RICO ACT, Jeff Grell, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, RICO, Attorney at Law

Jeffrey Ernest Grell

Jeffrey E. Grell graduated magna cum laude from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a B.A. in Government / International Affairs in 1987. Jeff then went directly to Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and graduated magna cum laude in 1990. From 1990 until 1993, Jeff was an associate with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. From 1993 until 1997, Jeff was an associate with Leonard, Street and Deinard, and from January 1998 until April 2003, Jeff was a shareholder at that firm. From April 1, 2003 through October 17, 2008, Jeff was self-employed as a private practitioner and as a consultant to attorneys and parties bringing and defending RICO claims. Jeff is currently employed as an attorney for a governmental entity.

Jeff has been a commentator and has been a source of information or cited for his legal expertise by various news organizations, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, NPR's Voice of the Nation, the BBC, U.S. News & World Report, The National Law Journal, La Presse (Montreal, Quebec), The Los Angeles Daily Journal, Cleveland Scene, The Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario), The Scotsman, Primera Hora (Puerto Rico), WCCO Radio (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Eyada.com Internet Talk Radio, GamblingMagazine.com, AmericanMafia.com, the Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, New York), and the Citizen-Times (Ashville, North Carolina).

The Early Years: Jones Day & The BCCI Litigation

Jeff spent his first three years of practice at the office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Shortly after he began at Jones Day, the firm was retained to represent the federal trustee appointed to oversee the assets of the First American Bank. First American Bank was the U.S. bank secretly acquired by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International ("BCCI"). BCCI collapsed in the late 1980's, causing billions of dollars in depositor losses, mostly in third-world countries. In the United States, no depositors lost money because the accounts were insured by the FDIC. Nonetheless, after First American collapsed and the depositors were paid by the FDIC, the FDIC obtained control of the bank's assets and appointed the federal trustee.

The federal trustee hired Jones Day to sue BCCI, its officers, the officers of First American (Clark Clifford and Robert Altman), who allegedly conspired with BCCI to violate U.S. banking laws, and the actual and apparent shareholders of First American, who participated in a nominee scheme to conceal the bank's true ownership interests from federal regulators.

The RICO Act was used by Jones Day to recoup the FDIC's losses from BCCI and the related parties. At the time, no one at Jones Day was a "RICO expert," so a team of attorneys were given the task of developing the federal trustee's theories under the statute and drafting a complaint. Jeff was member of the BCCI team and worked on this project for about three years. In July 1993, Jones Day filed a 282 page RICO complaint in the United States District Count for the District of Columbia.

Jeff also participated in the defense of numerous actions brought against First American by depositors and other creditors. The BCCI litigation continued until the late 1990's and generated numerous reported decisions. See e.g., Hamid v. Price Waterhouse, 51 F.3d 1411 (9th Cir. 1995); In re First American Corp., 1998 WL 148421 (S.D.N.Y. 1998); First American Corp. v. Price Waterhouse L.L.P., 988 F. Supp. 353 (S.D.N.Y. 1997); United States v. BCCI Holdings (Luxembourg), S.A., 980 F. Supp. 496 (D.D.C. 1997); First American Corp. v. Al-Nahyan, 948 F.Supp. 1107 (D.D.C. 1996).

The Road to the United States Supreme Court Runs Through Minneapolis

In September 1993, Jeff began working for Leonard, Street and Deinard in Minneapolis. At the time, civil RICO had not yet begun to blossom in the Midwest, but within a short time, Leonard Street encountered more and more clients being sued under RICO. Given his experience with the RICO Act at Jones Day, Jeff was given the opportunity to develop the defenses to the RICO claims being asserted against Leonard Street's clients.

One of the highlights of Jeff's career occurred in April 1997, when one of Leonard Street's RICO cases was reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. See Klehr v. A.O. Smith Corp., 521 U.S. 179 (1997) (respondent's brief at 1997 WL 126146). Leonard Street represented the defendant, A.O. Smith Corporation, the manufacturer of an allegedly defective agricultural silo known as the "Harvestore." The issue presented by Klehr was when the statute of limitations on a federal civil RICO claim begins to run.

In Klehr, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations begins to run when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury or when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury and that the injury is caused by a pattern of racketeering activity, rejecting a third rule that postponed the running of the statute of limitations until the defendant's last predicate act.

