http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-21T19:21:30-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_of_salomon_bros_founder_sues_citigroup_says_secretary_assigned_in_consu/ The 99-year-old son of a founder of Salomon Brothers has sued Citigroup, contending that the bank breached a retirement contract by assigning him and failing to supervise adequately a personal secretary who allegedly stole $3 million of his personal funds. William Salomon, who began working for the famed investment bank… Banking Law, Contracts, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey, New York Mon, 13 May 2013 10:45:05 -0500 44146.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/kobe_bryant_battles_mom_for_ownership_of_sports_memorabilia_from_his_youth_/ Not one but two federal courts have been asked to weigh in on the issue of whether Kobe Bryant's mom had a right to clear out his boyhood bedroom and sell at auction the sports memorabilia she found there. Initially, the Philadelphia-area auction house to which Pamela Bryant consigned the… Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, 9th Circuit Court, States, California, New Jersey Fri, 10 May 2013 12:50:18 -0500 44128.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/did_kobe_bryants_mom_have_ok_to_clear_out_his_boyhood_bedroom_federal_judge/ Just in time for Mother's Day, basketball great Kobe Bryant is involved in a federal lawsuit against his own mother, who he says cleared out his former boyhood bedroom without his permission to obtain sports memorabilia for an unauthorized auction. After a dispute developed, a New Jersey auction house filed… Celebrities, Entertainment & Sports Law, Family Law, Real Estate & Property Law, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 09 May 2013 13:43:53 -0500 44110.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/immigration_lawyer_conned_clients_and_courts_for_years_35-count_indictment_/ Although Michael Schorr is not a lawyer, he practiced in immigration courts in New York and New Jersey for four years by simply borrowing other attorneys' bar registration numbers or using a fake number, authorities allege. Arrested Friday and held without bail, he is accused of stealing tens of thousands… Criminal Justice, Immigration Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, 2nd Circuit Court, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey, New York Tue, 07 May 2013 14:00:22 -0500 44072.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/claimed_anonymous_member_takes_plea_in_law_firm_computer_hacking_case/ A 21-year-old who claimed to be a member of the Anonymous hacking collective took a plea Monday in a case over an alleged unauthorized intrusion into a Pittsburgh law firm's computer. Matthew James West pleaded guilty to unlawful trafficking in computer passwords and reckless damage to a protected computer, both… Criminal Justice, Cybersecurity, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Pennsylvania Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:12:43 -0500 43961.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_of_dead_shooter_in_del._courthouse_slayings_gets_six_months_for_probati/ The son of a man who killed two women at a Delaware courthouse earlier this year as they arrived for a child-support hearing was sentenced Tuesday to two months in federal prison for violating his probation in a child-kidnapping and fraud case. David Matusiewicz was also present at the Delaware… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Delaware Tue, 23 Apr 2013 18:06:57 -0500 43882.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-prosecutor_convicted_in_law_firm_rico_enterprise_case_should_have_had_a_/ A former state and federal prosecutor convicted this week of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and participating in drug-dealing, prostitution and even a conspiracy to murder witnesses, might have done better to let a… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Juries, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:40:58 -0500 43376.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_convicts_criminal_defense_attorney_accused_of_operating_law_firm_as_ra/ Once a prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney, Paul Bergrin was convicted Monday by a federal jury in Newark of all 23 counts he faced in a case in which he was accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise and conspiring to murder witnesses, among other crimes.… Criminal Justice, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:24:49 -0500 43328.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/accused_ringleader_in_70m_law_firm_scam_takes_plea/ A foreign citizen accused of acting as a ringleader in a scheme in which prosecutors say U.S. and Canadian law firms were scammed out of some $70 million has pleaded guilty in federal court in Harrisburg, Pa. Emmanuel Ekhator, 42, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit mail… Banking Law, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Criminal Justice, International Law, Law Firms, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Pennsylvania Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:24:20 -0500 43288.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_convicts_irs_worker_of_masterminding_bogus_tax_refund_scheme/ A federal jury in Philadelphia on Wednesday convicted a former Internal Revenue Service employee of masterminding a scheme to collect fraudulent tax refunds while working at the IRS, often using straw filers. Aware that the IRS didn't check telephone tax credit requests from filers owed less than $1,500, or ask… Criminal Justice, Tax Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Pennsylvania Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:36:41 -0500 43271.