Peter Nussbaum, SAC's general counsel, entered a plea of not guilty on Friday on behalf of the hedge fund. 'No fewer than six attorneys' appeared in the Lower Manhattan courtroom in front of District Judge Laura Taylor Swain, according to Business Week. Together they 'could be costing' $10,000 an hour, estimated Business Week. They include Martin Klotz, a partner in Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, lawyer to SAC founder Steve Cohen, and a colleague, Michael Schachter. Theodore Wells Jr, famous for representing celebrities and a partner with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison was there with colleagues, Daniel Kramer and litigation partner Michael Gertzman. 

Compliance team actions

Much of the hearing will concentrate on the actions of SAC's compliance team which is accused by state prosecutors of failing 'to detect or thwart insider trading'. The action against SAC began in 2010 when federal investigators raided or issued subpoenas to various hedge funds on Wall Street. 'Nobody wants to be in the position that SAC has been in for the last three years,' a general counsel for another fund told the Financial Times.