Ex-Biglaw Partner And Former Client Go At It In Criminal Case

Greebel's defense will consist of throwing Shkreli under the bus.

Evan Greebel and Martin Shkreli

Evan Greebel and Martin Shkreli

Remember Evan Greebel? He was a partner at Kaye Scholer (he’s since resigned) and was arrested in 2015 for securities fraud. While a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman he was the attorney for Retrophin Inc. where Martin Shkreli — the former pharma king everyone loves to hate — was CEO. The crux of the government’s allegations is that the pair defrauded Retrophin in order to pay off Shkreli’s unrelated debts.

As we previewed over a year ago, Shkreli is forwarding a theory that all of the questionable financial arrangements were signed off by Greebel. Indeed, his attorney, Benjamin Brafman, is pointing to thousands of emails between the two and millions paid in legal fees to argue “Greebel had detailed knowledge of the innermost aspects of Shkreli’s business.”

Now we know that Greebel’s defense will consist of throwing Shkreli under the bus, as reported by Law.com:

Greebel’s lawyers, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Reed Brodsky and Winston Chan and of counsel Lisa Rubin, said his defense will include “concomitant proof that Mr. Shkreli committed fraud—unbeknownst to Mr. Greebel—against investors. And, if the jury believes Mr. Greebel, the jury will necessarily find Mr. Shkreli guilty.”

“We intend to, in effect, prosecute Mr. Shkreli at trial for committing these acts of deception,” Gibson Dunn attorneys said.

So… yeah, the defendants have asked that their trials be separated.

Greebel’s attorneys are also taking shots at Shkreli’s behavior:

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“Shkreli’s post-arrest conduct has been nothing short of bizarre,” they said, citing his social media remarks involving Taylor Swift, a Teen Vogue writer and Hillary Clinton.

Shkreli is “purposely creating a circus-like atmosphere … to disrupt the trial and achieve jury nullification along the lines of, in Mr. Shkreli’s own words, ‘O.J. Simpson [and] Casey Anthony’,” Gibson Dunn attorney said.

One thing is certain: the case will continue to keep Biglaw gossip mills churning.


headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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