In a later decision, the Supreme Court settled on the principle that the statute of limitations on a RICO claim begins to run when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury. Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549 (2000). The Harvestore Litigation has generated many other decisions concerning the RICO Act. See, e.g., Martin v. A.O. Smith Corp., 931 F. Supp. 543 (W.D. Mich. 1996); Valleyside Dairy Farms, Inc. v. A.O. Smith Corp., 944 F. Supp. 612 (W.D. Mich. 1995); Wight v. Agristor Leasing, 652 F. Supp. 1000 (D. Kan. 1987); Agristor Leasing v. A.O. Smith Corp., 634 F. Supp. 1208 (D. Kan. 1986).

Private Practice

During his time as a private practitioner, Jeff frequently consulted with other parties and attorneys involved in RICO litigation. Some of Jeff's clients included governmental entities such as the City of Mountain View, California, who brought RICO claims against the operator of a city-owned amphitheatre. Jeff has consulted with state governments seeking to prosecute tax evaders and with counsel and representatives in numerous class action cases. Jeff was also asked to opine on racketeering issues and potential legislation in Kuwait, Australia, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and Canada.

Academic Endeavors

Jeff is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School where each Fall he teaches a course regarding civil RICO. Pursuant to his instruction, Jeff has compiled and edited a case book entitled, "Grell on RICO," which is published by RICOACT.COM LLC. In 2000, Jeff launched the website:www.ricoact.com.

Jeff has also authored several articles that analyze issues presented by the RICO Act, including:

Minnesota Business Torts Deskbook, Chapter 10 -RICO (2d Ed. March 2009).

Boyle v. United States: Does a RICO Association-in-Fact Enterprise Require Proof of an Ascertainable Structural Hierarchy Distinct from the Acts of Racketeering?, ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, Issue No. 4, Vol. 36, p. 216 (January 12, 2009).

Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Co.: Is a Plaintiff Required to Prove Reliance in Civil RICO Cases Predicated on Acts of Mail and Wire Fraud?, ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, Issue No. 7, Vol. 35, p. 321 (April 14, 2008).

Odom v. Microsoft Corp. : The Ninth Circuit Abandons the Enterprise / Racketeering Activity Distinction, www.ricoact.com (May 4, 2007).

Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Williams: The Eleventh Circuit Revisits RICO's Application to the Employment of Illegal Aliens, www.ricoact.com (September 27, 2006).

Ideal Steel Supply Corp. v. Anza: The Second Circuit Determines that No Reliance is Necessary When a Defendant's Alleged Acts of Mail and Wire Fraud Directly Cause Injuries to a Competitor or to the Target of the Scheme to Defraud, www.ricoact.com (July 2, 2004).

American Chiropractic Ass'n, Inc. v. Trigon Healthcare, Inc.: The Fourth Circuit's Attempt to Achieve a Balance Between the Policies Reflected in the McCarran-Ferguson Act and RICO, www.ricoact.com (May 6, 2004).

Wagh v. Metris Direct, Inc.: The Ninth Circuit Wisely Dismisses Civil RICO Claims under Section 1962(a) and (b), but Affirms the "Result-Oriented" Racketeering Activity / Enterprise Distinction Under Section 1962(c), www.ricoact.com (Nov. 7, 2003).

Green Leaf Nursery v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Co.: The Eleventh Circuit Revisits the Proximate Cause Issues of Reliance and Intervening Third-Party Victims, www.ricoact.com (August 15, 2003).

Western Associates Limited Partnership v. Market Square Associates.: The D.C. Circuit's Ill-Advised Attempt to Revive a Multiple Scheme Approach to RICO's Pattern Requirement, Civil RICO Report (April 2001).

RICO: Businesses' Best Weapon Against Bribes, Kickbacks, and Other Forms of Corporate Corruption, www.ricoact.com (December 2000).

RICO and Eminent Domain: Condemnation or Crime, www.ricoact.com (Nov. 2000).

United States v. Goldin Industries, Inc.: Is the Eleventh Circuit Trading One Conflict for Another?, Civil RICO Report (Sept. 1, 2000).

HMO's Under RICO: Issues the Courts Are Likely to Confront, Civil RICO Report (May 10, 2000).

Exorcising RICO from Product Litigation, 24 WM. MITCHELL L. REV. 1089 (1998).

Current Status

Jeff is presently employed by a governmental entity and is no longer engaged in the private practice of law. Grell on RICO remains available for purchase by webvisitors. Click here to Order Materials.


