Lawyers On The Stand Backfired In AIG Case

Damning emails came to light after the Justice Department decided to put two Davis Polk attorneys on the stand to defend against former AIG executive Maurice R. Greenberg. The judge ruled their testimony waived attorney-client privilege, and that led to post-trial discovery, which significantly impacted the trial. The email – in which a Davis Polk lawyer said the government “is on thin ice and they know it” – showed the law firm was working in tandem with the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to deny Greenberg and other AIG shareholders the chance to vote on the government’s bailout plan in 2008, Judge Thomas C. Wheeler of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims said. Though Wheeler sided with Greenberg, he did not award any damages.