Drug trafficker serving time testifies attorney sold kilos of coke from his law office

A witness currently serving time for drug trafficking admitted in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Monday that he hopes to get his sentence reduced by testifying against attorney Paul Bergrin, who is accused of operating his Newark criminal defense firm as a racketeering enterprise. But Rondre Kelly also insisted…

Feb 13, 2013 1:20 PM CST

Law firm Valentine’s Day contest offers no-cost divorce

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, a Michigan attorney is running a contest offering a no-cost divorce to the entrant who makes the best case for freebie. “We’re looking for someone truly struggling to move forward,” says Walter H. Bentley III. “Maybe someone who’s overcome some obstacle—a foreclosure, say. Maybe they’re…

Feb 12, 2013 2:46 PM CST

Hurricane Sandy caused losses that East Coast solos are struggling to offset

Feb 1, 2013 8:40 AM CST

Client who got $111 from $150K settlement can’t sue firm for malpractice

A trial court has nixed a malpractice lawsuit filed by a disgruntled client who contended that a New York law firm should have warned him, before setting his personal injury case, that a litigation funding loan would suck up almost all of his award. Mirman, Markovits & Landau never referred…

Jan 30, 2013 10:54 PM CST

Woman says lawyer Paul Bergrin pushed her to lie, as a child, about her dad’s attack on her mom

A New Jersey defense attorney accused of operating his law firm as a racketeering enterprise pushed a 9-year-old girl about her father’s brutal attack on her mother, a witness for the prosecution told a federal jury in Newark on Monday. Now 20 years old, Carolyn Velez told the jury that…

Jan 29, 2013 7:23 PM CST

Law firm sues seeking $150K of $1.5B whistleblower settlement, says ex-partner originated the case

A New York plaintiffs law firm has sued a Delaware counterpart, contending that it is entitled to a $150,000 share of a $1.5 billion settlement of a federal whistleblower lawsuit generated by a former partner. Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz says ex-partner Reuben Guttman drafted the complaint in the…

Jan 23, 2013 10:09 PM CST

Once-merged law firms separate, citing conflicts

When Paul Sciocchetti and Tony Ianniello merged their upstate New York law firms in late 2011, they expected Ianniello Anderson Sciocchetti & Reilly to be more successful together than they had been as separate entities. But in fact, in a struggling real estate market, the 15 attorneys in the merged…

Jan 16, 2013 4:59 PM CST

Lawyer not liable for $80K put in client trust account—and stolen—by his secretary, judge rules

An Alabama judge has ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to recover from a Saraland lawyer an $80,000 payment that was put into a client trust account—and subsequently stolen—by the attorney’s longtime secretary. Because the payment was a private deal between the plaintiff, Daniel Burrage, and legal…

Jan 16, 2013 4:52 PM CST

Attorneys who quit law firm jobs during 2009 downturn find success as small corporate boutique

During the fall of 2009, as the legal economy was headed into a tailspin, two attorneys at the Wilmington, Del., office of Pennsylvania-based Riley Riper Hollin & Colagreco did something counterintuitive. Jack Harris and Buddy Berger left the security of their Riley Riper jobs and formed their own small law…

Jan 15, 2013 3:40 PM CST

Jury Selection Begins in Trial of Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Operating Law Firm as RICO Enterprise

Jury selection began this week in Newark in the latest federal trial of a former state and federal prosecutor accused of operating his New Jersey law firm as a racketeering enterprise. Paul W. Bergrin, 57, a once-prominent defense attorney, faces 26 counts including murder and drug trafficking. He is accused…

Jan 9, 2013 11:04 PM CST

Fugitive Immigration Lawyer Arrested After 2 Years on the Run, Authorities Say

A Utah immigration lawyer who has been considered a fugitive since violating pretrial release conditions in a federal visa fraud case has been caught at the U.S. border, near a California-Mexico entry point. James Hector Alcala, 44, was criminally charged in 2009, along with his law firm and other defendants,…

Jan 9, 2013 10:00 PM CST

Getting Connected: Solo Lawyers Build Support Networks

Jan 1, 2013 7:50 AM 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

Trial Lawyer Does Double Duty as SLU Law Dean While Winning $25M in Settlements

Some might find working either as a law school dean or a busy plaintiffs’ lawyer a more than full-time job. Tom Keefe Jr. is doing both. Temporarily at the helm of the law school at St. Louis University after his predecessor resigned suddenly in the midst of a dispute with…

Dec 12, 2012 9:09 PM CST

Tax Commission Asks Judge to Close Law Firm, Says $180K Owed re Employee Tax Withholding

The Oklahoma Tax Commission has asked a judge to shut down an Oklahoma City law firm until the lawyer who operates it posts bond, contending that attorney Doug Friesen has failed to file required paperwork and owes nearly $180,000 in employee tax withholding he is supposed to send to the…

Dec 7, 2012 4:44 PM CST