Shapiro Arato Bach Files Opening Brief in Second Circuit Appeal of Insider Trading Conviction
On January 28, 2019, Shapiro Arato Bach filed its opening brief on behalf of Dr. Edward J. Kosinski, a prominent Connecticut cardiologist, in the Second Circuit appeal of his conviction on insider trading charges filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. The appeal raises an issue of first impression about whether a doctor who participates as a clinical site principal investigator in a drug trial owes a duty of trust and confidence to the drug company sponsoring the trial, where his contract contains a confidentiality obligation, but no bar on use of the company’s information for trading. In light of the particular provisions of the contract, and various other factors demonstrating that trading was not prohibited, we argue that the government failed to prove the breach of a “duty of trust and confidence” necessary to prove illegal trading. The brief also argues that the government failed to prove the essential element of “willfulness,” and challenges two jury instructions and a ruling precluding the defense from eliciting certain evidence on cross-examination of a government witness.
The case is United States v. Kosinski, Second Circuit No. 18-3065. Alexandra Shapiro and Philip Young co-authored the brief, which is available here.