Securities Litigation Partner Hunt S. Ricker was quoted in a Decrypt article about the FTX criminal fraud trial on August 23, 2023. In “Sam Bankman-Fried Says FTX Lawyers Said Insider Loans and ‘Sham’ Agreement Were Okay,” Hunt noted that if the FTX founder did receive assurances that his conduct was legal after making “complete disclosures” to his counsel, a core component of the defense will be showing that he relied upon that advice in good faith.
“To the extent that it is demonstrated to be accurate, SBF’s reliance on the advice of counsel is a fair defense,” Hunt said. “The government will be required to show, beyond a reasonable doubt, that SBF had an unlawful intent to commit fraud.”
Hunt added, “Because ‘good faith’ is a state of mind, this will require a deeper inquiry into what SBF knew or understood about his actions. For this reason, asserting an advice-of-counsel defense is also a near certain waiver of the attorney-client privilege, as it may put those communications with counsel at issue.”
To read the full article, go to FTX Fraud Trial.
