Banking Law

Hogan Lovells Raids Willkie Farr, Lures 10-Lawyer Capital Markets Team to Frankfurt Office

In another sign that the corporate legal market is gaining steam this year, megafirm Hogan Lovells has raided the Frankfurt, Germany, office of Willkie Farr & Gallagher for a 10-lawyer capital markets team. The group is led by Michael Schlitt, who will head the practice group at his new law…

Jan 21, 2011 9:21 PM CST

Bank Worker Allegedly Stole $6M By Diverting Checks and Funneling Payments to Husbands’ Companies

It isn’t just law firm staffers who allegedly have been stealing from their employers through fraudulent schemes and bogus record-keeping. A former Connecticut bank employee is accused of masterminding a $6 million fraud through which two lending institutions were allegedly tricked into paying out $5 million to companies operated by…

Jan 21, 2011 5:14 PM CST

Widow Who Missed Last Mortgage Payment Allowed to Sue Law Firm for Unfair Collection

A federal appeals court has ruled that an elderly widow can sue a law firm for unfair debt collection practices, even though the alleged wrongdoing occurred in communications between the firm and her own lawyer. The 85-year-old plaintiff, Dorothy Rhue Allen, had missed her last mortgage payment on her New…

Jan 18, 2011 2:59 PM CST

Bankrupt and in Foreclosure Himself, Lawyer Gives Evicted Clients Unusual Advice: Break In

As a tsunami of mortgage foreclosures and bankruptcies continues to sweep over many individuals who never thought they would ever be in this situation, a California lawyer feels his clients’ pain. After a disastrous experience working as a real estate broker specializing in distressed investments before the market crashed, attorney…

Jan 15, 2011 1:08 AM CST

Associate AG to Testify that Florida Foreclosures are in ‘Total Disarray’

An associate state attorney general is expected to tell state lawmakers today that the state’s foreclosure system is in “total disarray.” According to her prepared testimony, Patricia Conners will tell the Senate Banking Committee of a “virtual morass” of fake and faulty documents, to which so-called “foreclosure mill” have contributed…

Jan 11, 2011 7:50 PM CST

After Much-Awaited Mass. Foreclosure Ruling, Banks and Borrowers Continue with Existing Cases

In the aftermath of a much-awaited Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling Friday rejecting a “foreclose first, assign later” policy approved by a real estate bar group, both banks and homeowners say they are ready to move forward. The state’s top court didn’t put a permanent stop to foreclosures but simply…

Jan 10, 2011 9:14 PM CST

Judge Facing Foreclosure; He Says He Only Stopped Payments After Getting Advice from Bank

Untold numbers of homeowners nationwide have run into major snafus when trying to get mortgage loan modifications. Sometimes the only way out of the horror story is to tell it to a judge. Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Juvenile Court Judge Peter Sikora doesn’t deal with such matters on the bench, of…

Jan 7, 2011 7:55 PM CST

Bank of America ‘Gift’: $2.8B Settlement of Bad Mortgage Claims

Bank of America has agreed to pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $2.8 billion to settle claims it sold mortgages that did not meet specifications. The amount was lower than expected, according to Reuters and the Associated Press. Christopher Whalen, senior vice president for research firm Institutional Risk Analytics, called…

Jan 4, 2011 3:13 PM CST

WaPo Explains the ABCs of MERS, Which Struggling Homeowners Are Leveraging in Loan Negotiations

When financial industry representatives initially talked about creating a national electronic system for registering who owned mortgages 16 years ago, the plan was to have a central depository of paper documents. But the Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems that was adopted left lenders responsible for safeguarding original deeds and notes. Similarly,…

Dec 30, 2010 11:17 PM CST

Ernst & Young Accused in NY Suit of Helping Lehman Hide Billions in Debt

The accounting firm Ernst &Young is being targeted in a lawsuit for its work for Lehman Brothers before the investment bank’s collapse in 2008. The suit by outgoing New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo claims the accounting firm helped Lehman hide billions of dollars in debt, according to the Associated…

Dec 22, 2010 5:14 PM CST

Suit Claims Bank Took Cremated Remains in Wrongful Foreclosure

A widow has sued Bank of America for throwing out the ashes of her late husband along with her other belongings when it cleaned out her California mountain chalet in what she says was a wrongful foreclosure. Mimi Ash says she was behind on her loan but the bank had…

Dec 22, 2010 2:07 PM CST

Madoff Trustee Sues ‘Criminal Soul Mate’ Banker, Seeks $59B (Yes, Billion) in RICO Suit

A “criminal soul mate” of convicted super-swindler Bernard Madoff masterminded a 23-year conspiracy, utilizing European and offshore banks, hedge funds and other financial entities, that made it possible for him to operate a record-breaking Ponzi scheme, contends a bankruptcy trustee who filed a lawsuit today that seeks nearly $59 billion…

Dec 11, 2010 2:03 AM CST

Deposition Disclosure Fights Involve Robo-Signers and Sheriff Joe Arpaio

May depositions be posted on the Internet or otherwise released to the public? A Florida lawyer who posted robo-signer testimony and an Arizona sheriff targeted in a racial profiling lawsuit are taking opposite stands in court battles over the issue. Sarasota, Fla., lawyer Christopher Forrest is challenging a temporary injunction…

Dec 10, 2010 1:47 PM CST

Seeming Hack Attacks Hit Prosecutors, Opposing Counsel & Credit Card Co. re WikiLeaks Case

After news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being held without bail in the United Kingdom on a Swedish arrest warrant in a sex case, seeming hack attacks hit websites for Swedish prosecutors and the opposing counsel representing his accusers in the sex cases. Mastercard Inc., PayPal and Swiss bank…

Dec 8, 2010 10:57 PM CST

Allen Stanford Is Medically ‘Numbed’ and Unable to Testify, Lawyer Says

A lawyer for R. Allen Stanford says his client is so heavily medicated that the accused financier can’t assist in his defense or testify at trial. Lawyer Ali Fazel says in court papers that Stanford’s mental, emotional and physical health are “drastically deteriorating” and he should be released on bail,…

Dec 8, 2010 12:56 PM CST