2nd Circuit Court

Feds arrest 8 more in Silk Road case, say others in claimed $1.2B scheme should be ‘very nervous’

After seizing the Silk Road website allegedly used to arrange some $1.2 billion in illegal drug sales and arresting its alleged operator, the feds have not slowed down. With the help of authorities in the United Kingdom and Sweden, another eight individuals have been arrested and more are expected to…

Oct 8, 2013 8:25 PM CDT

Which federal court employees are essential? At least two courts say they all are

Each federal court is making its own plans for operations after the money runs out, and differences are already beginning to emerge. The federal courts have enough money to continue operations for 10 days after the government shutdown. What happens after that? Many courts will likely send some employees home…

Oct 4, 2013 1:13 PM CDT

‘Silk Road’ chief charged in drug case; feds say site did $1.2B in illegal Bitcoin-funded business

A California man has been arrested at a San Francisco public library, based on a federal criminal complaint stating that he masterminded and operated an underground “Silk Road” website that arranged some $1.2 billion in illegal Bitcoin-funded transactions over a period of a little more than two years. Many transactions…

Oct 2, 2013 9:55 PM CDT

Child-porn mandatory sentence is ‘unjust’ for youth, US judge says in response to 2nd Circuit

A federal judge in New York is letting a federal appeals court know what he thinks of its decision to reverse his below-minimum sentence for a child pornography defendant who is 19 years old. Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein included his thoughts in an order requiring resentencing. “The effect…

Sep 27, 2013 4:22 PM CDT

Client fumes at prosecutor’s shot at his lawyer, calls it a ‘below-the-belt dirty trick’

A lawyer who has been representing two defendants as they await resentencing in a high-profile investment fraud case is in an apparent “intimate, romantic relationship” with one of them, the prosecution said Friday in a letter to a federal judge in Manhattan protesting what it described as a conflict of…

Sep 25, 2013 4:50 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

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

2nd Circuit nixes $50M suit against Yale over PhD mix-up that fanned hiring scandal flames

A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a case in which a South Korean university sought tens of millions of dollars in tort damages from Yale University after hiring a professor who falsely claimed to have earned a doctorate degree at Yale. A major scandal resulted from Dongguk…

Aug 15, 2013 9:10 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

2nd Circuit: Man held for 4 years is a US citizen; ruling on immigration law could also help others

After being held for more than four years as he awaited deportation, a New York auto mechanic has been determined by a federal appeals court to have been a U.S. citizen since 1994. In a Monday opinion (PDF) that could also help others in a similar situation, the New York…

Aug 13, 2013 9:00 PM CDT

Dying disbarred lawyer won’t be released from prison now, but could get out later

A 73-year-old disbarred New York lawyer who is dying in prison of breast cancer that has spread to other areas of her body has lost her bid to have her sentence vacated by a federal judge. But U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl said he would be “prepared to give…

Aug 12, 2013 7:43 PM CDT

Clawback suits seek money paid by Dewey & LeBoeuf to bank, law firms and others while insolvent

Applying a rule that prevents a debtor from preferentially paying some creditors during the 90 days before seeking bankruptcy protection, the trustee for Dewey & LeBoeuf filed a dozen lawsuits Friday seeking to claw back funds from those they say received an extra share of the failing law firm’s money…

Aug 12, 2013 6:45 PM CDT

Major League Baseball faces suit over unpaid volunteer workers

Add Major League Baseball to a growing list of major employers facing wage-and-hour class action litigation over the use of unpaid volunteer workers, including but not limited to interns. The governing body of the sport has been sued in Manhattan federal court by a man who says MLB violated New…

Aug 7, 2013 5:20 PM CDT

Dying disbarred lawyer asks federal judge to vacate sentence, after compassionate release is denied

Denied compassionate release from federal prison, a 73-year-old disbarred civil rights lawyer serving a 10-year term for passing messages from an imprisoned client in a terrorism case to his followers in Egypt is taking another approach. Lynne Stewart, who is dying of cancer in a Texas prison, is asking the…

Aug 6, 2013 6:34 PM CDT

Lawyer faces charges in claimed $2.5M auto insurance fraud

A Connecticut lawyer has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mail fraud and conspiring to commit mail fraud as part of a claimed $2.5 million auto insurance scheme. Personal injury attorney Joseph Haddad is the seventh individual charged as a result of the so-called Operation Running Man probe by…

Aug 6, 2013 5:15 PM CDT