm gave Enron. The question remains whether the law firm was a co-[tag]conspirator[\/tag] in the shenanigans, or whether it was just an unknowing part of drafting documents for bad deals.
\nFrom the article:<\/p>\n
Amid all the carnage that has surrounded Enron’s collapse, one player in the drama has remained remarkably unscathed: Vinson & Elkins, the giant Houston law firm that played a central role advising the company throughout its spectacular rise and fall. Accounting firm [tag]Arthur Andersen[\/tag] is dead, JPMorgan Chase has spent $2.2 billion settling a [tag]shareholder fraud[\/tag] lawsuit filed in a Houston federal court, a handful of other banks and outside Enron directors have coughed up nearly $5 billion more, and yet V&E has not even had a slap on the wrist. Not a single lawyer at the firm has faced professional [tag]misconduct[\/tag] charges by the Texas bar, the firm has yet to pay a penny in [tag]damages[\/tag], and Joseph Dilg, the partner who oversaw the Enron account, is now V&E’s managing partner. In 2005, it became the first Texas law firm in which average partner compensation broke $1 million.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n