AG Watch

That’s right-it turns out that while we’ve all been focused on the enforcement side of Spitzer’s corporate scandals, we’ve missed out on the real humanitarian story. As the New York Times reports today (”After Scandals, New Legal Stars Rise on Wall St.,” 5/20/05), compliance lawyers who were once regarded as “the bottom of the food chain,” in “dead-end job[s] with no future” have finally been rescued from poverty and obscurity by General “Comply or I’ll make your stock worthless” Spitzer. Finally, a hand up for the downtrodden.

As a side note, one’s mild curiosity as to the best qualifications for a compliance lawyer are somewhat sharpened by the Times’ mention of Beth Golden, former deputy for special projects in Spitzer’s office, and current “global head of compliance” for Bear, Stearns. Perhaps Eliot would second the article’s closing quote: “There is just no substitute for direct access to a C.E.O.”