Shortly after issuing his opinion dismissing the law firm Mayer Brown and a former partner of the firm from the Refco securities litigation because he found they were not liable under the Supreme Court’s Stoneridge case unless they made misstatements directly to plaintiffs, Judge Gerard Lynch of the SDNY revised his opinion. He added a lengthy footnote 15 expressing his dismay that participants in a fraudulent scheme who may even have committed criminal acts are not answerable in damages to the victims of the fraud. Part of the footnote, which invokes “hits” by the the Godfather, is pasted below.
