New York

Federal Jury Awards $250M in Punitives in Novartis Sex-Bias Case

A federal jury’s award of $250 million in punitive damages today in a corporate sex-bias case is reportedly the largest ever in a gender discrimination case. The award comes two days after the Manhattan jury found Novartis AG liable for discriminating against 12 women concerning pay, promotion and pregnancy and…

May 19, 2010 7:00 PM CDT

Lawyer Catches ID Mixup Missed by ‘Incredibly Bored’ Screener at LaGuardia

Although a screener apparently failed to spot the mismatch between a boarding pass and the identification presented by a man who was allowed to board a commercial jetliner and depart from a New York City airport last week, a personal injury lawyer could hardly miss it. That’s because the man…

May 18, 2010 8:02 PM CDT

‘Trust But Verify,’ Court Tells 2 Lawyers Suspended Over Partner’s $17M Fraud

Two lawyers who themselves were victims of a former partner’s $17 million fraud have been suspended for failing to do enough to catch Anthony Bellettieri in wrongdoing as he stole from client trust accounts. Although Bellettieri, who is now disbarred and serving a prison sentence, oversaw the Bellettieri Fonte and…

May 18, 2010 7:25 PM CDT

Faced with Mandatory Retirement, Two Mendes & Mount Partners Form Boutique with 22 Others

A mandatory retirement policy is being cited as one reason for the formation of a new boutique law firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Twenty-four lawyers, including seven partners, are leaving Mendes & Mount, most of them from the firm’s aviation practice, the New York Law Journal…

May 18, 2010 4:31 PM CDT

It’s Official: NBC Cancels ‘Law & Order’ After 20 Seasons, But Spinoffs Continue

It’s official: NBC announced today that it is canceling the long-running Law & Order legal drama, following unconfirmed reports yesterday that it intended to do so. The news was greeted with particular sadness in New York, where as many as 8,000 people are directly or indirectly employed by the series…

May 14, 2010 6:44 PM CDT

Law Firm Loses Unemployment Appeal Claiming Attorney Was a Partner

A New York law firm has lost an appeal seeking to avoid paying unemployment benefits to a former attorney there. Although Bolan Jahnsen Salter & Sachs contended that Paul Friman was a partner, he was in fact an employee, held a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division of New York…

May 14, 2010 4:04 PM CDT

Judge Blasts Lawyers for Basing Claim on Mistaken Reading of Magazine Article

A Manhattan judge is requiring two securities class action lawyers and their law firms to pay defense costs for filing a complaint based partly on a mistaken reading of a magazine article. Lawyers Kenneth Vianale and Jules Brody and their law firms were ordered to pay attorney fees and costs…

May 14, 2010 2:34 PM CDT

2 Lawyers Among 17 Charged in $3M Mortgage Rescue Fraud

Two New York lawyers are among 17 defendants charged in a mortgage rescue fraud case announced today by the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Contacted by distressed owners seeking to save their homes from foreclosure, the defendants allegedly responded by stripping $3 million in equity from 26 properties, leaving the owners…

May 13, 2010 9:23 PM CDT

NY AG Probes Whether Banks Gave Misleading Information to Ratings Agencies

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reportedly investigating eight banks to determine whether they gave misleading information to ratings agencies, resulting in ratings for mortgage products that they knew were too positive. Cuomo has issued subpoenas to eight banks notifying them of the investigation, the New York Times reports.…

May 13, 2010 12:29 PM CDT

RIAA Wins Big in LimeWire Case; Peer-to-Peer Site Induced Infringement, Judge Rules

A recording industry trade group has scored a significant victory in the battle against illegal downloading of copyrighted material, winning a summary judgment in federal court in New York yesterday against the LimeWire peer-to-peer file-sharing service. Lime Group and founder Mark Gorton committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition and…

May 13, 2010 12:38 AM CDT

Condo Developers Sue NY AG, Say Stroock Typo Doesn’t Require Return of $16M

Developers of a New York condo project claim in a federal lawsuit that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo violated their due process rights when he ordered them to return $16 million in down payments held in escrow. Buyers hoping to rescind their contracts are citing an apparent typo in…

May 12, 2010 12:34 PM CDT

‘Shortcuts’ by NYPD Lab Tech Could Put Thousands of Cases in Doubt

The alleged sloppy work habits of a longtime New York City police lab technician has reportedly put thousands of criminal cases in doubt. The technician, who has been suspended without pay, is accused in one instance of slapping a positive label on a 39th drug sample, which initially tested negative,…

May 11, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Law Firms Shop for Deep Office Space Discounts, Possible Shark Tank, in Buyer’s Market

Two well-known law firms are reportedly shopping for bargain office space in a buyer’s market: In New York City, Proskauer Rose is expected to ink a deal this week for about 40 percent of an office tower being developed at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, reports the New York Times.…

May 10, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Deja Brew? Lawsuit Alleges Too-Hot Starbucks Tea; Observers Riff on ‘94 Mickey D Coffee Case

Remember the furor over the famous $2.9 million jury verdict in 1994 concerning McDonald’s serving too-hot coffee? It seems that Starbucks may have brewed up a sequel. The lawsuit news of the week, garnering international headlines, had to be Zeynep Inanli’s complaint that she had been served unreasonably hot tea…

May 7, 2010 7:29 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge Subpoenas Raw Footage from ‘Crude’ Documentary About Chevron Suit

Saying that the filmmaker had not met his burden of establishing that some 600 hours of raw footage from the documentary Crude is confidential and hence arguably protected by an investigative reporting privilege, a federal judge in Manhattan has okayed a subpoena requiring director Joe Berlinger to turn over the…

May 6, 2010 11:43 PM CDT