2nd Circuit Court

Ex-partner sues Thompson Wigdor for $600K; former colleague calls him ‘disgruntled and desperate’

A former partner who left Thompson Wigdor in 2011, after the firm was sanctioned over an employment case in which he was involved, has sued for $600,000 he says he is still owed. Scott Gilly says he is owed the money under the firm’s 2008 partnership agreement and a separation…

Apr 9, 2013 7:37 PM CDT

Closed by lack of power after Hurricane Sandy, law firm battles insurer over flooding exclusion

A New York law firm has brought an insurance coverage lawsuit against its own carrier after being forced to close temporarily by Hurricane Sandy. Great Northern Insurance Co. refused to pay a $250,000 business interruption claim because it said the damage was from flooding, which is excluded from coverage by…

Apr 5, 2013 4:55 PM CDT

Sued by ex-associate, partner and law firm file $15M counterclaim, call her ‘obsessed’

Sued last month for alleged sexual harassment by a former associate, a prominent plaintiffs class action lawyer and his firm have fired back. In addition to answering the complaint brought by Alexandra Marchuk in federal court in Manhattan, Juan E. Monteverde and Faruqi & Faruqi have filed counterclaims alleging defamation,…

Apr 2, 2013 8:55 PM CDT

Expert in legal-fee fight blasts ‘make believe’ game over cost of contract lawyers to do doc review

Even in the New York metropolitan area, the reasonable cost of hiring a contract lawyer from a staffing agency to do document review work in a securities class action case is, at most, $50 to $75 an hour, an expert said in a declaration (PDF) filed last month in federal…

Apr 1, 2013 5:38 PM CDT

Priceline doesn’t have to tell customers it pockets profits, appeals court rules

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of appeals ruled Wednesday that Priceline.com doesn’t have a fiduciary duty to tell its customers when it pockets profits from bookings through its “Name Your Own Price” service. Plaintiffs Lee Johnson and Joey Marie Kelly sued Priceline, alleging the online travel agency was…

Mar 27, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

‘Churn that bill, baby!’ email surfaces in fee dispute with DLA Piper

It all began with a corporate bankruptcy case. Retained by energy entrepreneur Adam H. Victor in April 2010 to prepare the Chapter 11 filing for one of his companies, DLA Piper ran up a hefty bill. And when Victor refused to pay it, the law firm sued him for $675,000.…

Mar 25, 2013 8:54 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor accused of faking client’s divorce takes plea in obstruction case

A disbarred New York lawyer has taken a plea in a federal obstruction of justice case. David Ehrlich, 38, agreed not to contest any sentence of 27 months or less as he pleaded guilty on Monday to one obstruction count in federal district court in Albany, reports the Times Union.…

Mar 25, 2013 6:41 PM CDT

Prominent law grad and general counsel face SEC case in claimed $13.2M social media stock fraud

A prominent businessman and law graduate who once headed Oregon’s Republican party and was a candidate for state governor has been criminally charged in a securities fraud case. Craig Berkman, 71, who now lives in Florida, was arrested Tuesday at his Odessa home in a case filed by the U.S.…

Mar 19, 2013 9:50 PM CDT

Lawyer takes plea in $279M no-fault auto insurance fraud case

One of three lawyers charged in what authorities have described as a record-breaking $279 million New York auto insurance fraud scheme has taken a plea. Sol Naimark, 54, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Manhattan to conspiracy to commit health fraud and faces up to 20 years when…

Mar 19, 2013 4:00 PM CDT

Ex-associate files sexual harassment suit against Faruqi & Faruqi firm and prominent partner

Updated: A former associate has filed a federal lawsuit against a prominent plaintiffs class action lawyer and his New York-based law firm, contending that the partner sexually harassed her and the firm did nothing to stop his inappropriate behavior when she complained. Plaintiff Alexandra Marchuk says in the suit that…

Mar 14, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

FTC can serve foreign defendants via Facebook, federal judge rules

The Hague Service Convention doesn’t expressly authorize service on foreign defendants by email or social media accounts. But, saying that a U.S. court has the power under the treaty and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to approve supplemental means of service, a federal judge in Manhattan has OK’d a…

Mar 13, 2013 4:58 PM CDT

Bin Laden ‘consigliere’ arraigned in federal court, accused in claimed conspiracy to kill Americans

The son-in-law of Osama bin Laden has been criminally charged in federal court in New York City, accused of participating in a conspiracy to kill Americans. Public details of exactly what Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is accused of doing are elusive, according to the New York Times (reg. req.). However, it…

Mar 8, 2013 6:09 PM CST

Bin Laden spokesman who talked of 9/11 attacks on video extradited to US

A son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, who is accused of playing a major role in al-Qaida as a spokesman and propagandist, has reportedly been captured abroad and extradited to the U.S. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is in federal custody in New York City and is expected to appear there at a…

Mar 7, 2013 7:45 PM CST

Paul Hastings, 2 partners to pay $1.6M to settle Dewey unfinished business claim

Two former partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf, along with the law firm at which they now practice, Paul Hastings, have agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to settle a claim over unfinished Dewey business they took with them to their new jobs. A filing Monday in New York says Paul…

Mar 6, 2013 5:30 PM CST

Ex-partner of Jenkens & Gilchrist gets 8 years in tax shelter case, is ordered to pay $190M

A former partner of the now-defunct Jenkens & Gilchrist law firm was sentenced Friday to eight years in federal prison for her role in what federal prosecutors have billed as the largest criminal tax fraud case ever. Donna Guerin, who pleaded guilty last year after winning a retrial, was also…

Mar 1, 2013 9:55 PM CST