Banking Law

S&C’s Cohen Says Financial Bill Passed by Congress Has ‘Substantial Teeth’

A financial reform bill passed by Congress on Thursday has “substantial teeth,” according to a lawyer who represented seven financial firms in financial bailout negotiations as the economy neared a meltdown. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Sullivan & Cromwell senior chairman H. Rodgin Cohen countered critics who said the…

Jul 16, 2010 12:42 PM CDT

32-Year Cravath Litigator Is Tapped to Head Morgan Stanley Legal Dept.

A senior partner of Cravath Swaine & Moore will be departing after 32 years with the law firm to head the legal department of Morgan Stanley. Francis Barron, 59, will serve as the New York-based chief legal officer of the bank and will report to its CEO, James Gorman. He…

Jul 2, 2010 5:23 PM CDT

After an All-Nighter, Compromise Is Reached on Landmark Financial Reform Bill

After an all-night session, House and Senate conferees have agreed on a bill to reform financial regulations. The negotiating session began Thursday morning and lasted more than 20 hours, according to stories in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Congress will likely…

Jun 25, 2010 11:47 AM CDT

Fannie Mae to Punish Borrowers Who Strategically Opt to Walk Away from Mortgages

Amidst news that an apparently unprecedented number of mortgage borrowers are opting to walk away from expensive loans on homes whose fair-market value in the devastated real estate market is considerably less than the amount the borrowers owe, Fannie Mae is planning to punish those who opt not to pay…

Jun 24, 2010 8:39 PM CDT

Former Mayer Brown Litigation Co-Chair Is Latest BigLawyer to Leap to BuckleySandler

Two more BigLaw attorneys have made the leap to a 90-lawyer financial services boutique in Washington, D.C. Former Mayer Brown litigation co-chair David Krakoff and partner Christopher Regan are joining BuckleySandler as partners, Bloomberg reported. “From the day we started the new firm in March 2009, our intention was to…

Jun 23, 2010 5:30 PM CDT

Real Estate Attorney Indicted re $1.5M in Personal Loans His Lawyer Says Are Paid Up

A Rhode Island lawmaker who has a private practice as a real estate attorney has been federally indicted on seven counts of bank fraud concerning $1.5 million in personal loans that his lawyer says are not in arrears. State Sen. Christopher Maselli, a Democrat, is accused of lying about his…

Jun 18, 2010 11:31 PM CDT

Up to 20-Lawyer Group Is Departing Nixon Peabody for Pillsbury Winthrop

A group of up to 20 corporate lawyers from Nixon Peabody has joined the New York office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Led by Mats Carlston, the former global finance practice chief at Nixon Peabody, they are at least the second group of lawyers to leave the 800-attorney firm since…

Jun 18, 2010 7:50 PM CDT

As Public Criticism Grows, ‘Too Distracting’ Banker Retains Gloria Allred

An attractive New York banker who sparked a media frenzy by suing her former employer for allegedly firing her because she was “too distracting” in a business suit and high heels hasn’t fared well lately in the court of public opinion. A years-old video clip in which Debrahlee Lorenzana extols…

Jun 15, 2010 6:39 PM CDT

Squatters Add to Mortgage Lenders’ Woes; Eviction from $3.3M Listing a Civil Matter

As if banks didn’t have enough work to do with a record-breaking deluge of foreclosure cases, at least a few are dealing with an extra hurdle that must be cleared before they can gain possession–squatters who move into vacant homes. It happened with a mansion listed for sale for $3.3…

Jun 14, 2010 6:17 PM CDT

Jenner & Block Used ‘Stupid’ Search in Sorting Through Lehman E-Mails

A “stupid” search turned out to be productive for lawyers at Jenner & Block. “Stupid” was among the search terms used by the Chicago-based law firm as it sorted through some 34 million pages of e-mails and other electronic documents for its 2,200-page report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers,…

Jun 11, 2010 12:52 PM CDT

Wily Real Estate Agents Found a Way to ‘Flop,’ Scamming Lenders on Short Sales

Banks have made it harder to get a mortgage in recent years, after a national lending spree to buyers with dubious qualifications that contributed to an ongoing foreclosure crisis. But, adjusting their tactics to the new economic reality, two wily Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit despite…

Jun 10, 2010 6:46 PM CDT

Workers File Massive $100M Wage Suit Against Bank of America

In a lawsuit that could eventually include some 180,000 plaintiffs, current and former workers at the Bank of America are seeking compensation for allegedly unpaid wages and overtime. In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., they seek to consolidate complaints filed in five states and…

Jun 7, 2010 7:26 PM CDT

Law Firm Points Trash-Out Crew to Paid-Up ‘Foreclosure,’ Is Sued

Martin Powelson paid off his delinquent Detroit mortgage. But after a law firm that handles a high-volume foreclosure practice mistakenly said told the lender that the redemption period had expired with the loan unpaid, a so-called trash-out crew paid a visit to his house. Contending that crew removed some $60,000…

Jun 7, 2010 6:51 PM CDT

2 Lawyers Convicted in Federal Tax Fraud Conspiracy Case

A Chicago lawyer was convicted of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and tax evasion this week by a federal jury in New York. The case against attorney John Ohle III concerned tax shelters the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office said he sold to clients of Bank One, both during and after…

Jun 4, 2010 5:12 PM CDT

Curvy Banker Says She Was Fired for Being ‘Too Distracting’ in Business Suit and Heels

In a new chapter of the ongoing, much-debated saga about appropriate attire for female professionals, a former business banking officer at a Citibank branch in New York City contends she was criticized and eventually fired because male co-workers found her curvaceous figure “too distracting” in a standard business suit and…

Jun 3, 2010 12:06 AM CDT