No, not the fact that the Wall Street Journal misspelled its name today as ”Cummin & Lockwood”, but because Bruce G. Wood joined the firm as a principal just in time to embroil them in a law suit from Fortress Group.
Fortress alleges that before buying one of the notes Mr. Dreier was arranging to sell, it wanted an independent legal opinion from an “internationally recognized law firm” on the transaction.
Mr. Dreier proposed Dechert, a law firm with 19 offices and nearly 900 attorneys.
Dechert in a legal opinion letter assured Fortress that one transaction—a $50 million loan Fortress would make to property owner Solow Realty & Development Co.—was legitimate, the suit says. The letter said Dechert represented Solow in the deal, the suit alleges.
“In fact, the loan was an utter sham, the proceeds of which Dreier misappropriated for his own use,” says the complaint, which was filed by Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP.
Dechert never confirmed its relationship with Solow with a telephone call or email to anyone at Solow, the lawsuit alleges. The opinion letter also stated that the loan documents had been “duly executed and delivered” by Solow, when they were actually forged by Dreier, the suit says.
Instead, Dechert allegedly relied on Mr. Dreier’s assurances that the transaction was legitimate, Fortress alleges.
Had Dechert not issued its legal opinion, Fortress wouldn’t have entered into the loan transaction, the complaint says.
Bruce Wood, the Dechert partner who worked on the assignment, left Dechert shortly after Mr. Dreier’s arrest, according to the complaint. He is now a partner at Cummins & Lockwood in Stamford, Conn.
Mr. Wood on Monday declined to comment. Jonathan Mills, chairman at Cummins & Lockwood, declined to comment.
I’m not sure how you can vouch for forged loan documents and sham corporate authorizations, as Mr. Woods is alleged to have done but brother, he’s got some ‘splaining to do.
