UK Attorney Says Tabloid Hacked Up to 7,000 People’s Phone Messages; Big-Bucks Cases Expected

A tabloid newspaper in the United Kingdom could be exposed to as much as $70 million in potential damages claims after hacking into voicemail messages for as many as 7,000 people between 2004 and 2006, according to a plaintiff’s lawyer and other observers. Charlotte Harris, a partner at Mishcon de…

Apr 11, 2011 2:37 PM CDT

AG Subpoenas New York’s Biggest Foreclosure Firm and Processing Company Spinoff

Subpoenas have been issued by New York’s attorney general to the state’s biggest mortgage foreclosure firm, Steven J. Baum, P.C., and a spinoff processing company, seeking information about their practices. However, Steven J. Baum, who operates the 70-lawyer Amherst, N.Y., firm, says it has done nothing wrong and will cooperate…

Apr 11, 2011 10:00 AM CDT

Associate Claims in Suit He Was Forced Out of Canadian Firm for Complaint About Groping Partner

A former associate claims in a $1.3 million wrongful dismissal suit that he was forced out of a Canadian law firm after he alleged a drunken partner groped a law student during a late-night party at a Toronto bar. Adrian Jakibchuk alleges that partners at Mathews Dinsdale & Clark refused…

Apr 6, 2011 2:16 PM CDT

Former Howrey Staffer Files WARN Suit Over Law Firm’s Layoffs

In the first of a series of expected worker lawsuits against Howrey, former staffer Stephanie Langley has filed suit against the law firm contending that it failed to meet its obligation under the WARN Act to provide employees with 60 days of notice prior to its closing. Her complaint (PDF),…

Apr 5, 2011 10:03 PM CDT

Clark Thomas & Winters Closes Office in San Antonio; Fate of Houston Office Isn’t Known

Once the largest law firm in Austin, Texas, the venerable Clark Thomas & Winters apparently may have closed its doors after an announcement in February that it was restructuring. Calls to both its Houston and San Antonio officer are being taken by an answering service, and Meade Bauer, who at…

Apr 4, 2011 7:47 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Says Chase Must Post $4M Surety Bond to Get Its Foreclosure Files Back From Law Firm

A federal judge in Florida has ruled that Chase Home Finance must post a $4 million surety bond before the Ben-Ezra & Katz law firm is required to return to the bank foreclosure files for some $400 million worth of mortgages. The law firm contends that it is owed $6.2…

Apr 1, 2011 10:39 PM CDT

Local Firm Snags Megadeal: Case Doesn’t Faze Midsize Law Office

Apr 1, 2011 6:50 AM CDT

Freddie Mac Pulls Foreclosure Files from Another Law Firm, by Mutual Consent

Without explaining why, Freddie Mac has added another law firm to its list of those that it no longer authorizes to handle its foreclosure files. The move concerning Shapiro & Burson was by mutual consent, a Freddie Mac spokesman told the Baltimore Sun. The Virginia-based law firm has been accused…

Mar 31, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

Federal Court Fines Lawyer $1K for ‘Extensive Use of Improper Confidentiality Markings’

There’s no Federal Rule of Civil Procedure that explicitly governs the use of the “confidential” stamp. But, finding that FRCP 26 and 28(d) implicitly require disclosure unless documents are designated confidential by statute or judicial order, a federal appeals court has imposed a $1,000 fine on attorney Daniel Shapiro of…

Mar 31, 2011 7:07 PM CDT

‘Decent Burial’ for Yoss Law Firm May Be Via Chapter 7; Partners Probably Will Lose Capital

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing may be required to achieve a “decent burial” for the dissolving law firm once known as Adorno & Yoss, an observer tells the Daily Business Review. And partners of the firm, known as Yoss after founding partner Henry “Hank” Adorno was suspended from practice last…

Mar 30, 2011 7:59 PM CDT

2 Ex-Partners Battle Former Law Firm Over 300 Allegedly Swiped Case Files

Two former senior partners are battling their well-known former law firm in Scotland over more than 300 lucrative Legal Aid case files that they are accused of swiping when they exited to form a competing entity directly across the street from their old offices. So far, the Ross Harper firm…

Mar 29, 2011 12:39 AM CDT

Chase Sues Its Former Foreclosure Counsel, Seeks Turnover of Files in $400M Worth of Cases

Saying that its former mortgage foreclosure counsel, Ben-Ezra & Katz, has effectively called a halt to some $400 million in litigation by refusing to turn over the case files, Chase Home Finance is suing the law firm in federal court in Florida. At issue is approximately $5 million in unpaid…

Mar 28, 2011 8:59 PM CDT

Fla. Foreclosure Law Firm to Pay $2M to Settle Attorney General Complaint

One of eight mortgage foreclosure law firms reportedly being investigated by the Florida attorney general over claims of dubious paperwork has agreed to pay $2 million and change its business practices, according to the Tampa Tribune. Further details of the settlement by the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm of Marshall C.…

Mar 25, 2011 8:03 PM CDT

Former Office Manager to Get 7 Years in Theft of Over $400K from NJ Law Firm

A former office manager of a northern New Jersey law firm has agreed to a plea bargain that includes a seven-year prison sentence for her admitted theft of over $400,000 from Maloof Lebowitz Connahan & Oleske between 2003 and 2010. Beth Friedland, 39, is expected to actually serve only a…

Mar 22, 2011 7:14 PM CDT