Nanci L. Clarence

What seemed to be a typical white-collar criminal defense case quickly spiraled into a series of many firsts for Clarence and the legal system.

Clarence represented Annabel McClellan against the Securities and Exchange Commission in a civil fraud case involving insider trading accusations.

McClellan, along with her husband and former Deloitte Tax LLP partner, Arnold, were charged with revealing confidential information to their British in-laws, James and Miranda Sanders. James Sanders ran a derivatives trading firm in London and allegedly reaped $3 million in profits that ultimately was shared with the McClellans.

While Annabel McClellan initially denied all allegations, she later admitted that she did pass on confidential information to her sister and brother-in-law without her husband's knowledge.

Annabel McClellan eventually paid a $1 million civil fine and was sentenced to 11 months in prison. The sentence was shorter than prosecutors' recommendation that she serve 14 months for obstructing the SEC investigation. Her husband was cleared of any wrongdoing, while James and Miranda Sanders were sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison, respectively, in Britain.

Clarence said that what made the case remarkable was the synergy of international authorities.

"It seems obvious that in this day of global markets that there would be a high degree of cooperation," said Clarence. "But I don't think there had been an investigation jointly handled by U.S. authorities and the British Financial Services Authority."

Clarence added that she had to pay particular attention to the family dynamics in the case, as they were "very tangled." She said she had to balance dealing with a husband, wife, sister and brother-in-law with "learning at warp speed" how to deal with simultaneous U.S. and U.K. investigations.

"These are the type of cases that epitomize what we like to do," Clarence said. "Complicated issues that are fast moving and the core of the case involves working pretty intimately with our clients."

Clarence quickly discovered differences in the two nation's legal systems. For one, she said defendants in the U.K. were more likely to make statements early on with their counsel. As a result Clarence said there is much more open discovery early on.

Clarence envisions the amount of materials released in discovery in the U.S. increasing significantly in the future.

"Terabyte cases are nothing now, even in criminal cases. And it's electronic media that is comprising most of our discovery," she said. "As government entities begin to seize thousands and thousands of hard drives, there's going to be more and more pressure for information to be turned over sooner."

- RYNE HODKOWSKI