	Disclaimer
About Mr. Grell Biography CV	Jeffrey Ernest Grell Jeffrey E. Grell graduated magna cum laude from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a B.A. in Government / International Affairs in 1987. Jeff then went directly to Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., and graduated magna cum laude in 1990. From 1990 until 1993, Jeff was an associate with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. From 1993 until 1997, Jeff was an associate with Leonard, Street and Deinard, and from January 1998 until April 2003, Jeff was a shareholder at that firm. From April 1, 2003 through October 17, 2008, Jeff was self-employed as a private practitioner and as a consultant to attorneys and parties bringing and defending RICO claims. Jeff is currently employed as an attorney for a governmental entity. Jeff has been a commentator and has been a source of information or cited for his legal expertise by various news organizations, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, NPR's Voice of the Nation, the BBC, U.S. News & World Report, The National Law Journal, La Presse (Montreal, Quebec), The Los Angeles Daily Journal, Cleveland Scene, The Globe & Mail (Toronto, Ontario), The Scotsman, Primera Hora (Puerto Rico), WCCO Radio (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Eyada.com Internet Talk Radio, GamblingMagazine.com, AmericanMafia.com, the Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, New York), and the Citizen-Times (Ashville, North Carolina). The Early Years: Jones Day & The BCCI Litigation Jeff spent his first three years of practice at the office of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Shortly after he began at Jones Day, the firm was retained to represent the federal trustee appointed to oversee the assets of the First American Bank. First American Bank was the U.S. bank secretly acquired by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International ("BCCI"). BCCI collapsed in the late 1980's, causing billions of dollars in depositor losses, mostly in third-world countries. In the United States, no depositors lost money because the accounts were insured by the FDIC. Nonetheless, after First American collapsed and the depositors were paid by the FDIC, the FDIC obtained control of the bank's assets and appointed the federal trustee. The federal trustee hired Jones Day to sue BCCI, its officers, the officers of First American (Clark Clifford and Robert Altman), who allegedly conspired with BCCI to violate U.S. banking laws, and the actual and apparent shareholders of First American, who participated in a nominee scheme to conceal the bank's true ownership interests from federal regulators. The RICO Act was used by Jones Day to recoup the FDIC's losses from BCCI and the related parties. At the time, no one at Jones Day was a "RICO expert," so a team of attorneys were given the task of developing the federal trustee's theories under the statute and drafting a complaint. Jeff was member of the BCCI team and worked on this project for about three years. In July 1993, Jones Day filed a 282 page RICO complaint in the United States District Count for the District of Columbia. Jeff also participated in the defense of numerous actions brought against First American by depositors and other creditors. The BCCI litigation continued until the late 1990's and generated numerous reported decisions. See e.g., Hamid v. Price Waterhouse, 51 F.3d 1411 (9th Cir. 1995); In re First American Corp., 1998 WL 148421 (S.D.N.Y. 1998); First American Corp. v. Price Waterhouse L.L.P., 988 F. Supp. 353 (S.D.N.Y. 1997); United States v. BCCI Holdings (Luxembourg), S.A., 980 F. Supp. 496 (D.D.C. 1997); First American Corp. v. Al-Nahyan, 948 F.Supp. 1107 (D.D.C. 1996). The Road to the United States Supreme Court Runs Through Minneapolis In September 1993, Jeff began working for Leonard, Street and Deinard in Minneapolis. At the time, civil RICO had not yet begun to blossom in the Midwest, but within a short time, Leonard Street encountered more and more clients being sued under RICO. Given his experience with the RICO Act at Jones Day, Jeff was given the opportunity to develop the defenses to the RICO claims being asserted against Leonard Street's clients. One of the highlights of Jeff's career occurred in April 1997, when one of Leonard Street's RICO cases was reviewed by the United States Supreme Court. See Klehr v. A.O. Smith Corp., 521 U.S. 179 (1997) (respondent's brief at 1997 WL 126146). Leonard Street represented the defendant, A.O. Smith Corporation, the manufacturer of an allegedly defective agricultural silo known as the "Harvestore." The issue presented by Klehr was when the statute of limitations on a federal civil RICO claim begins to run. In