Legal News

Why Did Filings List Law Firms as Madoff Customers?

By Dan Slater

As we were writing this morning’s post on the Madoff bankruptcy filings, we had to backtrack. Initially, we called the people and entities listed in the 162-page filing “investors.” But, in fact, the filing refers to them as “customers.” Is there a difference?

There might be. Poring over the list, we saw that at least three New York law firms — Wolf Popper, Moses & Singer, and Wolf Haldenstein — were included. So was Mintz Levin Financial Advisors, which presumably is affiliated with the Boston law firm of the same name. But when we called Wolf Popper, partners Jim Harrod and Robert Finkel said they had no idea why their firm showed up on the list

“I have to assume that that’s a mistake,” Harrod told the LB. “I’d have to assume that someone would’ve told me if we were invested with Madoff. We can tell you that the firm did not make any investment on its own behalf with Bernard Madoff or with any other entities that invested through him.”

However, Finkel said that the firm has sued feeder-fund Fairfield Greenwich on behalf of clients. (Here’s the suit.)

That could also explain Moses & Singer’s inclusion on the “customer” list. The firm’s Web site says it’s representing clients in connection with the Madoff situation. A firm spokeswoman told us that, while the firm is not a customer of Bernie Madoff, “the firm may be acting as trustee for one of the customers.”

A lawyer at Wolf Haldenstein did not have a ready answer for the firm’s cameo on the list.

We also noticed some bold-faced lawyers on the list, namely Mel Weiss and David Bershad. Calls to Stephen Weiss, Mel’s son, and to Bershad’s attorney were not immediately returned.

UPDATE: A spokeswoman from Mintz Levin sent us an e-mail: “The reason Mintz Levin Financial Advisors appeared on the list,” she wrote, “is because it got duplicate account statements on behalf of a client who had a legacy account with Madoff.”

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).