New York

NYPD asks for Twitter posts of photos of police interacting with public, gets an eyeful

In what is being described in news reports as a major publicity fail, the New York Police Department asked followers of its Twitter page to post photos of city officers interacting with the public under the hashtag #myNYPD. They promptly did, resulting in a large number of negative images and…

Apr 23, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Supreme Court dubious about Aereo’s low-cost TV, but wary that ruling could curtail cloud technology

Those who envision a sea change in television viewing options if an Internet start-up prevails against major broadcasters in a U.S. Supreme Court case over low-cost access to network shows should perhaps prepare themselves for a disappointment. While impressed with the ingenuity of Aereo’s legal arguments and use of technology,…

Apr 23, 2014 12:35 PM CDT

Bankruptcy firm to close its doors; at least 3 of 25 lawyers have found new jobs

Citing a decline in Chapter 11 filings, a 25-attorney Los Angeles-based bankruptcy firm has announced that it will close its doors May 1. Founded in 1948, Stutman Treister & Glatt also has offices in New York and Utah, Reuters reports. In a written statement provided to the Los Angeles Daily…

Apr 23, 2014 10:59 AM CDT

2nd Circuit backs NY Times, orders DOJ to turn over legal rationale for targeted US killings

Reversing a federal district court ruling that allowed the Department of Justice to keep secret the legal reasoning behind targeted U.S. killings of certain individuals linked to terrorism cases, a federal appeals court has ruled that the feds must provide information requested by two New York Times reporters. The decision…

Apr 22, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

GM seeks bankruptcy court ban on class actions alleging lost value due to car ignition-switch issues

In a Monday filing, General Motors asked a federal bankruptcy court in New York to put the kibosh on nearly 50 class actions. They allege that owners of small cars manufactured by the automaker have seen their vehicles’ value diminish recently because of news about a massive recall over ignition-switch…

Apr 22, 2014 4:55 PM CDT

Judge nixes lawyer’s suit in law firm flooring dispute, tells him to pay contractor legal fees

A prominent New York attorney has seen the swift dismissal of a multi-count lawsuit he filed against a contractor hired to perform a build-out and install new flooring at his Staten Island law firm. The attorney wound up with a court order to pay his opponent $10,500 instead of receiving…

Apr 22, 2014 3:45 PM CDT

Retired NY judge objects to renaming courthouse after another retired judge

The naming of an upstate New York county courthouse after one retired judge didn’t go over well with another. Retired Washington County Judge Philip Berke called the decision to name the county courthouse after retired state Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Mercure a “slap in the face” to other retired…

Apr 22, 2014 11:30 AM CDT

Owner of Brooklyn bar sues landlord over lease provision prohibiting ‘gay or lesbian’ bar

A Brooklyn, N.Y., bar owner is suing his landlord over a lease provision that he says prohibits him from catering to a “gay or lesbian” clientele. John McGillion, owner of the Brooklyn bar Lulu’s, is asking a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge to declare the provision “invalid,” the New York Post…

Apr 21, 2014 8:26 PM CDT

As state and local police struggle to investigate cybercrime, official describes ‘helpless feeling’

Despite an explosion of cybercrime in recent years, many state and local law enforcement officers aren’t equipped to deal with it. As a result, conduct that results in significant financial losses and could create major security risks goes uninvestigated and unprosecuted. For example, the state of Utah was able to…

Apr 21, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Feds used ‘big fish’ to ‘testify down’; risky strategy led to acquittals of 2 lawyers

A rare and risky trial practice has been front and center in two recent federal trials in New York City, resulting in the acquittals of two lawyers and another defendant who had faced 35 counts in one of the two cases. Using cooperating “big fish” as witnesses to “testify down”…

Apr 21, 2014 2:00 PM CDT

Federal jury awards $18M each to 2 men in wrongful conviction case

It took less than two hours of deliberation Thursday for a federal jury in New York to decide to award $18 million, each, to two men in a wrongful conviction case. The jury had already decided last week that a now-deceased Nassau County detective violated the civil rights of Dennis…

Apr 17, 2014 9:40 PM CDT

Lawyer ethics violations in New York are punished too slowly and inconsistently handled, study finds

A study of lawyer discipline cases in New York has found that punishment is slow and sanctions for similar conduct are inconsistent. New York University law professor Stephen Gillers studied lawyer discipline cases dating to 1982 and read 577 court opinions imposing sanctions in the last six years. He found…

Apr 17, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

GM seeks court ruling it is protected from ignition-switch suits under bankruptcy law

Amidst a recall of at least 2.6 million vehicles over ignition-switch issues and a growing number of would-be class actions claiming that company officials knew of defects for years, General Motors is seeking a freeze on the litigation and a court ruling that it is protected from liability by bankruptcy…

Apr 16, 2014 6:15 PM CDT

Law grad is sentenced to life for murder of girlfriend whose pleas were recorded on cell phone

A University of Florida law grad has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend, who had an order of protection against him. Jason Bohn, 35, cried so hard during his sentencing that his nose began to bleed, report the New York Post and CBS New York. He…

Apr 16, 2014 12:01 PM CDT

Rape defendant wins mistrial after prosecutor’s claim that he tried to run her down is disproven

William Payne was jailed without bail for seven days after a prosecutor claimed he nearly ran her down while driving outside the Buffalo, N.Y., courthouse in which a jury was being selected for his rape trial. But the 48-year-old defendant has never had a driver’s license or owned a car,…

Apr 15, 2014 5:05 PM CDT