Second Circuit upholds Sixth Amendment KPMG ruling

In a significant ruling that will sure warm the hearts of all white-collar defense attorneys, the Second Circuit today has affirmed the Judge Lewis Kaplan’s groundbreaking right-to-counsel Sixth Amendment ruling the the KPMG case.  The decision in US v. Stein, No. 07-3042 (2d Cir. Aug. 28, 2008) (available here), starts with this summary:

The United States appeals from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Kaplan, J.), dismissing an indictment against Defendants-Appellees, thirteen former partners and employees of accounting firm KPMG, LLP.   We affirm the district court’s ruling that the government deprived Defendants-Appellees of their right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment by causing KPMG to place conditions on the advancement of legal fees to Defendants-Appellees, and to cap the fees and ultimately end them. Because the government failed to cure the Sixth Amendment violation, and because no other remedy will return Defendants-Appellees to the status quo ante, we affirm the dismissal of the indictment. In a separate summary order.

UPDATE:  Here is an early AP report on the Second Circuit’s ruling.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  Here is commentary on Stein (KPMG) from White Collar Crime Prof Blog.