Banking Law

Commercial Lenders Bracing for Expected Wave of Defaults

It isn’t just in the residential real estate market that lenders financed projects based on dubious assumptions. In 2006, when two companies paid $5.4 billion for a huge apartment complex in Manhattan, lenders projected that net operating income for the high-profile acquisition would triple in five years, to $336 million.…

Oct 15, 2009 5:21 PM CDT

As 7,500 Reveal Secret Bank Accounts in 70 Countries, IRS Hunts for More

As 7,500 Americans came forward to reveal, before a partial amnesty deadline today, undeclared accounts in 70 countries, the Internal Revenue Service is gearing up for an enhanced effort to find more. It has opened offices in Beijing, Sydney and Panama City and plans to hire 800 more employees, reports…

Oct 15, 2009 4:50 PM CDT

Accused Billionaire Stanford Spits Blood in a Cup at Court Hearing

Accused Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford spit blood into a cup during a court hearing in Houston on Wednesday. Stanford’s lawyer, Kent Schaffer, said doctors have not diagnosed what is causing the illness, according to stories in the Houston Chronicle, Reuters and the Associated Press. Schaffer said Stanford is being…

Oct 15, 2009 12:07 PM CDT

Messy Foreclosure Cases Likely to Make a Lot of Work for Lawyers

Refusing to vacate a landmark ruling in March that is likely to create a lot of work for real estate lawyers, a Massachusetts judge today held banks accountable for failing to timely file all the foreclosure paperwork that he said is required by state law. By doing so, however, Land…

Oct 14, 2009 10:56 PM CDT

Deal King & Law Media Mogul Dies; Bruce Wasserstein Once Worked for Cravath

Bruce Wasserstein, a onetime corporate lawyer at Cravath Swaine & Moore who became a deal king and law media mogul has died a few days after being hospitalized for an irregular heartbeat, reports Bloomberg. He was 61 years old. “He made more from investment banking than any man on the…

Oct 14, 2009 10:18 PM CDT

More Courts are Now Deciding Credit Card Disputes

Once a dominant method of resolving credit card disputes between consumers and banks, mandatory arbitration of such cases could eventually be eliminated throughout the industry if Congress acts to prohibit forced resolution outside the courts. After two major arbitration groups stopped handling credit card cases earlier this year, several major…

Oct 14, 2009 7:23 PM CDT

Stanford Investors Sue 2nd Law Firm, Ex-GC; Proskauer Partner Withdraws

A second law firm has been named as a defendant in an investor lawsuit contending that a now-former partner of Proskauer Rose, Thomas Sjoblom, participated in a claimed $7 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly operated by the Stanford Financial Group. The new defendant in the federal class action case is another…

Oct 13, 2009 8:26 PM CDT

Anxious Clients Seek Lawyer Therapy as IRS Deadline Looms re Foreign Accounts

Faced with a tough choice between confessing their sins to the Internal Revenue Service or waiting for the federal enforcement agency potentially to pounce, a number of individuals are looking to lawyers for more than traditional legal advice concerning offshore bank accounts. As the Oct. 15 deadline looms for American…

Oct 13, 2009 5:17 PM CDT

Bank of America to Waive Attorney-Client Privilege in Merrill Acquisition

Bank of America has agreed to reveal legal advice it obtained in its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, a move likely to put the spotlight on its outside law firm in the deal, Wachtell, Lipton Rosen & Katz. Bank of America’s board voted to waive its attorney-client privilege on Friday, according…

Oct 13, 2009 11:37 AM CDT

‘Toxic Titles’ Make Mortgage Foreclosures a Lot More Complex

Already dealing with a deluge of mortgage foreclosures, courts in Massachusetts now have a new problem. And, although litigation over the issue is farther along there than in a number of other states, it’s a growing concern that is also affecting other properties throughout the country. So-called toxic titles created…

Oct 9, 2009 8:27 PM CDT

Authorities Struggle to Cope With ‘Tsunami of Digital Evidence’

As cybercrime has exploded in recent years and even traditional crimes ranging from harassment to murder routinely involve Internet-related communication, authorities in many jurisdictions increasingly are struggling to keep up with what Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley calls a “tsunami of digital evidence.” Although his office, which handles state…

Oct 7, 2009 10:17 PM CDT

Record ‘Phish Phry’ Bank Cybercrime Bust Nets 100 in US & Egypt

Authorities have announced charges against 100 individuals in the United States and Egypt in what they say is the largest such case ever pursued in the U.S. Operation Phish Phry netted 53 defendants in the U.S. and 47 in Egypt. They are accused of stealing money from thousands of Bank…

Oct 7, 2009 9:46 PM CDT

Compassion Is No Reason to Delay Foreclosure, Appeals Court Tells Judge

A Florida appeals court has told a judge that “benevolence and compassion” are not grounds for delaying a foreclosure sale. “Although granting continuances and postponements are, generally speaking, within the discretion of the trial court, the ‘ground’ of benevolence and compassion … does not constitute a lawful, cognizable basis for…

Oct 7, 2009 12:28 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Quit UBS to Co-chair Linklaters’ US Practice Changes His Mind

Lawyer Lewis Steinberg apparently had second thoughts about his decision this spring to leave UBS for Linklaters to co-chair the firm’s U.S. practice. Steinberg, who also chaired Linklaters’ U.S. tax practice, is returning to UBS, Forbes reports. The magazine says Steinberg is one of a few banking executives “trickling back…

Oct 7, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Faced With Foreclosure, Homeowners Can’t Get Lawyers to Help

The foreclosure crisis is also a legal crisis, a new study says. When homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages try to find lawyers help them fight to hang onto their homes, many can’t do so, reports USA Today. Hiring a private lawyer to help with the complex proceedings can easily…

Oct 6, 2009 7:05 PM CDT