New Release From Headline Books by Author and Watergate Attorney David Dorsen
(Washington, DC) David Dorsen, who first came to national attention in the early 1970s as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Assistant Chief Counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee, has penned a gripping new book about his final and most extraordinary case.
Judicial Mayhem: How Federal Judges Betrayed Their Public Trust is the incredible roller coaster true story of hedge fund manager Michael Lauer, who escaped to America from behind Russia’s Iron Curtain at age 15, penniless and speaking no English. The hard-charging immigrant worked his way through college while driving a New York City taxicab, entered the world of finance at the bottom, and made a fortune through his tenacious but always ethical and honest business practices. Lauer became a multi-millionaire, a model of hard-fought success for other hard-working immigrants who yearned to make their dreams come true in America and eventually succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
Then, Michael Lauer’s dreams became a nightmare when an overzealous Securities and Exchange Commission and misguided Department of Justice targeted Lauer, financially destroying him and those around him.
David Dorsen had a front-row seat in the courtroom beside the defendant, serving as Michael Lauer’s pugnacious lawyer and staunchest (and often only) ally. The veteran attorney’s almost insurmountable task was to rescue Lauer after the federal courts imposed a totally unjustified judgment against him of $62 million. The government and the federal courts had first deprived Lauer of the use of his money and forced him to represent himself in a complex nightmare, then mangled the law to his detriment. The federal judges treated Dorsen, who agreed to try to reverse the judgment, no better than they had treated Lauer.
Dorsen presents in page-turning detail numerous misguided, inept, and overreaching government officials falsely concluding that his client was guilty of securities fraud while disregarding and evading established rules and procedures in their quest to “nail” the presumed culprit. Even more serious, numerous federal judges knowingly rubber-stamped the catastrophic financial destruction of an innocent man in what may have been a unique federal civil case in this country. In fact, federal judges remarkably outdid the government in an attempt to ruin Lauer.
Packed with endnotes and an extensive index to back up the facts of his astonishing case, Dorsen gives readers a tightly nuanced ‘behind-the-bench’ look at how the federal court system can completely malfunction with a never-before-revealed account of this extraordinary miscarriage of justice. Lauer, who had never been sued or accused of wrongdoing, was incorrectly painted by the feds as a villain but was instead a major philanthropist, an award-winning analyst, and a sportsman, racing cars with Paul Newman and others. The grizzled legal veteran details in jaw-dropping detail how judges eventually wiped out three flourishing hedge funds collectively worth over $1 billion, along with their innocent investors and fund manager.
Judicial Mayhem: How Federal Judges Betrayed Their Public Trust, published by Headline Books, is scheduled for release on October 19th. Dorsen’s previous books include the novel Moses v. Trump, Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge Of His Era, and the critically acclaimed The Unexpected Scalia: A Conservative Justice’s Liberal Opinions about his close friend, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Mr. Dorsen is a Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Assistant Chief Counsel of the Senate Watergate Committee, in addition to his many years in private practice. David’s clients have included General William C. Westmoreland, John and Maureen Dean in a libel suit against G. Gordon Liddy and others, and a corporation (IMIC) owned by the Hunt brothers and Arab sheiks during the collapse of the silver market. Dorsen lives in Washington, D.C.
Advance praise for Judicial Mayhem: How Federal Judges Betrayed Their Public Trust
“David Dorsen’s book is extraordinary and almost certainly unique…the American judicial system failed Lauer by trashing the rule of law.” —John W. Dean, CNN contributor, former counsel to President Richard Nixon, and author of thirteen books, including ‘Without Honor.’
“Everyone concerned about fair-handed justice should read this.” —Elizabeth Holtzman, former U.S. Congresswoman and District Attorney of Brooklyn, NY.
“Our legal system will remain worthy of trust only if claims of a miscarriage of justice are professionally examined, as in this book, which is well written and eminently readable.” —Abraham Sofaer, George P. Schultz Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, and a former United States District Judge, Southern District of New York
“David Dorsen presents allegations I’ve never seen in my decades in the world of finance…It is a must-read.” —Stanley S. Shuman, senior advisor and chairman emeritus of Allen & Company.
For media interview requests with Mr. Lauer or Mr. Dorsen or additional information on the book ‘Judicial Mayhem,’ contact Allen Media Strategies Shaili Priya at (703) 589-8960 or email shaili@allenmediastrategies.com.