Siegel knew he had an uphill battle when the Department of Justice threw the gauntlet at his client, Angelo Mozilo. The record-setting $16 billion settlement involving Bank of America Corp.'s role in the 2008 housing crisis had included Mozilo's former company, Countrywide Financial, as a subsidiary. Mozilo left the company in 2008, months before it was bought by Bank of America, but the Department of Justice went after the former CEO as an individual shortly after the settlement.
"We were trying to manage the process of the investigation," Siegel said. "We wanted to hit pause and, once [the politics] did slow down, give them the information most valuable whether or not they should pursue this case. We were preparing for what we were told was imminent."
Mozilo was the first high-profile executive to be formally charged by the government in the wake of the housing crisis. According to Siegel, that meant a lot of political backlash and media attention, all negative against his client.
"Sometimes, I'd think, 'Can't I just stick with no comment?' or maybe get something out there to try to calm political waters," said Siegel. "He faced a barrage in the public media. I remember watching a presidential debate in 2008 and being a little chilled by the fact that both mentioned my client in a negative light. He had the entire force of government against him."
But Siegel had an edge on federal investigators: He and his firm, Irell & Manella, had represented Mozilo in almost 100 cases. His team of 10 lawyers from the firm and "one very active paralegal" became what Siegel referred to as a "clearinghouse," sifting through Mozilo's past transactions with individuals and corporations the firm had on file.
"This was really a culmination of that work and effort," he said. "You don't get invited when they talk to a witness... You have to live with a network that you built among local practitioners to present a common defense and get ahead of the next interview."
In June of this year, the DOJ terminated its investigation, a tremendous win for Siegel, who had been wrestling with the DOJ since 2013 when momentum started to pick up in the Bank of America investigation.
"This result was personally and professionally rewarding and what meant the most was the acknowledgment I received from [Mozilo] with what we did," Siegel said. "That's why I wanted to do it in the first place."
? Paula Lehman-Ewing
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