New York

Arguing lack of intent, lawyers seek dismissal of charges against former Dewey & LeBoeuf leaders

Leaders accused of cooking the books at a once-storied, 1,300-attorney law firm lacked criminal intent, their lawyers said at a Monday court hearing in New York state court, arguing that criminal charges against their clients should be dismissed. “I don’t think we can write the definition of larceny out of…

Sep 17, 2014 12:35 PM CDT

Employee of Wilson Sonsini is charged with insider trading; firm calls case ‘deeply disturbing’

An information technology worker at a powerhouse Silicon Valley law firm was arrested Tuesday in an insider-trading case. Dmitry Braverman, 41, is accused of using information he learned from his work at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati about potential mergers and acquisitions when purchasing stock. He faces a single count…

Sep 16, 2014 3:05 PM CDT

Little-known law prof gets 34 percent of the vote in New York gubernatorial primary

Fordham University law professor Zephyr Teachout got 34 percent of the vote on Tuesday in New York’s Democratic primary for governor, a strong showing for the little-known professor. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was “victorious but bruised,” earning 62 percent of the vote, the New York Law Journal reports. Teachout…

Sep 12, 2014 9:48 AM CDT

Post-9/11 ‘Tour de Force’ bikes from Boston to DC to NYC to honor terrorism victims

Thirteen years after terrorists flew hijacked commercial airliners into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the attacks still resonate in the memories of victims’ surviving family members, first responders and others throughout the country. Among the events scheduled Thursday to honor the memory of victims, their families and those who…

Sep 11, 2014 4:58 PM CDT

4 top partners will exit NY law firm to establish new office for competitor

Four senior partners, including two practice group leaders, will be exiting their New York law firm at the end of the month to form a new Buffalo office for a growing competitor. Joining Woods Oviatt Gilman from Damon Morey, one of Buffalo’s oldest and largest law firms, will be William…

Sep 11, 2014 4:15 PM CDT

BigLaw bankruptcy doesn’t have to be a man’s world, 5 female Weil Gotshal partners say in WSJ post

Big-firm bankruptcy practice may be a male-dominated field. But that doesn’t mean it should stay that way, five female partners at one of the nation’s best-known corporate bankruptcy law firms say. The lawyers were responding to an earlier post on the Bankruptcy Beat page of the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Sep 11, 2014 11:50 AM CDT

Co-worker who texted juror about case gets reply text from judge

A co-worker who texted an alternate juror in a New York manslaughter case, providing information about the defendant, got an unusual response from the judge overseeing the case. After the alternate informed Onondaga County Court Judge Joseph Fahey about the text, he himself responded to the texter, at the juror’s…

Sep 10, 2014 4:25 PM CDT

Bernard Goetz, so-called ‘subway vigilante’ of 1980s, wins dismissal of minor marijuana case

An electrical engineer who became a household name in the mid-1980s after shooting at four teenagers he claimed had threatened him on a New York City subway has been acquitted in a minor criminal case. Bernard Goetz, now 65, won a dismissal Wednesday on speedy-trial grounds of a case in…

Sep 10, 2014 1:10 PM CDT

DA says smartphones should block texting behind wheel, wants insurance discounts for such devices

A New York prosecutor unveiled a program Monday to prevent motorists from texting and driving and is calling on smartphone makers and insurance companies to join her in offering incentives to obey the law. In a press conference and press release, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said texting and…

Sep 8, 2014 5:25 PM CDT

Onetime law student Mathew Martoma gets 9 years in ‘most lucrative’ $275M insider-trading case

A onetime Harvard University law student expelled for altering his transcript was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison in a case billed by federal prosecutors as “the most lucrative insider-trading scheme ever charged.” Mathew Martoma, 40, had faced as much as 20 years in the Manhattan case over his…

Sep 8, 2014 4:05 PM CDT

NYC will pay $41M to five men who served time in Central Park jogger case, but admits no liability

A federal magistrate judge in New York has OK’d a settlement in which New York City will pay $41 million to five men who were wrongfully convicted and served time for a brutal 1989 rape and beating in Central Park. However, the city admits no liability for the conviction and…

Sep 5, 2014 12:50 PM CDT

Former top NYC lawyer sues police department, says she was arrested for standing on a sidewalk

A former top lawyer for New York City is suing the municipality’s police department. She says she was arrested for simply standing on a public sidewalk in Times Square this summer as she waited for her husband and children to return from using the restroom at a nearby restaurant. Chaumtoli…

Sep 4, 2014 11:45 AM CDT

Growing military and federal employment boutique opens new San Diego office

A growing New York-based boutique that focuses much of its practice on representing members of the military and federal employees has opened its first office west of the Mississippi River. The new Tully Rinckey office is located in San Diego. It is headed by longtime litigator Steven Herrick, who earned…

Sep 3, 2014 11:35 AM CDT

Retired NYC cop takes plea in $27M disability-fraud case; ex-prosecutor is a claimed ringleader

A retired New York police officer has taken a plea in a claimed scheme to defraud the federal government of some $27 million in Social Security Disability Insurance benefits over the course of some 25 years. Joseph Esposito, 70, was one of four alleged ringleaders, including a former prosecutor, in…

Aug 28, 2014 5:39 PM CDT

Trial observer who took photo of victim in high-profile case wins motion to suppress phone search

A court officer who suspected an observer of a high-profile 2012 trial had taken his photo in a hallway outside a Brooklyn, N.Y., courtroom had a right to seize the individual’s cellphone and check it for photos of himself. But once that suspicion was disproven, the officer should not have…

Aug 26, 2014 10:05 PM CDT