2nd Circuit Court

After indicted lawmaker seeks dismissal, due to US attorney’s remarks, Bharara dials it down

Initially, after a longtime New York legislative leader was arrested on corruption charges, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara made a number of public comments about Assemblyman Sheldon Silver’s case. But since Silver challenged his federal indictment, contending that Bharara’s comments may have prejudiced grand jurors, the U.S. attorney has maintained a…

Mar 9, 2015 1:50 PM CDT

Top lawmaker says US attorney created ‘media firestorm,’ asks federal judge to nix indictment

Charged with misusing his government influence to obtain nearly $4 million in law firm payments, under the guise of legitimate legal work, a longtime New York lawmaker has come out swinging and put the U.S. Attorney in a defensive position. Accused by Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, of creating a “media…

Mar 6, 2015 11:20 AM CST

Lawmaker is federally indicted over $3.7M in claimed payments by law firms

Updated: A longtime New York state legislative leader was federally indicted Thursday on fraud and extortion charges concerning some $3.7 million in payments that he allegedly received from two law firms. In addition to serving, until recently, as the speaker of the New York Assembly, Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, also is…

Feb 19, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Foreign companies losing discovery battles when their in-house counsel don’t meet US standards

In China, among other countries, in-house counsel aren’t required to have a law license. Nonetheless, lawyers say, it would be highly unusual for communications between in-house counsel and a client to be produced in litigation. However, the discovery rules change for foreign companies when they are involved in litigation in…

Feb 17, 2015 9:30 AM CST

Bankruptcy court battle looms over economic-loss claims against GM concerning ignition-switch issues

As so-called master of disaster Kenneth Feinberg parcels out compensation from a $400 million General Motors fund for those injured and killed in accidents caused by vehicle ignition-switch issues, the automaker is headed to court next week in a separate case to do battle over economic-loss claims. GM says that…

Feb 13, 2015 3:30 PM CST

Still battling code-theft case, former Goldman Sachs programmer sues bank for legal fees

A former computer programmer for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ultimately prevailed in a federal prosecution over claims that he stole source code from his employer. But Sergey Aleynikov is still battling Goldman to obtain reimbursement for some $3 million he says he has expended in legal defense fees, reports Reuters.…

Feb 10, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Defense lawyers ask judge to OK seat upgrade for Africa trip; federal prosecutors are flying coach

Federal prosecutors are protesting a request by three defense lawyers to fly business class, rather than coach, in a planned trip to Africa to depose a prisoner for a terrorism case. The feds are paying for the trip by lawyers for Ali Yasin Ahmed, Madhi Hashi and Mohammed Yusuf, and…

Feb 9, 2015 11:10 AM CST

Egyptian lawyer gets 25 years in fatal US Embassy bombings after ‘enormously generous’ plea bargain

An Egyptian lawyer was sentenced Friday to 25 years in federal prison for his role in fatal 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people. Calling the plea bargain that capped the sentence for Adel Abdul Bary at 25 years “enormously generous,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan…

Feb 6, 2015 3:10 PM CST

Both sides proclaim victory in jury’s $140K award to ex law firm associate, but say they may appeal

Both sides proclaimed victory following a a federal jury’s award Thursday of $140,000 to a former associate of Faruqi & Faruqi, but say they may appeal aspects of the verdict won by Alexandra Marchuk in her sexual harassment case against the law firm and one of its partners. Attorney Scott…

Feb 6, 2015 11:30 AM CST

Ex-associate who sued law firm seeking $2M wins $90K plus undetermined punitives

An ex-associate at a New York law firm who alleged she was sexually harassed by her former employer, in a lawsuit that provided graphic details, has won a jury verdict, but it may not be the award that Alexandra Marchuk had hoped for. Her federal employment discrimination suit had sought…

Feb 5, 2015 4:15 PM CST

Claimed ‘digital kingpin’ of hidden Silk Road drug-sale website is convicted, could get life

A California man portrayed by federal prosecutors as the mastermind behind a hidden website that generated $213 million in illicit sales over a period of a little more than two years was convicted Wednesday by a New York jury on all counts. Ross Ulbricht, 30, had argued at trial that…

Feb 5, 2015 10:15 AM CST

2nd Circuit nixes libel suit over ‘scarlet letter’ news stories that survived expunged arrest record

Although Lorraine Martin succeeded in making her 2010 marijuana-possession arrest a legal fiction, that doesn’t mean news organizations must expunge their stories about the since-dropped case, an appeals court has ruled. A Connecticut statute “creates legal fictions, but it does not and cannot undo historical facts or convert once-true facts…

Jan 28, 2015 3:20 PM CST

Top NY lawmaker prosecuted over $3M asbestos-case referral fees exits speaker post and law firm role

After the announcement of criminal charges that he took millions of dollars in kickbacks under the guise of legal fees in exchange for misusing his government influence, a longtime New York Democratic legislative leader is stepping down from his role as speaker and taking an unpaid leave of absence from…

Jan 28, 2015 1:55 PM CST

Many courts close early Monday, plan to stay shuttered Tuesday as predicted monster snowstorm looms

As snow began falling Monday in what is forecast as a potential record-breaking blizzard in the Northeast, court officials joined those in charge of schools and other government offices in declaring an anticipatory shutdown. Amidst airport and school closings and warnings against unnecessary travel, a number of Boston and New…

Jan 26, 2015 4:50 PM CST

Ulbricht was the fall guy in Silk Road’s illicit $1.2B business, defense tells jury

Ross William Ulbricht founded the anonymous Silk Road website. But that doesn’t mean the 30-year-old was responsible for a claimed $1.2 billion in illicit sales facilitated by the online black-market bazaar during a period of a little more than two years, his lawyer told jurors Tuesday during opening arguments in…

Jan 14, 2015 3:50 PM CST