Biglaw, Crime, White-Collar Crime

Former Biglaw Partner To Plead Guilty To Criminal Tax Law Violations

He's not the first Biglaw partner to run afoul of the tax laws, and he won't be the last.

By  
on

This morning, Theodore V.H. Mayer, managing partner of Hughes Hubbard & Reed, sent out the following firm-wide email:

I regret to have to report that our former partner, Jeff Galloway, who resigned from the firm earlier this month, expects to be in the Supreme Court of the State of New York today to plead guilty to one or more criminal violations of New York tax law.

The charges relate entirely to Jeff’s personal taxes and not to his work for the firm. It is of course our policy that our partners, and all of our people, must comply with the law at all times.

Should you receive any outside inquiry regarding Jeff, please refer it to me or to our general counsel, Jim Kobak.

Thank you all.

Ted

The message speaks for itself, but we’ve reached out to Mayer and Kobak in case the firm has additional comment. We’ll update this post if and when we hear from them.

Jeff Galloway — the lawyer, not to be confused with the Olympic runner — is no longer on the Hughes Hubbard website. If you check out his LinkedIn profile, posted in full on the next page, you’ll see that he describes himself now as a “Consultant” — the last refuge of scoundrels.[1]

According to his LinkedIn profile, Galloway started working at Hughes Hubbard in September 1981, meaning he worked at the firm for more than 33 years. He practiced as a litigator in the areas of intellectual property and products liability. He’s one smart cookie, with degrees from M.I.T. (bachelor’s in engineering), Stanford (master’s in engineering), and Columbia (law).

Smart enough to follow the tax laws? Apparently not. But in fairness to Galloway, he’s not the first Biglaw partner to run into trouble on this front. See also, e.g., Theodore Freedman of Kirkland & Ellis (sentenced to one year in prison); John J. O’Brien of Sullivan & Cromwell (sentenced to two-plus years in prison).

We’ll keep you posted on subsequent developments. If you have information to share about Jeff Galloway, feel free to email us or text us (646-820-8477). Thanks.

Sponsored

[1] I’m not talking about McKinsey or BCG types, of course. I’m talking about people who leave their jobs in disgrace or controversy and then start calling themselves “consultants,” giving legitimate consultants a bad name.

UPDATE (4:45 p.m.): Here’s additional coverage from the Wall Street Journal and Law360. From Law360:

A product liability attorney has pled guilty to tax fraud for failing to pay New York state taxes over a five-year period while he was taking in close to a million dollars a year as a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, prosecutors said Thursday.

Jeff H. Galloway, 61, of Manhattan copped to one felony count of criminal tax fraud for failing to file his New York personal income tax return and pay state taxes, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

Galloway filed no personal state tax returns between 2005 and 2010, and when confronted about it by the New York Department of Taxation and Finance, he lied to investigators, falsely blaming the tax dodge on a typographical error in his Social Security number, and then filed false amended returns, prosecutors said.

Galloway will be officially sentenced on July 22. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he must pay $600,000 in taxes, resign from the bar, and serve three months in jail — an unfortunate end to an otherwise long and successful legal career.

(Flip to the next page for Jeff Galloway’s LinkedIn profile.)

Sponsored

1 2Next »

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , ,