2nd Circuit Court

Ex-Fried Frank Associate Says Female Partner Harassed Her

A former litigation associate of nearly a decade is poised to file a federal discrimination suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, contending that the firm denied her a promotion to partnership because she is a lesbian and did not intervene to prevent higher-ups from harassing her. Julie Kamps,…

Dec 22, 2009 1:00 AM CST

Lawyer Sues N.Y. Over Alleged Harm to His Reputation from Pension Clawback

After winning an initial round in an ongoing battle with the state of New York over his contested pension benefits, an attorney is fighting back with a lawsuit alleging that his professional reputation was harmed as a result of a due-process violation. A New York judge ruled earlier this year…

Dec 8, 2009 6:13 PM CST

Lawyer Told Now-Convicted Former Lawmaker Joseph Bruno to Avoid Fraud Charges by Avoiding Mail

A former longtime senior lawmaker in New York was convicted in a government corruption case today, after a state ethics lawyer on whom he relied for advice reportedly testified that he told Joseph Bruno to hand-deliver his financial disclosure forms to avoid potential mail-fraud charges. Former state Senate majority leader,…

Dec 7, 2009 10:12 PM CST

Mistrial for Blogger Accused of Threat to Kill 3 Federal Appellate Judges

A deadlocked jury forced a mistrial today in the case of a so-called hate blogger accused of threatening three federal appeals court judges in an Internet tirade over an opinion they issued on gun control. Prosecutors contended the blog post by Hal Turner amounted to a death threat against the…

Dec 7, 2009 8:28 PM CST

Too Embarrassed to Make Layoffs, Lawyer Stole $9.3M, Gets 7 Years

Too embarrassed to admit that he’d suffered financial reverses and make layoffs, a well-known Arkansas plaintiffs attorney instead admittedly stole $9.3 million from client trust funds he controlled to keep his law firm going. “I built several businesses. I went through a cash-flow crisis,” Steven Eugene Cauley told U.S. District…

Nov 23, 2009 9:52 PM CST

Don’t Cry for Me, New York: A Disbarred Civil Rights Lawyer Goes to Jail

Disbarred civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart had a few words for her followers on Thursday before she surrendered to begin serving her 28-month prison sentence for helping an imprisoned terrorist communicate with his followers. As she walked toward the courthouse, Stewart recalled a labor organizer executed in 1915 after a…

Nov 20, 2009 4:42 PM CST

2nd Circuit to Civil Rights Lawyer Lynne Stewart: Go Directly to Jail

A federal appeals court says bail for civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart should be revoked and she should begin serving her sentence “forthwith” for passing messages from an imprisoned terrorist to his followers. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Stewart’s conviction in an opinion (PDF)…

Nov 17, 2009 4:21 PM CST

Feds File Seizure Action Seeking $500M in Alleged Iranian Gov’t Property in US

Developing: A federal forfeiture action was filed today by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan seeking possession of $500 million in United States assets allegedly held by front companies for the government of Iran. The filing targets a controlling ownership interest in a 36-story New York City office building at…

Nov 12, 2009 11:42 PM CST

Ex-Bear Stearns Hedge Fund Execs Acquitted Today on All Charges

When concerns are expressed that authorities are targeting the small fry rather than the big fish in mortgage-related fraud cases, a criminal prosecution of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers has repeatedly been cited as a rare exception. But today the case ended with the acquittal of both defendants,…

Nov 10, 2009 9:35 PM CST

Obama Poster Artist Can Change Legal Counsel, Judge Rules

An artist who created a well-known poster of Barack Obama can change lawyers despite an opposing party’s objections that his original counsel had “unique knowledge” of the case and a substitution at this point in the case would be costly, a federal judge in New York has ruled. U.S. District…

Nov 10, 2009 6:40 PM CST

Heir’s Ex-Mistress Settles Case Over $47.6M Sculptures, Gets Child Custody

A wealthy German art collector has settled a New York-based legal dispute with his former mistress over ownership of two sculptures with an estimated value of $47.6 million and the custody of the couple’s 8-year-old daughter. In exchange for over $6 million in property and cash, custody of their daughter…

Nov 10, 2009 5:50 PM CST

Ex-SEC Lawyer Pleads in Dreier Case, Got $100K to Play Role re $44M in Fake Notes

A lawyer who formerly worked in the enforcement division of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission has pleaded guilty to helping attorney Marc Dreier try to sell $44.7 million of fake notes to sophisticated investors. Robert Miller, 52, said Dreier paid him $100,000 to impersonate individuals at a Canadian pension…

Nov 9, 2009 7:20 PM CST

Former Sullivan & Cromwell Lawyer Is Among Galleon Defendants

A trader who formerly worked as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell was among the 14 defendants charged today in the Galleon Group hedge fund insider-trading case. Michael Kimmelman, 38, has since founded Incremental Capital, with another defendant in the case. However, he previously worked as an…

Nov 5, 2009 10:48 PM CST

2nd Circuit Tosses Extraordinary Rendition Suit Against Ashcroft

A federal appeals court has ruled a Canadian engineer can’t sue former Attorney General John Ashcroft and other government officials for transferring him to Syria in 2002, where he claims he was tortured. The New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 7-4 en banc ruling…

Nov 3, 2009 12:38 PM CST

Lawyer Raided Sullivan & Cromwell Offices for Inside Info Years Ago, Court Filings Say

Years ago, when he worked at Sullivan & Cromwell’s offices on Wall Street as a corporate associate during the 1990s, Gil Cornblum regularly conducted what he called “spelunking” raids there around 4 a.m., reports the Globe and Mail. Court documents filed in an Ontario insider-trading case against Cornblum and another…

Oct 29, 2009 1:38 AM CDT