Did Rakoff’s Rando Circuit Judge Swap Lead to SCOTUS Insider Trading Decision?

A fortuitous panel assignment in the Ninth Circuit allowed District Court Judge Jed Rakoff to craft the decision that ultimately unseated a ground-breaking insider trading opinion from his home circuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the retired New York judge Dec. 6 when it held that a close relationship between a tipper and tippee can be enough to impose insider trading liability in Salman v. United States .

The high court overruled a contrary Second Circuit decision, United States v. Newman , which held that more was needed to show that the tipper received a “personal benefit” from leaking ...