Fallout From Ohio Bribery Scandal
The investor lawsuit stems from FirstEnergy’s admitted role in bribing former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who was convicted and sentenced for accepting tens of millions in payments to advance legislation rescuing two nuclear plants.
Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the company paid $230 million to avoid federal wire fraud charges. FirstEnergy also successfully argued that bribery does not constitute securities fraud, leading to the reversal of a class certification sought by investors.
The company emphasized that investors already possess extensive evidence — over one million pages of documents and 40 witness depositions — and have access to findings from investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, SEC, FERC, and the Ohio Attorney General.
“Reopening discovery to probe Jones Day’s and Squire’s privileged work would upend decades of settled law,” the company warned.
Legal Teams Face Off
FirstEnergy is represented by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., Sharon L. Nelles, David M.J. Rein, Nicholas F. Menillo, Maxwell F. Gottschall, and Morgan L. Ratner of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
The investors are represented by Jason Forge, Darren Robbins, and Mark Solomon of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, alongside Joseph Murray and Brian Murphy of Murray Murphy Moul & Basil LLP.
