2nd Circuit Court

Plan to have Kaye Scholer give up $1.5M in fees to settle disclosure case is withdrawn

A planned settlement of a case over lack of disclosure by a law firm and others in a corporate bankruptcy case has been withdrawn without explanation by the feds. The settlement would have required Kaye Scholer to forgo $1.5 million in attorney fees in a Chapter 11 case and have…

Apr 25, 2013 3:58 PM CDT

Kaye Scholer cedes $1.5M in Chapter 11 fees, OKs new policy to end US Trustee’s disclosure case

Kaye Scholer has agreed to give up $1.5 million in legal fees and revamp its policies and procedures concerning applications for bankruptcy work to settle a U.S. Trustee’s office claim that the law firm failed to make necessary disclosures in a major Chapter 11 case. The settlement announced Monday in…

Apr 23, 2013 10:02 PM CDT

Judge’s comments about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg’s money lead to sentencing remand

A federal appeals court is citing a trial judge’s apparent dislike of Facebook in a decision to vacate an eight-year sentence for a defendant accused of producing child pornography. During the sentencing, Senior U.S. District Judge Warren Eginton of Connecticut stated he would have sentenced the defendant to six years…

Apr 18, 2013 4:36 PM CDT

2nd lawyer takes plea in immigration fraud case; a total of 8 attorneys were charged

A New York lawyer has taken a plea in a massive immigration conspiracy case involving at least 10 law firms accused of submitting bogus asylum applications. John Lin,who works for an unidentified Manhattan law firm, pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Manhattan to conspiring to commit immigration fraud,…

Apr 16, 2013 11:07 PM CDT

Law grad paralegal says employer asked her to be his ‘third wife,’ made her feed him with chopsticks

A recent law graduate working as a paralegal says a New York attorney talked to her about pornography, repeatedly pitched her on the benefits of polygamy, asked her to become his “third wife” and insisted that she feed him with chopsticks at a restaurant. Sarbrina Rafi makes the allegations against…

Apr 12, 2013 5:52 PM CDT

Elated billionaire wins $380K in federal suit over fake wine; he may have spent $10M in legal fees

William Koch presumably didn’t need the money. But, after years of litigation and what may have been a total of $10 million spent in legal fees, the Palm Beach, Fla., billionaire won a federal jury award of $380,000 on Thursday, in compensation for the 24 bottles of fake wine he…

Apr 12, 2013 4:55 PM CDT

Lawyer accused of operating massive immigration scheme gets 5 years

A New York immigration lawyer accused of earning millions of dollars by processing tens of thousands of falsified immigration applications, continuing to work on them even after he fled to Canada in 2006, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. Earl Seth David, 49, tearfully apologized before he…

Apr 11, 2013 3:35 PM CDT

2nd Circuit blasts SEC for ‘regrettable inaction’ in massive Madoff fraud, but nixes victim suit

Expressing sympathy for the victims of a record-breaking Ponzi scheme by Bernard Madoff, a federal appeals court on Wednesday blasted the Securities and Exchange Commission for “regrettable inaction” in addressing the fraud but said the SEC is nonetheless protected from suit. The plaintiffs sued the SEC in 2009 under the…

Apr 10, 2013 7:26 PM CDT

Ex-partner sues Thompson Wigdor for $600K; former colleague calls him ‘disgruntled and desperate’

A former partner who left Thompson Wigdor in 2011, after the firm was sanctioned over an employment case in which he was involved, has sued for $600,000 he says he is still owed. Scott Gilly says he is owed the money under the firm’s 2008 partnership agreement and a separation…

Apr 9, 2013 7:37 PM CDT

Closed by lack of power after Hurricane Sandy, law firm battles insurer over flooding exclusion

A New York law firm has brought an insurance coverage lawsuit against its own carrier after being forced to close temporarily by Hurricane Sandy. Great Northern Insurance Co. refused to pay a $250,000 business interruption claim because it said the damage was from flooding, which is excluded from coverage by…

Apr 5, 2013 4:55 PM CDT

Sued by ex-associate, partner and law firm file $15M counterclaim, call her ‘obsessed’

Sued last month for alleged sexual harassment by a former associate, a prominent plaintiffs class action lawyer and his firm have fired back. In addition to answering the complaint brought by Alexandra Marchuk in federal court in Manhattan, Juan E. Monteverde and Faruqi & Faruqi have filed counterclaims alleging defamation,…

Apr 2, 2013 8:55 PM CDT

Expert in legal-fee fight blasts ‘make believe’ game over cost of contract lawyers to do doc review

Even in the New York metropolitan area, the reasonable cost of hiring a contract lawyer from a staffing agency to do document review work in a securities class action case is, at most, $50 to $75 an hour, an expert said in a declaration (PDF) filed last month in federal…

Apr 1, 2013 5:38 PM CDT

Priceline doesn’t have to tell customers it pockets profits, appeals court rules

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of appeals ruled Wednesday that Priceline.com doesn’t have a fiduciary duty to tell its customers when it pockets profits from bookings through its “Name Your Own Price” service. Plaintiffs Lee Johnson and Joey Marie Kelly sued Priceline, alleging the online travel agency was…

Mar 27, 2013 7:00 PM CDT

‘Churn that bill, baby!’ email surfaces in fee dispute with DLA Piper

It all began with a corporate bankruptcy case. Retained by energy entrepreneur Adam H. Victor in April 2010 to prepare the Chapter 11 filing for one of his companies, DLA Piper ran up a hefty bill. And when Victor refused to pay it, the law firm sued him for $675,000.…

Mar 25, 2013 8:54 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor accused of faking client’s divorce takes plea in obstruction case

A disbarred New York lawyer has taken a plea in a federal obstruction of justice case. David Ehrlich, 38, agreed not to contest any sentence of 27 months or less as he pleaded guilty on Monday to one obstruction count in federal district court in Albany, reports the Times Union.…

Mar 25, 2013 6:41 PM CDT