The SEC has demanded a jury trial in its high-profile lawsuit against Bank of America for misleading shareholders about huge bonus payments ahead of its merger with Merrill Lynch. The trial date has now been pushed back to March 2010.
One legal observer called the SEC’s demand for a jury trial “brilliant” because a “jury will be so more favorably inclined toward the SEC than the bank and [BofA CEO] Ken Lewis.” Perhaps, but given that a recent poll found the SEC to be viewed more unfavorably than even the Internal Revenue Service, this is debatable.
