Yesterday's newsletter covered a speech delivered by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in which he suggested that  for governmental enforcement actions. In a story that is at least thematically related, SEC Commissioner Lee criticizes "can do" lawyering that is "born from a desire to give management the answer it wants."

In her speech, Commissioner Lee acknowledges that "Most lawyers generally err on the side of caution." The implication of this observation is…

The suggestion that defense attorneys, whether representing legal entities or individual defendants, should serve as a "force multiplier" for the government is arguably ill-phrased. It is of course the obligation of a private attorney to represent a client honestly and within the bounds of the law. It is not the job of a private attorney to serve as a force multiplier for the government. While no doubt Mr. Garland's remarks were intended to emphasize the legal obligations of attorneys,…

This Roundtable focused on climate change risk. Given her broad responsibilities as Secretary of the Treasury, however, Ms. Yellin should consider this risk in the broader context, say in relation to the economic risks of higher gasoline prices. See, e.g. . If climate change was the only relevant risk and energy prices were an irrelevancy, the country could simply stop the use of fossil fuels tomorrow. Of course, that is not the case, and the Secretary of the Treasury is in the…

The disciplinary action is useful for laundry listing a number of the comparisons that a broker-dealer is required to make in considering whether it is obtaining best execution.