Late appeal denied for lawyer who didn’t update email address, divided 2nd Circuit panel says

A lawyer can’t file a late notice of appeal, due to receiving a delayed notice of a judgment, when the reason for the delayed notice is that he didn’t update his email address in the court’s electronic filing system, a divided federal appeals court panel held Thursday. Reversing a federal…

Jan 25, 2013 5:53 PM CST

Ex-Dewey partner’s fraud claim re Citibank capital loan gets green light from federal judge

A former partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf has won a round in an unusual legal case against the bank that made him a personal loan to finance his capital contribution to the now-defunct law firm. A federal judge in New York on Wednesday nixed a summary judgment motion by Citibank…

Jan 17, 2013 4:42 PM CST

Once-defiant research firm chief who nixed FBI wire gets 4 years in insider trading case

The founder of a Portland, Ore.-based independent research firm, John Kinnucan, made headlines in 2010 when he publicly announced that he had refused an FBI request to wear a wire in a national insider-trading probe. On Tuesday, the 55-year-old former Broadband Research chief apologized in federal court in Manhattan for…

Jan 15, 2013 6:09 PM CST

Dewey to Pay Up to $1.38M to Destroy Unclaimed Client Records

Dewey & LeBoeuf has client records dating back to the 1930s. This is now a problem, as the once-storied law firm unwinds its affairs in bankruptcy court in New York, since Dewey has an ethical obligation to preserve client confidences by destroying unclaimed records before it closes its doors. After…

Jan 10, 2013 4:36 PM CST

Ex-Partners’ Suit Says Citibank Urged Personal Loans as Howrey Overspent Line by ‘Incredible’ $23M

In a case that could resonate with lawyers at other struggling legal shops, two former partners of Howrey are contending in a lawsuit in state court in California that Citibank urged them to take out personal loans to contribute capital after the law firm exceeded its $75 million line of…

Jan 8, 2013 10:28 PM CST

US Trustee Seeks Clawback of $10M in Fees from Kaye Scholer, Financial Adviser in Bankruptcy Case

The U.S. Trustee Program is asking a federal court in Manhattan to strip a well-known law firm and a financial adviser of $10 million in fees they have earned in a major corporate bankruptcy case. Kaye Scholer and the adviser, Capstone, perpetrated a fraud on the bankruptcy court, the U.S.…

Jan 8, 2013 8:40 PM CST

Top 25 Partners Got $70M in Dewey’s Last Year; Unsecured Creditors May See 15 Cents Per Dollar

In the last 12 months before Dewey & LeBoeuf imploded in a record-breaking bankruptcy last year, the top 25 partners of the BigLaw firm were paid some $70 million in draws and distributions. It isn’t known how much this same select group of partners received from the proceeds of a…

Jan 4, 2013 8:41 PM CST

Was Middle Finger a Cry for Help? 2nd Circuit Doubts Cop’s Explanation for Stop, Reinstates Suit

A federal appeals court has reinstated a civil rights lawsuit by a Vietnam veteran who contends he was wrongfully arrested after expressing his displeasure with a radar speed trap by extending his middle finger. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the “ancient gesture of insult” displayed…

Jan 4, 2013 2:12 PM CST

A Question of Education: For Some Parents, Shock Treatments Are Only Hope for Helping Their Kids

Jan 1, 2013 9:30 AM CST

Unprecedented Era of Insider-Trading Enforcement Casts a Wide Net, With Help of Electronic Evidence

With the help of electronic technology, those in charge of enforcing securities laws have created an unprecedented era of enforcement against those who betray workplace confidences, friends or even family members with corporate connections, to score illegal gains by buying and selling based on inside information. While federal prosecutions in…

Dec 21, 2012 9:36 PM CST

Peter Madoff Gets 10 Years, Is Ordered to Pay $143B, for His Role in Brother’s Ponzi Scheme

Imposing a sentence that had been agreed to months earlier, at a Thursday hearing that gave victims a chance to make their feelings known, a federal judge in Manhattan gave Peter Madoff a 10-year prison term for his role in his brother Bernard Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme. An attorney by…

Dec 21, 2012 5:10 PM CST

Investors Sue Cozen and Blank Rome, Say Ex-Partner Conspired to ‘Dupe’ Them in $27M Real Estate Deal

A group of investors is suing Cozen O’Connor and Blank Rome, contending that a former partner of both law firms conspired with a landlord and his business partner to “dupe” them concerning the value of a real estate development project. The former partner, Charles Naselsky, is currently serving federal time…

Dec 20, 2012 5:01 PM CST

Ex-BigLaw Partner Gets No Time for Helping Disbarred Celebrity Money Manager Launder $18M

A former partner of Winston & Strawn who helped a now-disbarred attorney working as a celebrity money manager with a $35 million Ponzi scheme by laundering $18 million through attorney trust accounts will not have to serve any prison time. Saying that Jonathan Bristol, 57, had had his judgment clouded…

Dec 19, 2012 5:00 PM CST

6 Attorneys Among 21 NYC Law Firm Workers Charged in Asylum Conspiracy Case

Updated: Six attorneys are among 21 employees of 10 law firms in New York City who have been criminally charged in federal court in Manhattan with participating in a claimed conspiracy to win asylum for individuals based on false claims of persecution. A total of 26 individuals are named as…

Dec 18, 2012 10:39 PM CST

Report: Law Prof, Other Critics Complain About DOJ Approach to ‘Too Big to Jail’ Bank Crimes

A record settlement of $1.9 billion with HSBC that was announced earlier this month as result of a federal money-laundering probe against the United Kingdom-based bank was hailed by some as a sign that the justice system is working. But others don’t see much benefit in the pact with a…

Dec 18, 2012 7:04 PM CST