{{Short description|American attorney}} thumb|250 px|Nancy Temple, second from the left, testifies with other Arthur Andersen witnesses on January 24, 2002. '''Nancy Anne Temple''' is an attorney specializing in accounting liability. She was the in-house attorney for Arthur Andersen, who advised Michael Odom and David B. Duncan about Arthur Andersen policies regarding retention of documents from client engagements.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Strahler|first1=Steven R.|title=Nancy Temple reclaims her reputation and rebuilds a career derailed by Andersen trial|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20100410/ISSUE01/100033245/nancy-temple-reclaims-her-reputation-and-rebuilds-a-career-derailed-by-andersen-trial|access-date=27 July 2017|publisher=Crain's Chicago Business|date=10 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lawyer who wrote document memo quizzed|url=http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/01/21/enron.temple.duncan/|access-date=27 July 2017|agency=CNN.com|date=21 January 2002}}</ref> Duncan oversaw the shredding of Arthur Andersen documents concerning their work for client Enron, between October 22 and November 9, 2001 (See the Timeline of the Enron scandal). A memo written by Temple played a key role in the conviction of Arthur Andersen on charges of obstruction of justice. That conviction was later overturned.
== Pre-Andersen ==
She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Business in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy.<ref> {{cite web| last =| first =| title =University of Illinois Library: 1986 Bronze Tablet| url =http://images.library.uiuc.edu:8081/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/bronze&CISOPTR=53&CISOBOX=1&REC=2| archive-url =https://archive.today/20110719211500/http://images.library.uiuc.edu:8081/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/bronze&CISOPTR=53&CISOBOX=1&REC=2| url-status =dead| archive-date =July 19, 2011| access-date =2008-05-17}}</ref><ref> {{cite web | last = | first = | title = LinkedIn Public Profile: Nancy Temple | url=https://www.linkedin.com | access-date = 2008-04-03 }}</ref> After graduation, Temple attended Harvard Law School where she graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1989.<ref name="Glater 2006">{{Cite news | last=Glater | first=Jonathan D. | author-link= | title=Ten Enron Players: Where they landed after the fall. | newspaper=The New York Times | volume= | issue= | pages= | date=January 29, 2006 | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E7D8113FF93AA15752C0A9609C8B63 }}.</ref> She began her career at Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, now known as Sidley Austin. She worked at the law firm for 11 years and was inducted as a partner. Temple specialized in accounting liability.
==Arthur Andersen conviction overturned==
On May 31, 2005, the United States Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Arthur Andersen in a unanimous decision.<ref name="AASC">Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States, 544 U.S. 696 (2005).</ref>
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the court, said the former Big Five accounting firm's obstruction-of-justice conviction was improper because the instructions at trial were too vague for jurors to determine correctly whether Andersen obstructed justice. "'[T]he jury instructions at issue simply failed to convey the requisite consciousness of wrongdoing," he wrote. "[I]t is striking how little culpability the instructions required."<ref name="AASC"/>
In post-conviction interviews, several of the Arthur Andersen jurors indicated that the "guilty" verdict was partly based on an internal October 16, 2001 email from in-house Arthur Andersen attorney Nancy Temple.<ref>Kurt Eichenwald, ''Andersen Guilty in Effort to Block Inquiry on Enron'', N.Y. Times, June 16, 2002, at 1.</ref> The text of the email from Temple is as follows:
{| border="1" |- | <blockquote> To: David B. Duncan <br> Cc: Michael C. Odom@ANDERSEN WO: Richard Corgci@ANDERSEN WO <br> BCC: <br> Date: 10/16/2001 08:39 PM <br> From: Nancy A. Temple <br> Subject: Re: Press Release draft <br> Attachments: ATT&ICIQ; 3rd qtr press release memo.doc
Dave - Here are a few suggested comments for consideration.
* I recommended deleting reference to consultation with legal group and deleting my name on the memo. Reference to the legal group consultation arguably is a waiver of attorney-client privileged advice and if my name is mentioned it increases the chances that I might be a witness, which I prefer to avoid. * I suggested deleting some language that might suggest we concluded the release is misleading. * In light of the "non-recurring" characterization, the lack of any suggestion that this characterization is not in accordance with GAAP, and the lack of income statements in accordance with GAAP. I will consult further within the legal group as to whether we should do anything more to protect ourselves from potential Section 10A issues.
Nancy </blockquote> |- |}
The Supreme Court's unanimous reversal of the conviction reinforces the opinion that the jury should not have inferred any liability on Arthur Andersen based solely upon the October 16 memo.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} Rather, Temple's bar license required that she not do anything that would waive the "attorney-client" privilege of Enron or Arthur Andersen. By having her name{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} and a legal reference removed, in effect she was making the subject memo suitable for public disclosure – it was no longer a "privileged" document.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
In addition, public accounting firms had a duty to notify the SEC within a defined time window if the accountants disagreed with a public accounting filing by a client. Temple's memo notes that the subject matter at issue was determined not to be of a nature that would require that Arthur Andersen to notify the SEC - i.e., a "Section 10A" filing, and her memo indicates that she will consult with the lawyers – again – to verify that conclusion.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}
== Post-Andersen == Nancy Temple is married and has three sons.<ref name="Glater 2006"/> After the Arthur Andersen case, Ms. Temple began working for Freeman, Freeman & Salzman P.C. law firm, now defunct.<ref> {{Cite news | last=Klein | first=Sarah A. | author-link= | title=Andersen Collapses: The ignoble demise of Chicago's top professional services firm signaled the end of an era. Here's what happened after Enron. | newspaper=Crain's Chicago Business | volume= | issue= | pages=60–61 | date=March 31, 2008 | url= }}.</ref> On April 1, 2008, Temple returned to practice law at Katten & Temple LLP,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kattentemplelaw.com/ |title = Legal Counsel and Services, Chicago, IL}}</ref> a firm she co-founded that specializes in litigation.
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Nancy}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:Gies College of Business alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Enron scandal Category:American women lawyers Category:21st-century American women