Prof. Painter Cited in Thomson Reuters Article on Court-Appointed Lawyers

Professor Richard Painter was cited in a Thomson Reuters story on the appeal to the Second Circuit of an order by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff refusing to approve a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup. As both parties urged approval of the settlement, the Second Circuit asked Judge Rakoff to suggest a lawyer who would argue against approval of the settlement, an arrangement that Painter likened to other situations in which a court appoints a lawyer or other "special master" to assist the court with its analysis of a case. "He is not Judge Rakoff's lawyer. He is a lawyer for the judicial circuit to present one side of the argument," says Painter. "We don't have a system where trial judges go before the court of appeals to defend their opinion. They make their case in the opinion."