New York

Strippers are club employees and should be paid minimum wage, federal judge rules

Exotic dancers at a New York City strip club are club employees and are entitled to be paid a minimum wage, a federal judge has held. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer said in a ruling Tuesday that the dancers were “integral” to the club’s success, according to multiple reports. “Unlike…

Sep 11, 2013 9:33 PM CDT

2nd Circuit nixes joint and several liability in $3.4M child porn restitution case

Holding all the responsible individuals jointly and severally liable for a tort may be appropriate in a civil action. But it is not a proper remedy when pursuing mandatory restitution for criminal conduct under the Violence Against Women Act, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a young woman’s much-watched…

Sep 10, 2013 1:00 PM CDT

Bite-mark evidence should be allowed in murder case, says state judge

A jury will be allowed to hear bite-mark evidence that may tie a suspected murderer to his alleged victim, a New York judge ruled on Thursday. Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley said bite-mark analysis comports with the standards of evidence under state law, the Associated Press reports. Wiley…

Sep 9, 2013 7:20 PM CDT

Driver posts YouTube video of 24-minute drive around 26-mile Manhattan loop, resulting in arrest

A driver who posted a YouTube video of his record-breaking 24-minute, 7-second drive around a 26.4-mile loop in Manhattan has been arrested, police say. Christopher Adam Tang, 30, was charged with reckless driving, reckless endangerment, speeding, traffic device violation, following too close and moving from lane unsafely, according to My…

Sep 6, 2013 6:40 PM CDT

Top Calif court skeptical about undocumented law grad’s right to be licensed to practice

Justices of California’s top court were skeptical Wednesday during oral arguments about an undocumented resident’s claimed right to be admitted to the state bar despite his immigration status. The state bar and state attorney general are backing Sergio Garcia’s effort to become a licensed lawyer, since he has passed the…

Sep 4, 2013 10:55 PM CDT

Judge is hospitalized after attack outside courthouse

A judge in New York was hospitalized and temporarily placed on a ventilator after he was attacked Saturday night outside a courthouse building that also houses the police station. Waterloo Village Judge Roger Barto was attacked after locking up the courthouse at around 10 p.m., CNYCentral.com reports. He had just…

Sep 4, 2013 12:24 PM CDT

Disbarred lawyer testifies court interpreter gave him secret information

A disbarred New York lawyer testified on Tuesday that a court interpreter gave him secret information about two witnesses who testified before a grand jury. Former Syracuse lawyer Ezequiel Neuman said he received the information from Nancy Rodriguez-Walker, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports. Neuman lost his law license when he pleaded…

Aug 28, 2013 3:30 PM CDT

Lawyer who pleaded guilty to helping clients hide assets posts bond with $500K work of art

A Zurich-based attorney who recently took a plea after being charged with helping American clients hide assets in Swiss bank accounts has been allowed to return home prior to his February sentencing after posting bail with a work of art. The $500,000 piece, La Gardeuse de Chevres, is being held…

Aug 26, 2013 7:40 PM CDT

Trial lawyer David Bernick exits Boies Schiller after one year for Dechert

A little over a year after he resigned as general counsel of Philip Morris and joined Boies Schller & Flexner, high-profile partner David M. Bernick is exiting for Dechert. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he expects to start Monday at the New York office of the 950-attorney Philadelphia-based law…

Aug 26, 2013 4:45 PM CDT

Donald Trump faces $40M suit by New York AG, who says students got lesson in bait-and-switch

Donald Trump and the former Trump University are facing a $40 million suit that claims students hoping to learn real-estate techniques paid for pricey courses that didn’t live up to promises. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the suit on Saturday, report the New York Times, the Associated Press…

Aug 26, 2013 3:49 PM CDT

Rapper’s Instagram posts lead to ‘largest seizure of illegal guns’ in NYC history

This week the New York Police Department and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced what they’re calling the “largest seizure of illegal guns in city history.” So what tipped them off to the 254 firearms seized and led to 19 arrests? There were undercover buys and gumshoe investigative work. But police were…

Aug 22, 2013 3:45 PM CDT

Lawyer to be disbarred for forging letters from state OK’ing condo conversions

A Brooklyn, N.Y., real estate lawyer will be disbarred for forging the state documents he needed to convert space in six buildings into 88 condominium units. Eduard Fridman, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court on charges that he falsified six approval letters for the condo conversions from the…

Aug 21, 2013 9:01 PM CDT

Meet Darius Charney, the stop-and-frisk lawyer inspired by his students

Reflecting on the recent stop-and-frisk decision that his organization, the Center for Constitutional Rights, has been fighting for, Darius Charney looked beyond the 14 years the CCR has been challenging the practices in New York. Before he went to law school, Charney, 40, was a special education teacher in New…

Aug 19, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Judge Judy’s son, a New York DA, sues sheriff for alleged defamation

The District Attorney in New York’s Putnam County has filed a $5 million defamation suit against the sheriff for the lawman’s claim that the DA improperly interfered with a rape prosecution. At the center of the suit by by Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy is the prosecution of his…

Aug 15, 2013 1:23 PM CDT

Ailing celebrity lawyer to give up practice in exchange for deferred indictment in obstruction case

An ailing Los Angeles attorney known for representing celebrities including Al Pacino and Phil Spector has reportedly agreed to stop practicing law in exchange for a promise by prosecutors to defer his indictment in an obstruction case. Roger Rosen, 68, who is suffering from cancer, said nothing as he left…

Aug 14, 2013 7:15 PM CDT