Biglaw

Former Skadden Associate Who Pleaded Guilty In Mueller Probe Begs For No Jail Time

He's already lost his Biglaw career, isn't that punishment enough?

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Alex van der Zwaan (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Late last month, Alex van der Zwaan, a former associate at the London office of Skadden Arps, was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for lying to investigators in the Russia probe about his communications with former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates, and pleaded guilty shortly thereafter. Earlier this week, he again entered a plea before the court — this time, for leniency in sentencing.

In a sentencing memo submitted to Judge Amy Berman Jackson by his lawyer, Cooley partner William Schwartz, Van der Zwaan, who faces up to six months in prison, says that jail time isn’t necessary in his case, since he’s already “been serving a sentence while stuck in limbo” here in the United States. As noted in the memo, Van der Zwaan “has been alone, separated from his wife; he has lost his job and his career; and he has to live with the knowledge that his suffering and that of his family is due to his own actions.” Isn’t that punishment enough?

Van der Zwaan claims that he initially lied to investigators to protect his career; after all, he was represented by Skadden lawyers during his first interview with the Office of the Special Counsel, and he assumed that “anything he shared with the OSC would simultaneously be heard by Skadden.” Two weeks later, unaccompanied by Skadden attorneys, Van der Zwaan returned to the U.S. to correct the record, presenting evidence against himself to Mueller’s team.

Though his conduct was “inexcusable,” Van der Zwaan says his cooperation and remorse are “compelling mitigating factors in considering just punishment.” Mueller’s team politely disagrees. The National Law Journal has the details:

In their own memo, lawyers for Mueller told the judge she should not rule out prison time, due to a “scarcity of mitigating factors, and several aggravating circumstances.” They said van der Zwaan “is a person to whom every advantage in life has been given,” and that the government rightly expected “candor and uprightness” from him.

“While there might eventually be additional professional consequences that befall a foreign lawyer who commits a United States felony, those consequences do not themselves obviate the need for his current sentence to reflect the seriousness of his crime, to promote respect for the law, or to provide adequate specific and general deterrence,” prosecutors wrote.

Best of luck to Alex van der Zwaan — whose career has “turned to dust” — as he attempts to stay out of jail. According to his sentencing memo, “[h]is days are empty and lonely,” and we imagine they’ll only get worse if he actually has to serve time in jail instead of “serving a sentence” in a hotel.

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Ex-Skadden Associate Charged in Mueller’s Russia Probe Seeks Nonjail Sentence [National Law Journal]
Former Skadden associate argues repercussions are sentence enough for lying in special counsel probe [ABA Journal]

Earlier: Ex-Skadden Associate Indicted In Mueller Probe Pleads Guilty

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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