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March 21, 2008
How do sophisticated lawyers negotiate sentencing terms?
The WSJ Law Blog here and here provides effective coverage and links concerning famed lawyer Mel Weiss's decision to enter a deal to agree to plead guilty in a case alleging improper kickbacks. The plea deal can be accessed here, and it is an interesting read.
I was particularly interested in paragraph 15, which sets forth the agreed upon sentencing terms. And for some reason the parties came up with a range of 18 to 33 months imprisonment. I think they got these terms from the top and botton of a range of guideline ranges, but it is fun to just speculate about how the big-time lawyers on both sides approached this part of the plea negotiations.
March 21, 2008 at 04:03 PM | Permalink
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Comments
Good work by defense counsel.
The defendant could have been facing at least 9 million in fraud that would have guidelined out in excess of 5 years. In addition, the trial judge could jack the sentence because lawyers should know better.
Instead, they negotiated (read bought for 9 million dollars cash) an 11 (c)(1)(C)agreement that caps the sentence at 30 months and eliminates the possiblity of an "upward departure."
That is one possibility.
Posted by: ky | Mar 22, 2008 5:00:59 PM
