The Nevin Shetty Case and What It Means for Seattle's Startup community Seattle has spent two decades building one of the most productive technology ecosystems in the world. The city's startup scene, powered by talent flowing from Amazon, Microsoft, and the University of Washington, has produced companies worth billions across e-commerce, cloud computing, healthcare, and financial technology. With that growth has come
Fiduciary Duty or Criminal Fraud? The Nevin Shetty Case Puts the Distinction on Trial American law has maintained a clear line between fiduciary breaches and criminal fraud for centuries. A CFO who fails to disclose a conflict of interest can be sued. A CFO who steals company funds can be imprisoned. The difference is not subtle: one involves a governance failure, the other involves
Should a Company Investment Policy Be Used as Evidence of Fraud? The Nevin Shetty Trial Says Yes. Every well-run company has an investment policy. It defines acceptable asset classes, risk tolerances, and approval processes for how company funds are managed. These documents serve an important governance purpose. They were never designed to serve as the foundation for a criminal prosecution. In the Nevin Shetty trial, that is
The 95 Percent Conviction Rate and What It Meant for Nevin Shetty's Fight Federal prosecutors win more than 95 percent of their cases. That number includes plea bargains, which account for the vast majority of federal dispositions, but even among cases that go to trial, the government's win rate exceeds 80 percent. These numbers define the environment in which every federal defendant makes
