Jeffrey Gundlach case goes to trial

L.A.-based money giant TCW will try to prove that its top bond manager was plotting for months to leave the firm and start his own shop - taking a bunch of his clients with him. TCW claims forensic experts will prove Gundlach stole millions of documents. The case has gotten lots of attention in part because TCW allegedly discovered marijuana, porn, and sexual devices in Gundlach's office (the judge is not allowing that into the trial because he considers the materials irrelevant). Clearly, TCW isn't being shy about presenting its case - or at least its attorney Susan Estrich isn't (here she is on CNBC). On the other side of the pre-trial jockeying is the report of a memo that supposedly contradicts an important claim in TCW's case. From Fortune:

Fortune has learned that a memo and deposition offer evidence that executives at TCW, a division of Societe Generale, were thinking about firing Gundlach as early as August 2009. If this is the case, it contradicts the firm's allegations that it fired Gundlach only after discovering that he stole company information to start his own firm in December of that year.

Estrich says she intends to bring Gundlach to the stand, so this could get interesting.