Discovering Van Doren

It was brought to our attention recently that James Van Doren, one of the co-defendants in the much-publicized Brandon Barber federal fraud and money laundering case, is a graduate of Nettleton High School.

That’s Nettleton, as in the Jonesboro township with a population of about 8,100. Jonesboro, remember, is Barber’s hometown, and Van Doren testified in a previous bankruptcy hearing the two have been friends “for decades.”

We mention this because, best we can tell, Van Doren heretofore had been recognized more universally as a “New York attorney” or something similar. Van Doren’s Arkansas roots aroused our curiosity, so we did a little digging.

Here is some of what we found:

• Van Doren is a 1998 graduate of Centenary College in Louisiana, and attended the London School of Economics before earning a degree at the University of Virginia School of Law.

• At Virginia, Van Doren won the Stephen Pierre Traynor Award. The monetary prize is given to the participant in the final round of a moot court competition who, in the opinion of the judges, presents the best oral argument.

• Van Doren’s career stops have included Latham & Watkins LLP, a New York firm, Lehman Brothers Inc. and Barclays Capital Inc.

More Van Doren

According to a report by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which professes to be “the largest independent securities regulator in the U.S.,” Van Doren currently is employed by Citigroup.

That jibes with an entry in a 2012 Centenary alumni newsletter, which lists Van Doren as director of healthcare investment banking at Citi.

The FINRA report also indicates Van Doren’s registration with the group ended in April. According to FINRA, it makes such information available on all current — and many former — FINRA-registered securities brokers and firms because it “strongly urges investors to use [the information] to check the background of securities brokers and brokerage firms before deciding to conduct, or continue to conduct, business with them.”

One of his attorneys said during an April 15 arraignment Van Doren is on administrative leave and likely will be terminated due to the proceedings.