Winston Client Wins Summary Judgment in Insider Trading Case

Winston & Strawn was retained to represent William Nasgovitz, president and chief executive officer of Heartland Advisors, Inc., in a civil enforcement action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The SEC complaint raised various allegations, including insider trading, related to certain high yield bond funds that were managed by Heartland Advisors in years prior to 2002.

On August 31, 2006, the court granted our motion for summary judgment on the Insider Trading claims against Nasgovitz in this matter in an opinion written by Judge C. N. Clevert.

This opinion has received press coverage, including an article titled "Heartland Case Dismissal Another Blow to SEC" published on September 6, 2006 on ignites.com. In the opinion, Clevert wrote, "Perhaps the SEC is not unlike Britney Spears in its inability to use quotation marks." Clevert went on to say that the SEC's pattern of "misquoting an opponent and misrepresenting facts and law is especially distressing." The case also was discussed in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Winston partner Dan Webb represents William Nasgovitz.