New York

NY Senate majority leader is on leave from his law firm job after arrest

Arrested Monday, along with his son, in a federal corruption case, Dean Skelos has so far retained his position as majority leader of the New York Senate. However, the Republican is no longer listed on the attorney roster as counsel to the Uniondale law firm with which he had been…

May 8, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

Proskauer lays off 29 staff members

Proskauer Rose is laying off 29 staff members as it streamlines operations in its New York offices. “In New York, the firm will move toward a shared services model in which secretaries operate in teams,” the firm says in a written statement provided to Above the Law. “This approach, which…

May 7, 2015 4:00 PM CDT

2nd Circuit rules NSA phone surveillance program is not authorized by Patriot Act

A sweeping National Security Agency program that collects and stores so-called metadata for nearly all United States phone calls in a searchable database is not authorized by the Patriot Act, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. Section 215 of the Patriot Act “cannot bear the weight the government asks us…

May 7, 2015 10:45 AM CDT

Man accused of assaulting lawyer is ecstatic over mistrial, says new lawyer, who was also attacked

A lawyer who continued to represent a defendant who attacked him during a trial for allegedly assaulting another lawyer says his client is ecstatic after a holdout juror caused a mistrial on Tuesday. The defendant, 34-year-old Aaron Jabot, had testified he wasn’t trying to hurt his lawyer in the alleged…

May 6, 2015 9:56 AM CDT

New York will use Uniform Bar Exam to test bar applicants, starting in July 2016

Starting in July 2016, the Uniform Bar Exam will be administered to those seeking admission to practice law in New York state. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced the plan in a Law Day speech on the steps of the New York Court of Appeals in Albany, the Times Union reports.…

May 5, 2015 12:00 PM CDT

Appeals court greenlights fraud suit against Proskauer related to tax shelter advice

A New York state appeals court has greenlighted a fraud suit against Proskauer Rose related to tax shelter advice the law firm provided to heirs of the Johnson & Johnson fortune approximately 15 years ago. Upholding a trial court ruling that denied a motion to dismiss and also OK’d punitive…

May 4, 2015 1:05 PM CDT

Split jury verdict for former Goldman Sachs programmer accused in code-theft case

A former programmer for Goldman Sachs didn’t dispute that he took computer trading code with him when he exited for a new job. However, while Sergey Aleynikov violated the bank’s confidentiality policy by doing so, he committed no crime, his lawyer, Kevin Marino told a New York state-court jury in…

May 1, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Inmate on trial for jailhouse lawyer assault attacks new lawyer in court

An inmate on trial for an alleged attack on his lawyer during a jailhouse meeting attacked his new lawyer in a Fort Edward, New York, courtroom on Thursday. Jurors were not in the courtroom when Aaron Jabot, 34, began hitting lawyer Fred Rench, witnesses told the Post-Star. Deputies subdued Jabot,…

May 1, 2015 7:14 AM CDT

$1.7M cemetery theft gets lawyer up to 13 years; he’s already serving federal time in tax case

A New York lawyer brought in to oversee a cemetery’s operations after an official stole $850,000, helped himself to $1.77 million more, the state attorney general says. Meanwhile, Timothy Griffin had allegedly embezzled nearly $1 million from money he held in escrow for real estate clients in his Westchester County…

Apr 28, 2015 2:45 PM CDT

Mother-daughter Pink concert wasn’t an abuse of parental discretion, judge rules in custody tiff

A father who saw red when he learned his 11-year-old daughter had attended a Pink concert with her mother was unable to persuade a New Jersey judge that the event was harmful. Judge Lawrence Jones of Ocean County ruled (PDF) that taking the girl to the December 2013 concert was…

Apr 27, 2015 7:03 AM CDT

Long-serving federal judge, 92, says ice-skating energizes him for work

A long-serving federal judge in New York City credits morning ice-skating sessions for his continuing service. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Sweet, 92, took up the sport when he was in his seventies, after his wife gave him a pair of figure skates for his birthday as something of a…

Apr 24, 2015 3:50 PM CDT

NYC transit agency may ban all political ads to avoid complying with federal judge’s ruling

Ordered by a federal judge in Manhattan to allow a pro-Israel satirical “killing Jews” ad on buses and subways, New York City transit officials have come up with a new strategy to block it. In a Friday letter to U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, a lawyer for the Metropolitan Transportation…

Apr 24, 2015 2:40 PM CDT

Landmark NYC courthouse opens doors for free exhibit after 40 years of being closed

Closed in 1977, the former Bronx Borough Courthouse will open its doors again on Thursday for a free art exhibit. Meanwhile, Gothamist toured the landmarked building and has posted dozens of photos online. A statue of Lady Justice remains outside, but much of the interior is now a shell, the…

Apr 22, 2015 12:15 PM CDT

After animal activists herald chimp habeas victory, judge amends her order

Animal activists were in a celebratory mood on Tuesday after a Manhattan judge ordered Stony Brook University to justify its detention of two chimpanzees and labeled her action a “writ of habeas corpus.” But Judge Barbara Jaffe’s “habeas” label was a mistake, according to a court spokesperson, and she amended…

Apr 22, 2015 7:01 AM CDT

New BigLaw associates make the most money in NYC, says survey

While $160,000 is widely recognized as the benchmark starting salary paid to first-year associates by the top BigLaw firms, a number outside New York City pay less. Before the recession hit the legal industry hard, 80 percent of the law firms employing 700 attorneys or more said they were paying…

Apr 20, 2015 2:45 PM CDT