In our May issue, we published our annual “Best Lawyers in Dallas” list. A lawyer named Spencer C. Barasch appears on the list — or he appeared. Another lawyer in town wrote us a letter suggesting that perhaps Barasch did not belong on the list. From the New York Times last year:
A former enforcement official for the Securities and Exchange Commission who was accused of blocking or closing at least three investigations into the activities of the Stanford Financial Group, which the authorities claim was a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, has settled civil charges brought by the Justice Department accusing him of violating conflict-of-interest rules by later representing Stanford before the commission.
John M. Bales, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, announced Friday that the former official, Spencer C. Barasch, who from 1998 to 2005 served as the enforcement director for the S.E.C.’s Fort Worth regional office, had agreed to a civil settlement that would result in payment of a $50,000 fine.
Before we publish the list, which is based on votes from peers, a panel of well-respected lawyers reviews the names, and we check with the State Bar to make sure each winner is in good standing with that organization. Regrettably, Barasch made it through that screening process. Thanks to our vigilant letter writer, the oversight has been corrected.
