While the financial crisis has produced a lot of human drama, we have yet to witness a trial that captures the essence of the era. The trial of Ralph Cioffi (Ralph Cioffi news) and Matthew Tannin (Matthew Tannin news), both of Bear Stearns (Bear Stearns news), was as close as we've come.

But it looks now like Fabrice "Fab" Tourre (Fabrice Tourre news) seems bent on clearing his name before a jury. It may not be the trial of the century, but it has the potential to be a blockbuster. We'll likely see some big name Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) executives take the stand and talk about what they knew of Tourre's actions and whether they approved.

It's clear now that Tourre and Goldman Sachs have parted ways. He just might opt for a scorched earth type of approach that could embarrass many. So if it gets to trial, this is bad news for Goldman Sachs, as it merely prolongs the CDO (CDO news) saga in the media. It may be a while before we get to trial, however. The SEC (SEC news) says it will turn over 9 million pages to Fab's legal team, which says it will take 20 people nine months to review it all. The wait may well be worth it. (But I think we'll end in a settlement at some point).

For more:
- here's a blog item from the WSJ

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