Back to all newsNinth Circuit vacates CW client’s insider trading convictions in published opinion
April 2026
A CW team led by partner Alyssa Bell and counsel Rachael Robinson achieved a major win in the Ninth Circuit on behalf of client Shahriyar Bolandian, who had been convicted on six counts of insider trading. We argued that the district committed reversible error by permitting a biased juror to serve, even though the issue was waived below. After hearing oral argument, presented by Rachael, the Court vacated our client’s convictions and remanded the case for a new trial in a published opinion. The Court held that district courts must conduct a searching inquiry into jurors' ability to be fair, and that defendants cannot waive that inquiry (through counsel or otherwise). Because the district court failed to conduct that inquiry in our case, our client's convictions were fundamentally unfair.