As Much As I’d Like To See His Retirement Get Retired, That Would Suck For The Rest Of Us

Sometimes protection hurts  (Image by Getty)

What? People who’ve done crappy things are facing rekoning? Maybe there are Christmas miracles after all? Remember the Pharma Bro who spiked up the cost of Daraprim and then bought a highly sought after Wu-Tang record to salt the wound? Not only is he behind bars, but his people are getting hit where it hurts — their retirement funds.

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Evan Louis Greebel, the former lawyer who was convicted in a fraud scheme with so-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli, has asked the Supreme Court to shield his retirement accounts from a $10,447,979.00 restitution order.

Greebel, a former partner at law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, was a member of the legal team Skhreli berated for being “lazy and stupid and paid too much” when Greebel did not assist Shkreli quickly enough in defrauding investors.

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As nice as it would be to see a defender of the damnable get theirs, just deserts have to be served, you know, justly. In this case, that means at least addressing Greebel’s counsel’s argument for why his 401k shouldn’t get 404’d.

In the 41-page petition for certiorari filed with SCOTUS Wednesday, Greebel’s lawyers argue that because the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limits the amount the government can seize to 25% of a person’s “earnings,” his retirement account should be safe.

The legal question — one for which Greebel’s lawyers say SCOTUS should resolve a circuit split — is just what “earnings” means under the CCPA. Greebel argues that his 401(k) is part of his “earnings.” On that basis, Greebel says, its value should be included when calculating the 25% cap on restitution seizures.

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The outcome of this case actually has implications for folks who don’t defend multi-millionare pharmaceutical price-spikers in their spare time. And as much as I hate to say it, it looks like he has a point.

[H]is lawyers argue that the 2nd Circuit’s decision must be corrected “to protect against overreach by creditors so that individuals and their families can continue to ‘meet basic needs.’” Much of his argument is grounded in what a favorable ruling might mean for other people.

Greebel said his case is important because “a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, leaving little room to save money and creating an increased dependency on employer retirement accounts, like 401(k)s.” Given the importance of retirement accounts, Greebel says the justices should clarify that they are indeed “earnings.”

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Given the fact that cash does rule everything around us in times of strife, it probably would be better for the everyman with less confusion around what constitutes earnings. The schadenfreude in me just wishes that the people’s benefit wasn’t also his.

Martin Shkreli’s Former Lawyer, Whom Pharma Bro Called ‘Lazy and Stupid and Paid Too Much,’ Asks SCOTUS to Save His 401(k) from the Feds [Law and Crime]

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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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401K, Evan Louis Greebel, Katten Muchin Rosenman, Martin Shkreli