Every
time
we
think
we
have
a
handle
on
the
scope
of
the
Biglaw
insider
trading
scheme
that
rocked
elite
M&A
practices
last
week,
it
gets
a
little
bigger.
First
it
was
Yale
Law
grad
Nicolo
Nourafchan
and
his
network
of
well-placed
insiders.
Then
a
cooperating
former
Willkie
Farr
counsel
was
identified,
and
a
Wachtell
co-conspirator
surfaced.
Now
the
Wachtell
attorney
referenced
in
the
indictment
as
“CC-2”
has
a
name:
Avi
Sutton,
former
Wachtell
attorney
and,
until
very
recently,
general
counsel
and
chief
operating
officer
of
boutique
investment
bank
LionTree.
Sutton,
who
was
an
associate
at
Wachtell
from
2013
to
2022,
was
identified
by
Reuters
as
the
unnamed
former
Wachtell
attorney
referenced
in
one
of
the
indictments
unsealed
last
Wednesday,
when
prosecutors
unveiled
charges
against
30
people
in
the
decade-long
scheme.
He
is
not
among
those
charged
and
was
not
identified
by
name
in
the
indictments.
After
leaving
Wachtell,
Sutton
joined
boutique
investment
bank
LionTree
in
2022,
becoming
its
general
counsel
and
chief
operating
officer.
New
York-based
LionTree
focuses
on
technology,
media,
and
telecommunications
deals.
For
those
keeping
score
at
home,
the
scheme
at
the
center
of
this
case
—
orchestrated
by
Yale
Law
grad
and
serial
Biglaw
firm-hopper
Nourafchan
and
his
co-conspirator
Robert
Yadgarov
—
worked
like
this:
Nourafchan
and
Yadgarov
recruited
attorneys
with
access
to
confidential
information
at
elite
firms,
paid
them
kickbacks
of
up
to
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
in
cash,
and
then
fed
those
tips
through
a
layered
network
of
traders
and
middlemen
who
placed
trades
ahead
of
nearly
30
public
merger
announcements,
using
burner
phones,
encrypted
apps,
and
coded
language,
including
referring
to
tips
as
airline
“flights”
and
upcoming
deal
announcements
as
dates
when
a
“rabbi”
was
scheduled
for
surgery.
The
whole
thing
generated
tens
of
millions
of
dollars
in
illicit
profits
and
is
one
of
the
largest
insider
trading
cases
charged
in
years.
According
to
the
indictment,
CC-2’s
first
alleged
tip
came
in
2014,
when
he
passed
information
to
Nourafchan
and
Yadgarov
ganrned
from
his
time
at
Wachtell
that
Tim
Hortons
was
potentially
about
to
be
acquired
by
Burger
King.
The
pair
informed
a
complicit
trader
who
used
a
shell
company
registered
in
the
British
Virgin
Islands
to
purchase
securities,
held
in
a
Russian
brokerage
account.
The
alleged
conduct
continued
through
Sutton’s
time
at
Wachtell
and
apparently
beyond,
with
the
indictment’s
description
of
CC-2
covering
his
move
to
the
investment
bank
as
well.
LionTree’s
response
was
swift.
The
firm
said
in
a
statement:
“The
individual
in
question
was
immediately
placed
on
leave
and
is
no
longer
active
at
the
firm.”
The
company
added
that
it
was
“aware
of
the
filing
identifying
LionTree
as
one
of
many
victims
in
this
alleged
scheme”
and
that
“there
are
no
allegations
of
wrongdoing
against
the
firm.”
And,
yes,
Sutton’s
info
was
yanked
from
the
website.
Longtime
readers
of
Above
the
Law
have
met
Avi
Sutton
before.
Way
back
in
April
2013
(before
Suttonis
alleged
to
have
become
involved
in
the
scheme),
ATL’s
Legal
Eagle
Wedding
Watch
featured
Sutton
and
his
then-bride
Gila
Shlomo
in
a
segment
that
noted,
with
some
enthusiasm,
his
impressive
résumé:
summa
cum
laude
at
Yale,
a
summer
clerkship
at
the
Israeli
Supreme
Court,
a
3L
at
Yale
Law
School,
and
headed
to
Wachtell
after
graduation.
The
ATL
verdict
at
the
time
took
issue
with
some
of
the
groom’s
quoted
remarks
about
the
couple’s
different
backgrounds,
specifically
his
description
of
having
rationalized
the
age
gap
on
their
first
date
with
the
observation
that
they
came
from
“two
different
worlds
in
terms
of
education
and
exposure.”
Sutton
did
go
on
to
build
exactly
the
career
his
résumé
promised:
nearly
nine
years
at
Wachtell
as
a
corporate
attorney
specializing
in
domestic
and
cross-border
transactions,
and
then,
in
2022,
the
move
to
LionTree
as
GC
and
COO.
It
is,
on
paper,
a
remarkable
trajectory.
The
indictment’s
description
of
CC-2
suggests
it
was,
allegedly,
also
a
remarkably
well-monetized
one.
Sutton
is
an
unindicted
co-conspirator,
which
means
he
has
not
been
charged
with
a
crime.
Whether
that
status
reflects
the
government’s
assessment
of
his
culpability,
his
cooperation,
or
simply
where
the
investigation
currently
stands
is
not
clear
from
the
public
record.
What
is
clear
is
that
the
circle
of
elite
legal
and
financial
professionals
implicated
in
this
scheme
keeps
growing.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email her with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter @Kathryn1 or
Bluesky @Kathryn1