Schmidt
via
Weil
Gotshal
Weil
Gotshal
partner
Gerhard
Schmidt,
co-managing
partner
of
the
Biglaw
firm’s
German
offices
and
a
private
equity
and
mergers
&
acquisitions
attorney,
is
on
the
hot
seat
thanks
to
a
€5
million
personal
investment.
According
to
reporting
by
the
Financial
Times,
in
2017
Schmidt
invested
the
money
in
private
equity
group
Novalpina
Capital,
sans
the
typical
investor
fees
due
to
his
relationship
with
the
founders,
and
chaired
Novalpina
Capital.
That
PE
fund
purchased
Israel’s
NSO
Group,
which
infamously
makes
the
military
grade
spyware
Pegasus
which
has
allegedly
been
used
to
spy
on
human
right
activists,
dissidents,
and
journalists.
In
2021,
the
fund
hit
financial
difficulties,
and
its
founders,
Stephen
Peel,
Stefan
Kowski
and
Bastian
Lueken,
had
a
fall
out
–all
of
which
is
the
subject
of
litigation
in
Luxembourg.
A
new
filing
made
in
a
New
York
court,
seeks
to
have
Weil
provide
information
in
that
case.
Court
documents
indicate
Schmidt
advised
Novalpina
on
the
NSO
deal,
and
he
was
a
member
of
the
board
of
the
holding
company
that
oversaw
NSO
operations.
In
November
2021,
the
US
Commerce
Department blacklisted
NSO,
saying
Pegasus
enabled
“transnational
repression,
which
is
the
practice
of
authoritarian
governments
targeting
dissidents,
journalists
and
activists
outside
of
their
sovereign
borders
to
silence
dissent.”
NSO’s
Pegasus
tool
can
read
encrypted
messages,
turn
on
a
phone’s
camera
and
microphone
remotely,
and
track
its
location.When
NSO’s
oversight
board
took
steps
to
renew
Saudi
Arabia’s
access
to
the
tool
after
the
murder
of
journalist
Jamal
Khashoggi,
Schmidt
was
among
those
who
“would
have
been
voting”,
the
court
filing
said.NSO
had
halted
a
contract
with
Saudi
Arabia
after
allegations
that
its
technology
had
been
used
to
track
Khashoggi,
who
was
murdered
in
2018.
The
kingdom’s
access
to
the
software
was
restored
by
mid-2019,
according
to
two
people
familiar
with
the
decision.
Schmidt
is
retiring
from
Weil
at
the
end
of
the
year
and
the
firm
is
retooling
its
German
leadership
team
as
a
result.
A
statement
from
NSO
said
it
“complies
fully
with
all
applicable
laws
and
regulations,
and
sells
its
technologies
exclusively
to
vetted
intelligence
and
law
enforcement
agencies.”
Earlier:
Biglaw
Firm
Dragged
Into
Case
Accusing
Client
Of
Whitewashing
Sketchy
Investments
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
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the
best,
so
please
connect
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her.
Feel
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