From our private database of 37,200+ case briefs...

Skilling v. United States

United States Supreme Court

561 U.S. 358 (2010)

Facts

Jeffrey Skilling (plaintiff) was one of three executives at Enron Corporation indicted for manipulating financials to mislead the public about Enron’s profitability. Skilling moved to have his trial transferred from Houston to another venue, citing pretrial publicity that he argued had prejudiced potential jurors against him. The court denied his motion. The court mailed lengthy questionnaires drafted mostly by Skilling. Shortly before trial, one of Skilling’s co-defendants pled guilty. The court granted Skilling’s request for a continuance. Skilling then made a renewed motion to change venue because the questionnaires sent to jurors showed bias and the other executive’s guilty plea would lead to more bias. His motion was again denied. At trial, Skilling was found guilty of 19 counts. Skilling appealed on several grounds, including an argument that he did not receive a fair trial. The appellate court found that negative publicity about Enron created a presumption of juror bias. However, the court also found that the presumption of juror bias was rebutted by the government because a review of the district court’s voir dire showed that it was thorough and that Skilling had an impartial jury at his trial. Skilling petitioned the Supreme Court and the Court granted certiorari.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Ginsburg. J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Dissent (Sotomayor, J.)

The dissent section is for members only and includes a summary of the dissenting judge or justice’s opinion. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 631,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 631,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 37,200 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 631,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
37,200 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support