New York

After indicted lawmaker seeks dismissal, due to US attorney’s remarks, Bharara dials it down

Initially, after a longtime New York legislative leader was arrested on corruption charges, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara made a number of public comments about Assemblyman Sheldon Silver’s case. But since Silver challenged his federal indictment, contending that Bharara’s comments may have prejudiced grand jurors, the U.S. attorney has maintained a…

Mar 9, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Paul Hastings hiring spree includes new Brazil office overseen by 3 former Allen & Overy partners

Following news of a record $1 billion in gross revenue in 2014, Paul Hastings is on a hiring spree. The approximately 875-attorney firm brought in two BigLaw practice leaders this week, and is opening a new office in Brazil overseen by three partners from a Magic Circle firm in the…

Mar 6, 2015 12:55 PM CST

Top lawmaker says US attorney created ‘media firestorm,’ asks federal judge to nix indictment

Charged with misusing his government influence to obtain nearly $4 million in law firm payments, under the guise of legitimate legal work, a longtime New York lawmaker has come out swinging and put the U.S. Attorney in a defensive position. Accused by Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, of creating a “media…

Mar 6, 2015 11:20 AM CST

National labor firm raids Littler and Ogletree, opens new offices in Denver and New York

Atlanta-based Constangy Brooks & Smith has raided two well-known labor and employment firms and some BigLaw competitors, gaining 12 attorneys, two new offices and an additional name partner in the process. Don Prophete, who practices in Kansas City, will be the new name on the marquee for the nearly 160-attorney…

Mar 5, 2015 1:50 PM CST

Sentencing for David Cassidy drunken-driving case is delayed again

A day at the Saratoga racecourse put onetime teen heartthrob David Cassidy crossways with a judge in a New York drunken-driving case, and it appears that the actor may still be paying the price. After learning from a tweet by track officials last year that Cassidy, who had asked not…

Mar 4, 2015 1:05 PM CST

‘Capturing the Friedmans’ defendant loses defamation suit against prosecutor

The surviving defendant in a controversial child sex-abuse case portrayed in the documentatry Capturing the Friedmans has been out of prison for nearly 15 years. However, Jesse Friedman is still seeking vindication. It remained elusive Monday, as a New York judge dismissed his defamation suit against a former Nassau County…

Mar 3, 2015 2:00 PM CST

Lawyer is publicly censured for not disclosing teen shoplifting arrest on bar application

Corrected: A New York lawyer has been publicly censured for not disclosing a shoplifting arrest that occurred when she was a teenager on her application for admission to the state bar. Natasha M. McDougall, a court attorney in the Brooklyn Family Court, had been charged with one count of professional…

Mar 2, 2015 11:49 AM CST

Rent-stabilized lease can’t be sold to satisfy bankruptcy creditors, says 2nd Circuit

A New York City rent-stabilized lease cannot be seized and sold to satisfy bankruptcy creditors, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. According to Reuters, the lease is held by Mary Santiago-Monteverde, and she’s lived in the East Village apartment for more than 40 years and currently pays…

Mar 2, 2015 11:15 AM CST

Appeals court says only qualified privilege covered lawyer’s demand letter, but nixes libel case

Only a qualified privilege, rather than absolute privilege, applied to demand letters sent by a lawyer on behalf of a corporate client to a former engineering supervisor and his new employer, New York’s top court decided Tuesday. However, the libel and tortious interference case brought by the ex-employee against the…

Feb 25, 2015 10:30 AM CST

Lawmaker is federally indicted over $3.7M in claimed payments by law firms

Updated: A longtime New York state legislative leader was federally indicted Thursday on fraud and extortion charges concerning some $3.7 million in payments that he allegedly received from two law firms. In addition to serving, until recently, as the speaker of the New York Assembly, Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, also is…

Feb 19, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Estate of ‘kung fu judge’ wins $750K in suit over his claimed unlawful confinement in nursing home

A nursing home in New York has agreed to settle a lawsuit for $750,000 that claimed a former Brooklyn judge was confined there against his will for eight months prior to his death in 2008. The case, which was brought by a nephew, also noted that his uncle was in…

Feb 18, 2015 4:20 PM CST

Bankruptcy court battle looms over economic-loss claims against GM concerning ignition-switch issues

As so-called master of disaster Kenneth Feinberg parcels out compensation from a $400 million General Motors fund for those injured and killed in accidents caused by vehicle ignition-switch issues, the automaker is headed to court next week in a separate case to do battle over economic-loss claims. GM says that…

Feb 13, 2015 3:30 PM CST

Lawyer blamed for reversed verdict feels vindicated by appellate ruling that judge abused discretion

A New York judge erred by reversing a jury’s defense verdict based on claimed misbehavior by a lawyer not directly involved in the case, a state appeals court has ruled. Saying that there was no way to determine from the record whether a lawyer attending a dental malpractice trial as…

Feb 11, 2015 12:25 PM CST

Still battling code-theft case, former Goldman Sachs programmer sues bank for legal fees

A former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ultimately prevailed in a federal prosecution over claims that he stole source code from his employer. But Sergey Aleynikov is still battling Goldman to obtain reimbursement for some $3 million he says he has expended in legal defense fees, reports Reuters.…

Feb 10, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Lawyer suspended for hiring disbarred lawyer who used assumed name in client meetings

A solo practitioner in New York state has been suspended for two years because he hired a disbarred lawyer, an old law school friend, as a paralegal and then gave the friend great autonomy. Dean Gary Weber of Westbury, New York, was suspended for two years for assisting a nonlawyer…

Feb 10, 2015 5:45 AM CST