Courtroom

After more than 16 weeks in the courtroom, the fate of Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and ex-CEO Jeffrey Skilling was in the hands of the jury Wednesday. The two former chiefs face decades in prison if they are convicted.

The battle for the over-the-counter (OTC) market entered the courtroom on Wednesday as the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) filed a lawsuit against IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) for copyright violations in its use of Nymex natural gas and crude oil futures settlement prices.

Two ex-El Paso Corp. natural gas traders formally pleaded guilty last week in a Houston courtroom to reporting false prices to an industry publication. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Donald Guilbault, 51, and William Ham, 45, both pleaded guilty to one criminal count of false price reporting.

A second ex-El Paso Corp. natural gas trader formally plead guilty Monday in a Houston courtroom to reporting false prices to an industry publication. Under an agreement with prosecutors, Donald Guilbault, 51, pleaded guilty to one criminal count of false price reporting.

Hearings on Enron Corp.’s reorganization plan began last week in a New York City courtroom, and barring any legal glitches, acting CEO Stephen Cooper said he expects the final plan to be approved. Although it still faces hundreds of lawsuits, Enron could emerge from bankruptcy by the end of the year.

Former Enron Corp. executive Ben Glisan Jr. was led off from a Houston courtroom in chains last week after pleading guilty to one count of criminal conspiracy. Handpicked by former CEO Jeffrey Skilling as the company’s treasurer in May 2000, the former whiz kid was given the maximum sentence of five years. He will serve his time in a federal minimum security prison.

The battle for the over-the-counter (OTC) market entered the courtroom last Wednesday as the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) filed a lawsuit against IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) for copyright violations in its use of Nymex natural gas and crude oil futures settlement prices.

Setting the stage for a potentially precedent-setting courtroom duel between the executive and legislative branches of government, the General Accounting Office (GAO) officially notified President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney Wednesday of its plans to file a lawsuit to gain access to records and information of the Cabinet-level task force that developed the administration’s energy policy.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner stunned his courtroom last week when he abruptly ended the affiliate-abuse phase of the hearing exploring charges against El Paso Natural Gas and affiliate El Paso Merchant Energy after attorneys refused to put El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise and other top corporate executives on the stand to be questioned by California regulators.