Judge Kenneth Conboy (Fmr)

Hon. Kenneth Conboy is a former United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Among the matters he ruled upon were the First Amendment claims of two college professors who asserted that their tenure rights had been injured because of published writings and speeches on the subject of race; the application of the doctrine of sovereign immunity to the Government of Venezuela in a civil suit brought by a consortium of European Banks; the scope of federal toxic waste cleanup legislation; the jurisdictional basis of international arbitration under a 1947 United Nations Convention; the role of French and American Courts in the disposition of the estate of the French painter Max Ernst; and copyright interests associated with the writings of the novelist and poet James Agee. He also presided over criminal prosecutions of murder, kidnapping, international drug trafficking, bribery, tax evasion, bank secrecy act violations and securities fraud.

His practice focuses primarily in the securities, corporate governance, antitrust and federal regulatory and prosecutorial enforcement areas. He is also broadly experienced in litigation related to the federal corrupt practices act, racketeering, bank fraud and money laundering under the federal criminal statutes. He was appointed, on consent of the board of directors of Prudential Securities, Inc., by the US Department of Justice to be Government monitor and board member in connection with effecting broad legal and compliance reforms in the wake of the limited partnerships scandal. He was also appointed by the International Appeals Master of the United Brotherhood of Teamsters and supervised three nationwide elections for General President of the Teamsters.

Mr. Conboy previously served as New York City’s Commissioner of Investigation. As head of the Department of Investigation during the course of the 1986 87 municipal corruption scandal, he conducted inquiries into corruption throughout City Government, and investigated multi-million dollar fraud and kickback conspiracies by major contractors doing business with the City. Eighty-seven city officials were arrested, indicted or removed from office during his tenure.

He has also served as Executive Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, New York’s Deputy Police Commissioner, and principal criminal justice advisor to the Mayor of New York City.

Federal Judicial Service:

• U. S. District Court, Southern District of New York (December 21, 1987 to December 31, 1993)

Professional Career:

• U.S. Army Captain, 1964-1966
• Trial attorney, chief of the rackets bureau, and executive assistant district attorney, Manhattan District Attorney's Office, New York City, 1966-1977
• Deputy commissioner and general counsel to New York City Police Department, 1978-1983
• Criminal justice coordinator, New York City, 1984-1986
• Commissioner of investigation, New York City, 1986-1987

Selected Opinions:

• City of New York v. Exxon Corp, et al., 683 Fed Supp 70, 697 Fed Supp 677 and 766 Fed Supp 177 (SDNY 1991) the toxic waste cleanup of the NYC waterways litigation
• Perales v. Thornburgh, 762 Fed Supp 1036 (SDNY 1991) on the constitutionality of the amnesty provisions of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA).
• U.S. v. Bonanno Organized Crime Family of the Cosa Nostra, 879 F2d 20 (2d Cir 1989) resolving a disputed section of the RICO statute.
• Seven-Up Bottling Co. (Bangkok) v. Pepsico, Inc., 686 Fed Supp 1015 (SDNY 1988) an injunction proceeding litigating international licensing and contract issues.
• Bingham v. Zolt, 823 Fed Supp 1126 (SDNY 1993), a fraud and RICO suit brought by the Estate of reggae singer Bo Marley against his wife and agent.
• International Standard Electric Corp v. Bridas Sociedad Anonema Petrolera, 745 F. Supp 172 (SDNY 1990), involving international arbitration issues.

Education:

• Fordham College, A.B., 1961
• University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 1964
• Columbia University, M.A., 1980