New York

Lawyer’s Son Among 20 Charged in SAT Cheating Case; Lawmaker Points Finger at Some Parents

At least one lawyer’s son is among 20 individuals charged in a widening criminal case focused on New York high school students who allegedly paid ringers up to $3,500 to take their standardized college entrance exams for them. The 13 most recently charged include both four who were allegedly paid…

Nov 23, 2011 2:19 AM CST

$55M Building Project Will Expand Cornell Law School to House Growing Faculty as Library Shrinks

Cornell Law School is planning to spend $55 million to $60 million to expand and renovate its facilities in three phases over the next several years. The project will include the construction of underground classrooms and renovating the library and law school student dormitory to create additional classrooms, offices and…

Nov 22, 2011 7:10 PM CST

Baum Foreclosure Firm to Close After Fannie and Freddie Pull Files, Plans Mass Layoffs

Bad judgment about Halloween costumes worn last year by some employees of the Steven J. Baum law firm has come back to haunt New York’s largest mortgage foreclosure practice. After recent news reports that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (as well as some major loan servicers) have pulled their business…

Nov 21, 2011 6:40 PM CST

Town Justice Rapped for Holding Court in Chambers for 7 Years

A longtime town justice in upstate New York held court in his chambers for seven years, even after his clerks told him he was supposed to use the courtroom and he attended a 2009 training conference where administrators expressly said the same. However, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended…

Nov 18, 2011 11:05 PM CST

Add $1M More to Funds Ex-Counsel of Crowell & Moring Is Accused of Taking from Client Trust Accounts

Another lawsuit has been filed against Crowell & Moring, accusing the firm of failing to exercise proper control over a former counsel who allegedly stole from multiple real estate client trust accounts. Douglas Arntsen, 33, is accused in a New York state-court lawsuit of embezzling $1 million or more from…

Nov 17, 2011 11:32 PM CST

More Women Than Men Make Partner at Wachtell; King & Spalding; Cleary Gottlieb

Corrected: It’s old news that women attorneys often find it harder to make partner, especially at BigLaw firms, than male counterparts. But three major firms have created a new ending for that once-sad story this year, the Careerist reports. Women actually outnumber men among the class of new partners at…

Nov 17, 2011 12:34 AM CST

Hearing OK’d re Convicted Tax Lawyer’s Claim That Juror’s Hidden Legal Past Prevented Fair Trial

A federal judge in Manhattan today agreed to hold a hearing on a convicted tax lawyer’s claim that he was denied a fair trial because one of the jurors failed to disclose crucial information about her background. Catherine Conrad allegedly failed to tell the court that she was a suspended…

Nov 15, 2011 7:22 PM CST

Law Firm Says It Didn’t Ban Client’s Service Dog, Blames Partner Allergy, Worker Phobia for Issues

An upstate New York law firm sued by a former personal injury client whose service dog was refused entry blames a partner’s allergy and a worker’s phobia for issues with the animal, but says it tried to make amends and subsequently invited the German shepherd into its offices. Attorney James…

Nov 11, 2011 7:28 PM CST

Mortgage Rescue Scheme Gets NY Attorney Disbarred for the Second Time

Kevin P. Wheatley isn’t yet 40. But he has now been disbarred—for the second time—in New York. After losing his law license in 2002, for what the Committee on Professional Standards of the state supreme court’s appellate division called “dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation,” he was reinstated in 2005, reports…

Nov 11, 2011 6:19 PM CST

Lawyer Suspended for Taking Interest-Free $50K Loan from Ex-Client Who Won Big Settlement

A New York appeals court has suspended a Manhattan lawyer for three months because he took a $50,000 interest-free loan from a former client. The Appellate Division, First Department, said lawyer John Ioanno took “advantage of the trust and gratitude of a former client” after helping him secure a $4.5…

Nov 11, 2011 1:55 PM CST

Feds Charge 7, Shut Down 100 Rogue Servers, Allege Massive ‘Click Hijack’ Malware Scheme

Officials say a massive “click hijack” malware scheme affecting 4 million computers and 500,000 individuals, businesses and even government agencies in 100 countries including the United States has been shut down by U.S. authorities working cooperatively with Estonia. Trend Micro’s Malware Blog is calling the raid the biggest cybercriminal takedown…

Nov 10, 2011 12:52 AM CST

Rapper Pitbull Seeks to Remove Suit Targeting His ‘Locked Up Like Lindsay Lohan’ Lyric

Lindsay Lohan’s emotional distress suit over a lyric in a song by Pitbull should be heard in federal court, according to a removal notice by the rapper’s lawyers. Lohan had filed suit in New York state court, but Pitbull—whose real name is Armando Christian Perez—says Lohan doesn’t live there. According…

Nov 9, 2011 5:11 PM CST

Hedge Fund Co-Founder Rajaratnam Told to Pay Record $92.8M SEC Fine Within 14 Days

Already sentenced to a record 11 years, fined $10 million and ordered to forfeit another $53.8 million after being convicted in an insider-trading case, Galleon Group co-founder Raj Rajaratnam made legal history again today. He was fined $92.8 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the highest civil penalty…

Nov 8, 2011 11:58 PM CST

Feds Sue Personal Injury Law Firm, Say It Banned Disabled Client’s Service Dog From Its Offices

A federal prosecutor has sued an upstate New York personal injury law firm, contending that it banned a client from bringing her service dog into its offices. A lawsuit filed in White Plains today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York says Newburgh-based Larkin Axelrod…

Nov 8, 2011 9:24 PM CST

NY Times, Home of ‘Motherlode,’ Sues Over Huffington Post’s New ‘Parentlode’ Blog

Saying that the Huffington Post’s new Parentlode blog has a name that readers have confused with the three-year-old Motherlode blog of the New York Times, the newspaper has sued parent company AOL Inc. to force a name change from Parentlode to “something more original.” Both Motherlode and Parentlode have been…

Nov 7, 2011 6:07 PM CST