New York

Linklaters Sends UK Partner to Head US Office

Linklaters is sending a London partner to New York City where he will lead offices there and in Brazil. John Tucker, who oversaw global finance and projects in London, will replace U.S. managing partner Paul Wickes, Legal Week reports. Wickes will become a senior partner. The move is part of…

Sep 26, 2007 1:39 PM CDT

Iraqi Escapes Danger, Hired by NY DA

Baghad native Khalid Abood put his life on the line as an interpreter for the U.S. Marines. He received death threats and some of his relatives were gunned down. Thanks to the tireless work of an Iraq war veteran who lobbied to bring Abood to the United States, Abood has…

Sep 25, 2007 2:27 PM CDT

Small Firm Pays Big, But Not Right Away

A smaller Manhattan-based law firm gives students from lower-tier schools a chance to attain salaries comparable to that of the big firms—if they can make it through the first few years. Fifty-lawyer Duval & Stachenfeld pays first-year associates only $60,000, well below the starting salary of $160,000 paid by many…

Sep 25, 2007 10:37 AM CDT

Plaintiff Dies, Future Pain Award Stands

A jury award of $150,000 for future pain and suffering must stand even though the slip-and-fall plaintiff died the day after the verdict, an appeals court has ruled. The New York Appellate Division ruled that no statutory provision requires the award to be set aside, the New York Law Journal…

Sep 24, 2007 12:47 PM CDT

KPMG Prosecutors Claim Secret Defense Pact

Prosecutors battered in an illegal tax shelter case involving accounting firm KPMG have turned the table on defense lawyers. They claim that two lawyers for defendants who worked for Presidio Advisory Services may have had a secret joint defense agreement, the New York Times reports. The Presidio defendants are accused…

Sep 21, 2007 4:24 PM CDT

Indicted Milberg Founder Vows to Fight

Updated: Indicted today after years of investigation, the 72-year-old co-founder of what was once unquestionably the nation’s most prominent plaintiffs securities firm is vowing to fight the federal case that has already felled three former rainmakers at Milberg Weiss and put the future of the firm at risk. Melvyn Weiss…

Sep 21, 2007 2:08 AM CDT

US: Milberg Weiss Firm Was ‘Racketeering Enterprise’

Updated: In a stunning series of body blows today in an ongoing battle between the government and one of the country’s most powerful plaintiff firms, federal prosecutors in California announced enhanced charges against the firm itself, the indictment of its co-founding partner and the latest plea deal with a former…

Sep 20, 2007 10:10 PM CDT

Fundraiser Accused of $60 M Ponzi Scheme

Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu is accused in a criminal complaint unsealed today of defrauding investors out of more than $60 million and breaking campaign finance laws. Among those who allegedly lost money are New York investors who thought they were investing in a clothing business, the Washington Post reports. They…

Sep 20, 2007 6:59 PM CDT

NY Judge Laments E-Discovery ‘Fiasco’

A New York federal judge has summed up the problems with electronic discovery in an opinion ordering PSEG Power New York Inc. to produce 3,000 e-mails and 211,000 pages of electronic materials in coherent form. Magistrate Judge Randolph F. Treece of Albany labeled the e-discovery problems a “fiasco” that caused…

Sep 20, 2007 2:12 PM CDT

Cabbies Sue, Say GPS Risks Trade Secrets

Fearful of an invasion of privacy that could allow others to take advantage of a valuable trade secret—the best driving routes to find fares—New York cabdrivers have filed suit to block new rules requiring the installation of GPS and other new technology. While not all taxi drivers and cab owners…

Sep 20, 2007 1:25 AM CDT

Firm: Melvyn Weiss Faces Charges

Updated: A founding partner of one of the nation’s most powerful plaintiffs securities law firms is reportedly resigning from a management role in the face of expected new federal charges against both him and the firm in an ongoing case concerning alleged payments of illegal kickbacks to clients. Melvyn Weiss…

Sep 19, 2007 10:22 PM CDT

Dan Rather Sues CBS for $70 Million

Claiming that CBS News made him a “scapegoat” for the network’s flawed reporting concerning President George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War era, former 60 Minutes reporter Dan Rather sued today for $70 million. His lawsuit, which names as defendants the network, its corporate parent…

Sep 19, 2007 9:29 PM CDT

Lawyer Sanctioned for Katrina Suit

A testy federal judge has ordered a New York City lawyer to pay $24,000 in a fine and attorney fees for filing a frivolous suit on behalf of a Hurricane Katrina victim who was evicted by Catholic Charities. The Albany judge said the suit against the Catholic church by lawyer…

Sep 19, 2007 11:32 AM CDT

Judge’s ‘Incessant’ Questions Cited in Reversal

A New York appeals court has cited a judge’s excessive questions as a reason for overturning a felony conviction for drug possession. The court has criticized Judge Arlene Silverman for excessive questions in at least nine other decisions, but this is the first time her interruptions have been used as…

Sep 18, 2007 2:31 PM CDT

Judge Slashes Fees Using Contingency Standard

A federal judge has rejected an attorney’s fee request that would have consumed nearly two-thirds of a $100,000 settlement for a man wrongly accused in a drug case. Judge David Hurd of Utica, N.Y., slashed fees from $63,000 to $29,000, the New York Law Journal reports. The lawyer and his…

Sep 14, 2007 1:21 PM CDT