Legal News

?Madoff, the Most Trusted Name in Securities Law . . .?

By Dan Slater

We mentioned, a couple weeks ago, that, while many lawyers are getting work from the Madoff scandal, some have been hurt by it, too.

Now, meet Ari Madoff (though the alleged Ponzi-scheme operator, not Ari, is pictured here). As the Daily News reports, the young Chicago lawyer isn’t related to the alleged stock swindler Bernard, but everyone — from his synagogue congregation to potential clients of his law firm — assumes he is.

“I used to be flattered when people asked me if I was related to the famous financier,” he told the Daily News. “Now that association only brings me troubles.” Twenty-nine year-old Ari is the grandson of Bernard Madoff — a former shoe salesman who now resides in a Canadian nursing home (not an Upper East Side penthouse) — and the son of Shana Madoff, who carries the same name as the accused’s niece.

“The other day I walked into my synagogue and everyone turned around,” Ari told the Daily News. “Some people asked if I was related to Bernard Madoff, but most people didn’t dare to ask. Potential business clients will probably wonder, too.”

In an e-mail to family and friends, published on the NPR Web site, Ari Madoff (who seems to have a good sense of humor about it all) writes:

Let’s just say that I will likely have to abandon some of the tag-lines I was thinking of putting on my new business cards:

“Madoff: The Most Trusted Name in Securities Law”

“Trust, Honesty, Integrity: That’s the Madoff Way”

“Madoff: The #1 Name In Fiduciary Relationships”

“Madoff: Trust: Then, Now & Forever”

“Madoff Law: The Cadillac of Law Firms” (This slogan would be double-bad this week)

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 08, 2009 (boomark / email).