Biglaw

Former Skadden Associate Is First To Be Sentenced In Mueller Probe

He'll probably lose his license to practice law, too.

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

It was just last week that Alex van der Zwaan, a former associate at the London office of Skadden Arps, turned in a sentencing memo to Judge Amy Berman Jackson, begging for leniency in sentencing — specifically, for a sentence that didn’t include jail time. Van der Zwaan had been 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 he pleaded guilty shortly thereafter.

Today, in the first criminal punishment imposed as a result of the Mueller investigation, Van der Zwaan — who faced up to six months in jail — received a 30-day sentence. “What I did was wrong,” he said in an apology given during his hearing.

Van der Zwaan was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine and serve two months of supervised release.

[Judge] Jackson refused van der Zwaan’s request to just pay a fine for lying to Mueller team. “We’re not talking about a traffic ticket,” she said.

Van der Zwaan stands to lose much more than just his freedom for a month’s time. He’s already lost his prestigious job at Skadden, his “professional life has been destroyed,” and he’ll likely lose his license to practice law in the United Kingdom. Van der Zwaan lied to investigators to save his career, and now he doesn’t have one. He’ll be trading his golden Biglaw handcuffs for standard-order shackles.

As noted by Judge Jackson, Van der Zwaan “put his personal interests ahead of the interests of justice” and should have known better, since he’s an attorney. At least his sentence is short enough that he’ll be able to reunite with his wife — whom he apologized to in court — before she gives birth to their first child this summer.

Ex-Skadden Associate Gets 30-Day Jail Sentence for Lying to Mueller’s Team [New York Law Journal]
Attorney Alex van der Zwaan, first person sentenced in Mueller probe, gets 30 days in prison [NBC News]

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