Eichenwald's book The Informant is not easy on the government either. It's generally agreed that the district court bungled the case and the prosecution made serious mistakes. The Justice Dept has no special interest in defending the performance of the court. Maybe the reverse. Jim, who is in a position to know, told me that Rats contains major factual errors (he told me some but I forget, you can look up the reviews for discussion); and, as I say, people in the white collar crim biz, including informed defense lawyers and defense-minded legal academics, think that Eichenwald's book is the best account of the ADM case. Wll, people can talk this information or leave it for what it is worth. If you are really interested in ADM, youwill read both books among other things.
--- Michael Perelman <michael at ecst.csuchico.edu> wrote:
> Of course, anyone on the government side would think
> it was a piece of crap; it slams
> the government's performance.
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 10:15:39PM -0800, andie
> nachgeborenen wrote:
> >
> > When he was a junior partner and I was mid-level
> > associate at Kirkland & Ellis, a big law firm, I
> > worked under Jim Mutchnik, formerly a Justice Dept
> > antitrust lawyer, and a lead prosecutor in the ADM
> > case. He told me that Rats In The Grain was a
> piece of
> > garbage and the most reliable book on the case was
> > Kurt Eichenwald's The Informant. Jim probably
> knows
> > more about the ADM case than anyone, and the book
> is
> > not overly flattering to him either (it shows that
> he
> > made some serious mistakes in the prosecution of
> the
> > case). It's generally regarded as the standard
> study
> > in the white collar crime biz (I mean among
> lawyers
> > and legal academics), in which I am a bit player.
> I
> > wouldn't say it's apologetics. Far from it. His
> book
> > on Enron (Conspiracy of Fools) is quite good,
> although
> > not as good as The Smartest Guys In The Room
> (McLean &
> > Elkind), and his book on the Prudential-Bache
> debacle,
> > Serpent on the Rock, is also excellent.
> >
> > --- Michael Perelman <michael at ecst.csuchico.edu>
> > wrote:
> >
> > > In Rats in the Grain, about the case against
> ADM, KE
> > > plays a villianous role,
> > > protecting the corporation & undermining its
> > > critics.
> > > --
> > > Michael Perelman
> > > Economics Department
> > > California State University
> > > Chico, CA 95929
> > >
> > > Tel. 530-898-5321
> > > E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
> > > michaelperelman.wordpress.com
> > > ___________________________________
> > >
> >
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
____________________________________________________________________________________
> > Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
> > in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
> >
>
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> > ___________________________________
> >
>
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>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
> michaelperelman.wordpress.com
> ___________________________________
>
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>
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