Klehr, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations begins to run when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury or when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury and that the injury is caused by a pattern of racketeering activity, rejecting a third rule that postponed the running of the statute of limitations until the defendant's last predicate act. In a later decision, the Supreme Court settled on the principle that the statute of limitations on a RICO claim begins to run when a plaintiff discovers or reasonably should have discovered its injury. Rotella v. Wood, 528 U.S. 549 (2000). The Harvestore Litigation has generated many other decisions concerning the RICO Act. See, e.g., Martin v. A.O. Smith Corp., 931 F. Supp. 543 (W.D. Mich. 1996); Valleyside Dairy Farms, Inc. v. A.O. Smith Corp., 944 F. Supp. 612 (W.D. Mich. 1995); Wight v. Agristor Leasing, 652 F. Supp. 1000 (D. Kan. 1987); Agristor Leasing v. A.O. Smith Corp., 634 F. Supp. 1208 (D. Kan. 1986). Private Practice During his time as a private practitioner, Jeff frequently consulted with other parties and attorneys involved in RICO litigation. Some of Jeff's clients included governmental entities such as the City of Mountain View, California, who brought RICO claims against the operator of a city-owned amphitheatre. Jeff has consulted with state governments seeking to prosecute tax evaders and with counsel and representatives in numerous class action cases. Jeff was also asked to opine on racketeering issues and potential legislation in Kuwait, Australia, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and Canada. Academic Endeavors Jeff is an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School where each Fall he teaches a course regarding civil RICO. Pursuant to his instruction, Jeff has compiled and edited a case book entitled, "Grell on RICO," which is published by RICOACT.COM LLC. In 2000, Jeff launched the website:www.ricoact.com. Jeff has also authored several articles that analyze issues presented by the RICO Act, including: Minnesota Business Torts Deskbook, Chapter 10 -RICO (2d Ed. March 2009). Boyle v. United States: Does a RICO Association-in-Fact Enterprise Require Proof of an Ascertainable Structural Hierarchy Distinct from the Acts of Racketeering?, ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, Issue No. 4, Vol. 36, p. 216 (January 12, 2009). Bridge v. Phoenix Bond & Indemnity Co.: Is a Plaintiff Required to Prove Reliance in Civil RICO Cases Predicated on Acts of Mail and Wire Fraud?, ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, Issue No. 7, Vol. 35, p. 321 (April 14, 2008). Odom v. Microsoft Corp. : The Ninth Circuit Abandons the Enterprise / Racketeering Activity Distinction, www.ricoact.com (May 4, 2007). Mohawk Industries, Inc. v. Williams: The Eleventh Circuit Revisits RICO's Application to the Employment of Illegal Aliens, www.ricoact.com (September 27, 2006). Ideal Steel Supply Corp. v. Anza: The Second Circuit Determines that No Reliance is Necessary When a Defendant's Alleged Acts of Mail and Wire Fraud Directly Cause Injuries to a Competitor or to the Target of the Scheme to Defraud, www.ricoact.com (July 2, 2004). American Chiropractic Ass'n, Inc. v. Trigon Healthcare, Inc.: The Fourth Circuit's Attempt to Achieve a Balance Between the Policies Reflected in the McCarran-Ferguson Act and RICO, www.ricoact.com (May 6, 2004). Wagh v. Metris Direct, Inc.: The Ninth Circuit Wisely Dismisses Civil RICO Claims under Section 1962(a) and (b), but Affirms the "Result-Oriented" Racketeering Activity / Enterprise Distinction Under Section 1962(c), www.ricoact.com (Nov. 7, 2003). Green Leaf Nursery v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Co.: The Eleventh Circuit Revisits the Proximate Cause Issues of Reliance and Intervening Third-Party Victims, www.ricoact.com (August 15, 2003). Western Associates Limited Partnership v. Market Square Associates.: The D.C. Circuit's Ill-Advised Attempt to Revive a Multiple Scheme Approach to RICO's Pattern Requirement, Civil RICO Report (April 2001). RICO: Businesses' Best Weapon Against Bribes, Kickbacks, and Other Forms of Corporate Corruption, www.ricoact.com (December 2000). RICO and Eminent Domain: Condemnation or Crime, www.ricoact.com (Nov. 2000). United States v. Goldin Industries, Inc.: Is the Eleventh Circuit Trading One Conflict for Another?, Civil RICO Report (Sept. 1, 2000). HMO's Under RICO: Issues the Courts Are Likely to Confront, Civil RICO Report (May 10, 2000). Exorcising RICO from Product Litigation, 24 WM. MITCHELL L. REV. 1089 (1998). Current Status Jeff is presently employed by a governmental entity and is no longer engaged in the private practice of law. Grell on RICO remains available for purchase by webvisitors. Click here to Order Materials.