Walter Chet Little
When Walter “Chet” Little was arrested on charges related to insider trading in August, he pleaded not guilty, but the former Foley & Lardner partner has had a change of heart. As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Little pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit insider trading, and the government has agreed to move for the dismissal of the other charges against the attorney.
All things considered, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney seems pretty pleased with himself:
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“As he admitted in court … Walter Little, while a law firm partner, accessed confidential information about firm clients, and then traded on it,” acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement. “He violated the terms of his employment, the canons of his profession and federal securities laws. Now Walter Little awaits sentencing for his crime.”
Little will faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross amount gained when sentenced on February 22, though his attorney will argue there are mitigating factors:
“He did plead guilty to the conspiracy, and we look forward to presenting a sizable amount of mitigation evidence to the court at the time of sentencing,” [Little’s attorney, Todd Foster of the Todd Foster Law Group] said.
Little’s legal troubles began while he was still a partner at Foley & Lardner. In June 2016, the Biglaw firm opened an investigation after learning about his trading activity. Little now admits he accessed and traded on non-public information, though not related to matters he worked directly on. As reported by Law.com, the investigation resulted in Little’s ouster from not one, but two firms:
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That investigation revealed a violation of firm policies and prompted Foley & Lardner to take action that resulted in Little’s departure from the firm. Foley & Lardner also said it reported its findings to authorities and cooperated with them throughout their investigation.
After Foley & Lardner, Little joined Bradley Arant’s Tampa office in the summer of 2016. In the wake of Little’s arrest less than a year later, that firm quickly dismissed the lawyer. The firm’s board chairman and managing partner Beau Grenier said in a statement in May that Bradley Arant conducted significant due diligence before hiring Little, but the firm was unaware of any investigations into Little until the government had made an arrest and brought charges.
According to court documents, Little’s co-defendant, neighbor and friend Andrew Berke, plans to change his not-guilty plea during a hearing next month. Both men still face a civil suit brought by the SEC.
Kathryn 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).