Throw the Book at Elizabeth Holmes, But No Schadenfreude about Anna Delvey (aka Anna Sorokin)

 Of course, Elizabeth Holmes is back - that is, through her lawyers. The stakes are so high for when she's sentenced on September 26th. Each of the four fraud-related charges carries a possible sentence of 20 years in prison. Also, there is a possible $250,000 fine. 

Insider reports:

"Elizabeth Holmes has pleaded with a judge to overturn her conviction for wire fraud, with her attorney saying there is 'insufficient evidence' for any 'rational juror' to proceed with the conviction ..." 

In July, the court will hear the appeal. It looks like the focus will be primarily about defrauding investors. Recall that even a savvy estates lawyer from Cravath - David Mosely - fell for the Holmes' agenda for changing the world and invested. Lawyers for Holmes argue there is no evidence of a conspiracy to defraud investors by Holmes and Sunny Balwani, another executive at Theranos. Balwani has been on trial for similar charges. Material from his trial might be used at Holmes' appeal and sentencing. 

This latest filing is routine - and expected.

Like glam con Anna Delvey aka Anna Sorokin, Holmes has dazzled. As John Milton hammers in "Paradise Lost," it's evil, not good, which gets the attention. In that book, the devil fascinates, the deity is, well, boring. 

Both Delvey ("Inventing Anna") and Holmes ("The Dropout") have had popular documentaries produced about them.

What their sagas scream out is this: How easily human beings can be duped. Sorokin had the A-listers believing in her supposed pedigree and wealth. Old men who once possessed great influence and power such as Henry Kissinger and the late George Schultz treated her like a young genius. On the Theranos board of directors their behavior could be assessed as passive. 

However, there is also the very classic human feeling of schadenfreude or rejoicing at others' misfortunes. So many of us want Holmes to be incarcerated for years and years.

On the other hand, we don't have a shot at being gleeful that Delvey has been separated from the good life. In the ICE detention center she is having a merry old time of it. Recently she produced an art show. As a prank or for real she indicated she had started a law firm. For that retainer would only be paid in dogecoin. She is resilient and she is creative. 

Could it come down to this: We like Anna. We don't like Elizabeth. The "we" in this situation is Everywoman, not the geriatric males. 

Connect with Editor-in-Chief Jane Genova at janegenova374@gmail.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Twitter - Can a Lawyer Stop Elon Musk?

 "'I wish we had done better with lots of things,' [Chief Executive Officer Parag] Agrawal said during the call [an impromptu kind of town meeting with all Twitter employees]." - Insider, April 29, 2022. Earlier the media reported that the chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde wept at a meeting with her people. She reflected that the future was so uncertain. She also expressed her extreme pride in what they had accomplished. The mood among both the leadership and rank-and-file at Twitter seems to be grief. The profound kind when something big is about be lost - forever. Decades ago so many Gulf Oil employees - present and past - experienced exactly that when Chevron acquired it. Intuitively we knew Our Family of Orange had been wiped out.  Although the details are different, what is going on at Twitter and the new film "Memory" could be this: The sense that the very very rich are unstoppable and beyond the norms of society and even justice.  Already Musk ...
Read more

Timing Is Just Right for US Government to Create The Ministry of Magic

The good versus evil meme plays out over control of the Ministry of Magic. That's the delightful plot and setting for the latest sequel in the "Fantastic Beasts" film series. This one has the subtitle "Secrets of Dumbledore." The good side is represented by Albus Dumbledore and the evil one by Gellert Grindelwald. What hangs this all together is the need to protect the mystical creature Qilin  which can see into souls and foresee the future. Meanwhile Grindelwald has conjured up a fraudulent version of the  Qilin.  Magic, of course, is the way problems are solved and opportunities are seized in the film. Those on the Dumbledore team use white magic. Those on Grindelwald's the toxic kind. But, white magic wins, thanks to the ability to get the  Qilin  to the election to select what leader is pure of heart. Along the way the displays of fanastic whatevers, including the beasts, are amazing. And, like a Shakespearean comedy, the film ends with a wedding. Al...
Read more

Paul Weiss' ESG & Law Institute - What's In It for Law Schools ...

 " ... he [David Curran] says the biggest challenge is the lack of law school education surrounding ESG. 'We had to put this whole curriculum together at our firm that didn't exist, and the same is true everywhere else,' Curran said. 'There is no course at a law school about this, but we're hoping that in the next 18 months that changes.'" - Anna Sanders, Law360, April 13, 2022. It had been two years and one month ago since David Currant had become The Chief Sustainability and ESG Officer at law firm Paul Weiss. That was for its newly launched Sustainability – ESG practice . The innovation had been the first-ever in the US legal sector. Its mission has been to guide corporate leaders through the landmines of ESG (Environmental Social Governance) values. Here is how Paul Weiss puts it: “We advise on matters such as stakeholder engagement, corporate governance, crisis management, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, diversity and inclusion...
Read more