Witness List: A Who’s Who of Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Recent History...

Speculation has swirled in the legal community in recent weeks about who’s likely to appear to testify in the criminal trial stemming from the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP. As jury selection begins Monday in the case, some answers are beginning to emerge.

An extensive list of 226 people connected to Dewey is included in forms given to potential jurors, listing everyone from Dewey’s top former partners to journalists who covered the now-defunct law firm. Not everyone on the list, however, is a potential witness. Some are “names that may be mentioned,” according to the document, and are being used during jury selection to help ensure no one picked as a juror has a connection to the case.

The trial pits the Manhattan district attorney’s office against three former Dewey leaders– chairman Steven Davis, executive director Stephen DiCarmine, and chief financial officer Joel Sanders—who are accused of using fraudulent accounting techniques to make the firm look like it was doing better than it was. The three have denied wrongdoing.

Many of the names on the potential witness list are familiar ones for those who followed Dewey’s 2012 downfall and subsequent bankruptcy proceeding. They include former partners like John Altorelli, who recently filed for personal bankruptcy in the face of Dewey-related debts, and Henry Bunsow, a California partner who accused the failed law firm’s leaders of running a Ponzi scheme and later settled with Dewey’s bankruptcy estate.

Former firm heavyweights like Morton Pierce, Ralph Ferrara, Martin Bienenstock and Richard Shutran are on the list, as are law firm consultants, bankers that lent Dewey money, and advisers working on the firm’s bankruptcy case. (The lawyers mentioned either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday).

Some unfamiliar names on the list, including three religious leaders, could be potential character witnesses for the defendants.

We’re still at least a month away from seeing how the trial will unfold. The court set aside several weeks to find a jury willing to commit to the four-to-six months that the case is expected to take. The real action will start after Memorial Day, with opening arguments scheduled for May 26.