Banking Law

Law Prof’s Book Helps Underwater Homeowners Decide When to Walk Away

A University of Arizona law professor offers advice to underwater homeowners in a new book that echoes his earlier views that walking away from a mortgage may be the best alternative. The professor, Brent White, says homeowners need to evaluate financial and practical concerns before making a decision, according to…

Dec 8, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Oops. Bank Sells 1 Foreclosed House to 2 Different Buyers; Law Firm Blamed for Mistake

In a mistake that was unusual but, experts say, not unique, a bank reportedly sold the same foreclosed South Florida home twice. A law firm to which the matter was transferred blamed its predecessor firm, operated by embattled foreclosure king David Stern, for the error, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Shapiro and…

Dec 7, 2010 12:20 AM CST

Madoff Trustee Sues Third Major Bank, Seeks $9B

The trustee seeking to recover money for Bernard Madoff investors has filed a third multbillion-dollar lawsuit against a major bank. Trustee Irving Picard sued London-based HSBC on Sunday, along with about 60 other defendants, including hedge funds and HSBC subsidiaries, the New York Times reports. The complaint was filed in…

Dec 6, 2010 12:19 PM CST

Law Firm Accused of UPL, After Admittedly Filing Foreclosures Without Attorney Review

A Pennsylvania law firm has joined Florida colleagues on the hot seat over questioned practices in high-volume mortgage foreclosure cases. Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever has been accused of unauthorized practice of law because—as two of its name partners admitted in deposition—nonlawyers, at least in the past, routinely prepared and filed…

Dec 4, 2010 12:00 AM CST

Lawyers Testify About Ethics Qualms in Hearing on Mortgage Modification Law Firm

Lawyers who worked for a now-shuttered New Hampshire law firm that got into the mortgage modification business told of their ethical qualms in a hearing Thursday into alleged legal violations. Assistant attorney general Karen Gorham is alleging that lawyer Dan Dargon ran “a loan modification mill,” the Concord Monitor reports.…

Dec 3, 2010 2:42 PM CST

Seattle’s Lane Powell Acquires 17 Lawyers From Oregon Law Firm

Seattle-based Lane Powell is boosting its banking practice with the acquisition of 17 lawyers from Roberts Kaplan in Portland, Ore. The change takes place Jan. 1, according to the Portland Business Journal and the Puget Sound Business Journal. The acquisition makes Lane Powell Portland’s sixth-largest law firm. In the Seattle…

Dec 3, 2010 1:53 PM CST

Madoff Trustee Sues JPMorgan Chase, Seeks $6B for Alleged Blind Eye to Massive Swindle

In a complaint filed under seal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, a court-appointed trustee winding up the business affairs of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff has accused a major bank of aiding and abetting his record-breaking Ponzi scheme over a period of decades. JPMorgan Chase & Co., which was Madoff’s…

Dec 2, 2010 8:31 PM CST

Why Were Two House Ethics Lawyers Suspended? Maxine Waters Wants to Know

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters is demanding answers following the suspension of two House ethics committee lawyers who had been working on the case against her. The lawyers, Cindy Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign, have been placed on paid leave and the ethics trial of Waters has been delayed, according to…

Dec 2, 2010 1:11 PM CST

Payback: Lawyers on Both Sides of Collection are Feeling Debt’s Sting

Adam Krohn sues debt collectors for unfair practices, but he found himself in a role reversal last year when calling a fellow California lawyer who owed him money on a judgment. “He told me, ‘Come get it. I want you to know what it’s like to try to collect a…

Dec 1, 2010 8:00 AM CST

Law Firm Demystifies Legal, Banking and Finance Jargon With iPhone App

If the term “Canadian wrapper” makes you conjure Drake, then you might think about downloading the Book of Jargon to your iPhone. The app, developed by Latham & Watkins, provides a glossary of U.S. legal and regulatory terminology, along with capital market and banking slang to help make financial jargon…

Dec 1, 2010 7:35 AM CST

Negative Remarks Banned in Trial Pitting Trial Lawyers Group Against Wachovia

The lawyers will have to mind their manners as a breach-of-contract trial gets under way this week that pits the trial lawyers group American Association for Justice against its would-be lender, Wachovia Bank. A pretrial motion in the Washington, D.C., federal case sets out the parameters, Bloomberg News reports. “Wachovia’s…

Nov 30, 2010 4:21 PM CST

US Rep: Use Terror & Spy Laws to Probe WikiLeaks & Founder re Site’s Dump of 250K State Dept. Docs

After a dump of some 250,000 U.S. State Department cables by WikiLeaks, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today called the incident an “attack” and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a criminal investigation of those responsible for the release of the classified documents. But the expected incoming chair of a…

Nov 30, 2010 12:34 AM CST

Appeals Court Nixes $292K Debt Cancellation, Despite Mortgage Lender’s ‘Repulsive’ Acts

Reversing a decision by a trial judge in a closely watched case that had seemed to shift the balance of power in problematic mortgage foreclosures, a New York appeals court has held that Justice Jeffrey Spinner exceeded his discretion by canceling a couple’s $292,500 home mortgage due to the lender’s…

Nov 23, 2010 3:54 PM CST

Citigroup Seeks Lawyer to Oversee Social Media

The growth of social media means more marketing opportunities for businesses—and more legal headaches. Evidence of the trend comes on the job front: Citigroup is hiring a lawyer to oversee its presence on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. The bank has a job listing for a new…

Nov 23, 2010 2:34 PM CST

Banks Knew About Illegal Rothstein Transfers and Hence are Liable for $160M, Lawyer Argues

Banks at which then-attorney Scott Rothstein deposited money he obtained via a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme may not have known about the swindle. But they did know, or should have known, about illegal transfers from his now-defunct Florida law firm trust account to its operating account and Rothstein’s personal account,…

Nov 18, 2010 5:44 PM CST