We asked John Coffee, a former corporate lawyer who is a professor at Columbia Law School, to weigh in.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Justice Department's two-front litigation campaign is "a warning signal, " said John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University.

FORBES: Magazine Article

"Buying what you're selling during a distribution has a strong tendency to artificially inflate the price, " says Columbia Law School securities expert John Coffee.

FORBES: Entrepreneurs

Picard need not show any bad faith or malicious intent, just that Wilpon bailed out of his Madoff fund because he sensed trouble, explains Columbia Law School professor John Coffee.

FORBES: Madoff Trust Must Show Wilpon Saw Red Flags

In this case, plaintiff lawyers are seeking a multiplier of 1.89, a little less than typical for cases of this size according to declarations by expert John Coffee of Columbia Law School.

FORBES: Plaintiff Lawyers in Citigroup Case Seek Big Markup For Outside Attorneys

The decision, explained Columbia Law School Professor John Coffee, who chaired the insider trading conference that included key participants from recent insider trading trials such as prosecutor Reed Brodsky, defense attorney Gary Naftalis, and Judge Jed Rakoff from the Gupta trial, reflected a time where regulators had greater discretion and authority.

FORBES: The Obscure Insider Trading Case That Started It All

Over a cup of coffee in the bustling Merry Hill mall, John Rider, chairman of the Institute of Directors in the West Midlands, explains the legacy of those early schemes.

BBC: Black Country pins hope on enterprise zones