New York

GM will pay $900M to end US criminal probe over ignition-switch issues

General Motors has agreed to pay a $900 million fine to resolve a federal criminal probe into the automaker’s reported delay in dealing with ignition-switch issues in some 2.6 million vehicles. The issue has been linked to over 100 deaths and many more injuries. The settlement also involves a three-year…

Sep 17, 2015 12:50 PM CDT

Former Cuomo lawyer dies after being caught in NYC shooting crossfire

A 43-year-old lawyer for a New York state economic development agency who formerly worked for the governor and Jones Day has died from a gunshot wound to the head. An apparent unintended victim in what may have been a gang shootout in Brooklyn last week, Carey Gabay died Wednesday, after…

Sep 17, 2015 6:40 AM CDT

State appeals court dismisses contempt charges against DA over tardy filings

A New York state appeals court has dismissed contempt of court charges against St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain after Rain apologized for her office’s repeated failure to file court papers on time. Rain laid much of the blame on a former assistant, whom she said had led her…

Sep 16, 2015 1:30 PM CDT

Cursing on traffic ticket is protected speech, judge rules

A Connecticut man’s profanity-laced message on a speeding ticket is protected speech under the First Amendment, a federal judge has held. U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel ruled that police and prosecutors in Liberty, New York, violated William Barboza’s civil rights when he was arrested for scrawling an obscene message on…

Sep 16, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

Deceptive practices suits say McCormick put 25% less pepper in its usual tin containers

Where’s the pepper? That’s what consumers could be asking, after purchasing McCormick & Co. tin containers that allegedly contain 25 percent less of the product than they used to. Federal lawsuits filed in several jurisdictions say McCormick violated consumer laws prohibiting deceptive practices by not reducing the size of the…

Sep 16, 2015 11:10 AM CDT

Teen does not have to visit dad, but appeals court suspends child support

Corrected: A Brooklyn judge had discretion to determine that a 13-year-old “vehemently opposed” to visiting his father should not be compelled to do so, a New York appeals court ruled. But, under the circumstances of this case, the judge should have granted the pro se father’s alternative motion to suspend…

Sep 15, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

14 years after Sept. 11 attacks, families of victims and others await justice

Fourteen years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the legal system is still dealing with those alleged to be responsible for the hijacked commercial airlines that crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. (The fourth plane is thought to have been headed toward…

Sep 11, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Dewey prosecution was based on ‘fantasy fraud,’ lawyer says in closing argument

A lawyer for the former chairman of Dewey & LeBoeuf told Manhattan jurors Tuesday that the prosecution case against his client was a “fantasy fraud” based on accounting adjustments that were proper or, at worst, debatable. There is “not one shred of evidence” that former chairman Steven Davis acted in…

Sep 9, 2015 9:32 AM CDT

Judge pursuing thief of sign at NYC’s first gender-neutral courthouse restroom

About a year ago, the Brooklyn Supreme Court became the first state courthouse in New York City to designate a gender-neutral restroom, Justice Lawrence Knipel says. Since then, the sign designating the historic facilities has repeatedly been swiped, the New York Post reports. Seeking to flush out the culprit or…

Sep 8, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Lawyer for New York state is shot in head; he previously worked as a BigLaw associate

A former assistant counsel to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in critical condition Monday evening after he was shot in the head, apparently an unintended target in what may have been a gang shootout. The lawyer, 43-year-old Carey Gabay, is a lawyer for New York state’s economic development agency,…

Sep 8, 2015 6:57 AM CDT

Without calling any witnesses, defense plans to rest in case against former Dewey & LeBoeuf leaders

Earlier this week, a judge overseeing the jury trial of three former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf accused of cooking the law firm’s books denied a motion to dismiss the case. But defense lawyers nonetheless plan to rest on Tuesday without calling a single witness and renew the motion to…

Sep 3, 2015 4:20 PM CDT

Judge overturns Tom Brady’s suspension in ‘deflategate’ scandal

A federal judge in Manhattan has overturned the four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the so-called deflategate scandal. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ruled (PDF) that the National Football League’s collective bargaining agreement did not give Commissioner Roger Goodell the authority to carry out the suspension,…

Sep 3, 2015 9:49 AM CDT

No lawyers in satellite office? No problem; Dilworth is like Netflix, its CEO says

Dilworth Paxson will keep its New York office open although there will be no lawyers there after the departure of three partners last month and the planned exit of an associate. The New York office will be used for a startup incubator and for the firm’s associated venture fund, which…

Sep 3, 2015 7:12 AM CDT

Law student kicked out of one school gets a second chance at another

A law student whose admission at one school was rescinded after the school claimed that he failed to fully explain the circumstances of a drug conviction is getting another chance from a different law school. David Powers, who once attended St. John’s University School of Law, will begin attending classes…

Aug 31, 2015 11:01 AM CDT

Partners to dissolve litigation boutique after 35-year run instead of signing new lease

After 35 years in business, a well-regarded New York City litigation boutique is dissolving as an October 2015 lease renewal looms. “We’ve been practicing law for 40-plus years, and we were not going to make a commitment for another 10-year lease,” senior partner William Pollard told the New York Law…

Aug 28, 2015 1:30 PM CDT