Cracking an Old Boys’ Club
In a case exposing bias and corruption in the “old boys’ network” controlling the highest levels of government and global finance, we represent a Black-owned asset manager in a civil rights and RICO case against New Jersey officials, BlackRock, and other Wall Street firms for discriminating against and stealing opportunities from our client.
“African Americans for almost their entire career inside Wall Street are made to feel like their voice never equals that of a white person. Why don’t people speak up? One word: Fear.”
Jacob Walthour, CEO, Blueprint Capital Advisors (Quoted in The Wall Street Journal)
“I’ve had some very, very high-profile, very important cases in my career. This is as important as any.”
Michael Bowe (Quoted in NJBiz)
In a case exposing bias and corruption in the “old boys’ network” controlling the highest levels of state government and global finance, our lawyers represent a Black-owned asset manager in a civil rights and RICO case against New Jersey officials, Wall Street titan BlackRock, and others for discriminating against and misappropriating opportunities from our client.
For Blueprint Capital Advisors, we filed a landmark suit accusing the New Jersey Division of Investment, BlackRock, Owl Rock, Governor Phil Murphy, and senior officials in his administration of diverting promised advisory contracts and investments away from Blueprint—and toward overwhelmingly white competitors. Our complaint alleges government insiders shared Blueprint’s confidential strategies with BlackRock, allowing the financial giant to launch a near-identical product, while state officials rewarded participants in the scheme with hundreds of millions in pension assets.
The case has survived six different motions to dismiss and earned a 102-page decision from the federal district court sustaining Blueprint’s claims of racketeering and civil rights violations. The ruling marks the first time a federal court has upheld RICO claims against a state investment authority for discrimination against a minority-owned asset manager.