Bad paralegal

What?! You think only lawyers can be idiots? The first two paragraphs of the SEC's complaint tells you more than you need to know:

This case involves insider trading in the securities of Semitool, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturer based in Kalispell, Montana that was acquired in a tender offer by Applied Materials, Inc. in December 2009. Beginning in at least October 2009, defendant Angela Milliard, a legal assistant at Semitool, learned confidential information regarding the terms and timing of the acquisition. Basedon this information, Angela Milliard secretly wired $38,000 to her boyfriend's account and purchased 5,400 Semitool shares in the account, as well as 300 Semitool shares in her own brokerage account. Angela also tipped her father, defendant Kenneth Milliard, about the then-secret acquisition, and he purchased 10,800 Semitool shares and helped other family members purchase another 4,000 Semitool shares.

When the acquisition was publicly announced on November 17, 2009, the company's stock price jumped over 30 percent, and defendants immediately profited that day, selling all of their Semitool shares for total realized profits of $68,160.

This being the end of exams and the start of graduation season, I suppose it's as good a time as any to give some good advice to recent law grads.  This year, I'll give it in the form of a link to a memo written seven years ago to employees of public corporations, titled Your Future (or Lack Thereof).

-bjmq