Jacob Manning Participates in United Nations Effort to Combat Fraud

August 4, 2008

Jacob A. Manning, an attorney in the Wheeling office of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, participated in a six-year effort aimed at combating commercial fraud, which will soon result in a document published by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

UNCITRAL serves as the core legal body for the United Nations in the field of international trade law. The Commission is comprised of 60 elected member States with virtually all other member States acting as observers. It focuses on formulating modern, fair, and harmonized rules on commercial transactions. Over the past six years, the Secretariat of UNCITRAL has worked with experts from multiple industries from around the world to formulate this project, an exercise in which Manning participated from the outset.

The first Group of Experts meeting in 2002 discussed the problem of international fraud. It realized the need to study fraudulent practices to prevent a negative economic impact on commerce and to aid legitimate commercial institutions in trade. In 2004, the Commission decided that fraud could best be prevented by educating those who may be involved in fraudulent transactions. The result was the document, “Indicators of Commercial Fraud,” a list of 23 indicators to help red flag potential characteristics of fraud.

Jacob Manning has been a delegate at UNCITRAL's Plenary Sessions in Austria and New York. He also attended each "Group of Experts" meetings at which the document was drafted. He has extensive experience in civil and criminal litigation with an emphasis on appellate practice and has spoken nationally and internationally on issues of commercial fraud. Manning received his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Note Dame.