A federal judge in Seattle, James Robart, has come under scrutiny after revealing he accidentally traded Boeing stock while overseeing a lawsuit against the company. The incident, involving the $72 million verdict against Boeing, has raised questions about the financial transparency of federal judges.
Robart disclosed to Business Insider that his wife’s IRA, managed by a bank, had bought and sold between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of Boeing stock in April 2023, while presiding over the Zunum Aero lawsuit. Upon learning about the trades, Robart immediately sold the shares, with financial disclosures indicating the sale took place in May and June.
The Zunum Aero case, filed in 2020, alleges that Boeing conspired to deprive the electric aircraft startup of funding and steal its plans. A jury awarded Zunum $72 million in June, but Robart later dismissed the verdict, citing insufficient evidence regarding Zunum’s trade secrets.
Robart attributed the stock trades to an error and stated he took immediate steps to rectify the situation. However, he did not inform the lawyers involved in the lawsuit or make any public acknowledgment of the trades, except for the legally required financial disclosures.
While Robart insists the trades would not influence his decision, the incident highlights the increasing scrutiny of federal judges’ financial activities. Reports have indicated that 131 federal judges breached ethics laws by failing to recuse themselves from cases where they or their family members held stock.
While Robart was not included in the report, he acknowledged his own caution regarding his trading. He was unaware that his wife’s IRA was invested in a pooled fund that traded individual stocks until he received a monthly report on its trading activity.
Legal ethics expert Bill Hodes suggested that as long as the trades were unintentional, quickly corrected, and not repeated, they might be considered a technical violation. Gabe Roth, from the group Fix The Court, believes that Robart’s actions were appropriate, but suggested he should have notified the parties involved.
Meanwhile, Boeing continues to grapple with a series of setbacks, including structural cracks in its 777X jetliner, which led to the grounding of its test fleet. The company has also appointed a new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, amid safety concerns. Ortberg relocated to Seattle to address the safety crisis, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.
This incident comes on the heels of a series of repercussions for Boeing, following an in-flight blowout on a Boeing 737-9 MAX in January. This event resulted in a temporary grounding of the MAX 9, a halt on production expansion by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a criminal investigation, and the departure of several key executives.