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_takes_state_plea_will_pay_1m_to_widows_estate_federal_8.5m_ponzi_pro/ A New Jersey lawyer has pleaded guilty in state court to money laundering and promised to fully repay within five years the estate of the elderly widow he bilked of $1.1 million Michael Kwasnik has also agreed to repay, before his scheduled May 10 sentencing, the client couple from whom… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 14 Mar 2013 13:41:18 -0500 43268.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/3rd_judge_takes_plea_in_ticket_case/ A third Pennsylvania judge has taken a plea in a federal ticket-fixing case in which nine jurists who work in Philadelphia traffic court and suburban courts were charged. Federal prosecutors said senior Traffic Court Judge Fortunato N. Perri Sr., 76, had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Pennsylvania Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:25:06 -0500 43246.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/attorney_on_trial_in_claimed_law_firm_rico_enterprise_conspiracy/ Seven weeks into the federal trial of a New Jersey criminal defense attorney accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise that trafficked in drugs and prostitution and conspired to murder adverse witnesses, the prosecution has rested. Paul Bergrin, 57, who is acting as his own lead counsel,… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:15:45 -0600 43153.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/son_of_del._courthouse_shooter_faces_new_probation_violation_charges_relate/ New probation violation charges have been filed against the son of a man who committed suicide immediately after shooting to death two women at a Wilmington, Del., courthouse last month. David Matusiewicz, 45, is accused in a violation petition filed Tuesday of living in a home in Texas in which… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Delaware Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:09:08 -0600 43160.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/prosecutor_federal_judge_spar_re_6-year_mortgage_fraud_sentence_spouse_who_/ A prosecutor seeking 24 years for a mortgage fraud defendant complained Tuesday that the 6½-year term handed down by a federal judge to Vasilia Berger represented the biggest variance he'd ever heard of since sentencing guidelines took effect in 1987. But the judge said the prosecutor was the one who… Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:06:30 -0600 43129.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/fellow_lawyer_who_took_plea_tells_jury_paul_bergrin_tried_to_get_to_witness/ Updated: Convicted for his own role in a claimed New Jersey racketeering enterprise allegedly operated from a Newark law firm, Thomas Moran told a federal jury on Monday that the fellow attorney he once considered his mentor routinely threatened potential witnesses against criminal defense clients, the Record reports.… Criminal Justice, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:13:38 -0600 43016.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/man_wrote_angry_letters_to_one_lawyer_failed_to_pay_another_years_before_co/ Thomas Matusiewicz reportedly had anger issues for years before the 68-year-old shot to death his former daughter-in-law, Christine Belford, and a female friend in the lobby of a Wilmington, Del., courthouse earlier this month. The women were there for a hearing in a long-running child-support case involving the shooter's adult… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Family Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, Delaware Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:05:28 -0600 43002.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/client_drug_dealer_tells_jury_he_and_lawyer_worked_on_witness_hit_list_and_/ A former client of Paul Bergrin testified Friday that he and the once-prominent New Jersey criminal defense attorney worked together on developing a list of individuals to eliminate as potential witnesses in his pending drug case by murdering them. Bergrin, a former state and federal prosecutor, also helped him with… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:27:19 -0600 42997.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/in_taped_law_office_meeting_attorney_paul_bergrin_talks_of_witness_hits_mak/ Updated: Clearly, Oscar Cordova isn't the most pristine of witnesses. In testimony in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Tuesday, he admitted doing drugs and also said he had sex in his hotel room with women sent there by defendant Paul Bergrin, a prominent criminal defense attorney now on trial… Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:55:29 -0600 42944.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/drug_trafficker_serving_time_testifies_that_lawyer_sold_him/ A witness currently serving time for drug trafficking admitted in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Monday that he hopes to get his sentence reduced by testifying against attorney Paul Bergrin, who is accused of operating his Newark criminal defense firm as a racketeering enterprise. But Rondre Kelly also insisted… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Law Firms, Partners, Solos/Small Firms, Trials & Litigation, 3rd Circuit Court, States, New Jersey Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:20:23 -0600 42836.abajournal.com