CBC News Feature: Mark Kipnis, "The Forgotten Man."

CBC's nightly newscast, The National, had a feature report on Mark Kipnis by Havard Gould, called “The Forgotten Man.” During the trial, Mr. Kipnis has been almost anonymous; he's hardly ever approached by journalists as he “slips into a side entrance” of the court house. The basis of the indictment against him: he failed to stop the transactions mentioned in the indictment. He is the most sympathetic defendant. The only one of the four who's a native Chicagoan, he was never part of Conrad Black’s inner circle. Nowadays in America, people like Mr. Kipnis are investigated in corporate-fraud cases (unless they roll.)

David Radler was his immediate boss. Even though Mr. Radler was a very tough boss, the prosecution basically alleges that Kipnis should have stood up to him and stood in his way with regard to the transactions that form the basis of the charges. According to former prosecutor Ted Chung, Mr. Kipnis has a special responsibility because he’s a lawyer. He can’t plead pressure from the boss to get out of the charges. Csr. Chung does describe Mr. Kipnis’ role “'as a difficult one.'”

He was thought of as “likable and helpful” at the Sun-Times. He was often consulted, and was de facto acting general manager of the paper.

As to the question of why he was indicted, Csr. Chung said that cases “are built from the bottom up.” That explains why. Mr. Kipnis is now a Sign-o-Rama franchisee, and is quite a changed man. He could be disbarred if convicted.

Chung conceded that Kipnis went along with the alleged scheme, but asserts that the former general counsel showed “lapses in judgment.”

A friend of Mr. Kipnis that was interviewed for this feature said that he’s resilient enough not to fall through the cracks; he’s a survivor. Mr. Gould ended the report with a comment that Mr. Kipnis may be very glad that he was “the forgotten man” once this is over.


[This report has been broadbanded as a standalone feature by CBC News. The entire episode of The National has been broadbanded as of about 11:00 PM, and will stay up until replaced by the new one, at about 11:00 PM this Thursday.]