A prominent foreclosure law firm was charged with defrauding Fannie Mae through a scheme to submit falsely inflated bills to the mortgage servicing companies it worked for, knowing the federal housing authority would ultimately be on the hook through reimbursement payments, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
"As alleged in the complaint, for years [Rosicki, Rosicki & Associates] exploited its relationship with Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored entity, for its own financial gain by knowingly causing Fannie Mae to pay artificially inflated costs for foreclosure-related services," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
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By ANNA FLAGG
The link between immigration and crime exists in the imaginations of Americans, and nowhere else.
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Madison Square Garden has quietly used facial-recognition technology to bolster security and identify those entering the building, according to multiple people familiar with the arena's security procedures.
The technology uses cameras to capture images of people, and then an algorithm compares the images to a database of photographs to help identify the person and, when used for security purposes, to determine if the person is considered a problem. The technology, which is sometimes used for marketing and promotions, has raised concerns over personal privacy and the security of any data that is stored by the system.
"MSG continues to test and explore the use of new technologies to ensure we're employing the most effective security procedures to provide a safe and wonderful experience for our guests," the Garden said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the Garden declined to answer questions about the use of face-scanning technology.
Tax professionals should be aware that income from virtual currency transactions is reportable on income tax returns. Virtual currency transactions are taxable by law just like transactions in any other property. The IRS has issued guidance in IRS Notice 2014-21 that addresses transactions in virtual currency, also known as digital currency.
The notice provides that virtual currency is treated as property for U.S. federal tax purposes. General tax principles that apply to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency. Taxpayers who do not properly report the income tax consequences of virtual currency transactions can be audited for those transactions and, when appropriate, can be liable for penalties and interest.
ALBANY -- A top official at the state Division of Criminal Justice Services was fired Thursday, four days after the Times Union reported that he was never punished by the agency after an inspector general's investigation found that he had threatened female employees with physical violence and engaged in years of sexual harassment.
A spokeswoman for DCJS issued a statement Thursday evening claiming the termination of Brian J. Gestring, the director of the the agency's Office of Forensic Science since 2012, was unrelated to the inspector general's findings, which she said their agency could not substantiate.
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Gestring, 48, a former New York Police Department scientist, is also a member of the state's Commission on Forensic Science, which oversees crime laboratories across New York. He will be required to step down from that post due to his termination.
The examination of Gestring's alleged workplace misconduct began last May when investigators with the inspector general's office stumbled onto the charges during an unrelated probe of negligence by a DCJS employee involving DNA evidence in a Suffolk County criminal case.
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President Donald Trump is not immune from a state court lawsuit alleging he defamed a former contestant on The Apprentice by denying her allegations of unwanted kissing and groping, a New York judge has ruled.
Judge Jennifer Schechter allowed the suit by Summer Zervos in a decision on Tuesday, report the Washington Post, Politico, BuzzFeed News and Bloomberg News.
"No one is above the law," Schechter wrote.
ALBANY - The New York state Senate and Assembly rejected Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal mandating that judges work eight-hour days.
State Sen. John Bonacic, an Orange County Republican who chairs the chamber's Judiciary committee, told the New York Law Journal that Cuomo's proposal to have judges certify that their courtrooms stay open until 5 p.m. is a "diss" to all the judges.
"These are professional people, we shouldn't treat them like schoolkids," Bonacic said in an interview. "Their jobs are not easy, and we aren't prepared to demean them in any way from the important work they do."
evidence that has allowed the public to test officers' credibility.
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"Behind closed doors, we call it testilying," a New York City police officer, Pedro Serrano, said in a recent interview, echoing a word that officers coined at least 25 years ago. "You take the truth and stretch it out a little bit."
An investigation by The New York Times has found that on more than 25 occasions since January 2015, judges or prosecutors determined that a key aspect of a New York City police officer's testimony was probably untrue. The Times identified these cases -- many of which are sealed -- through interviews with lawyers, police officers and current and former judges.
| by Patricia Salkin |
This post was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.
Individuals can be held liable for zoning violations regardless of whether they acted at their own behest or on behalf of a corporation. The defendant in the case, Claudia Dowling, argued unsuccessfully that she could not be held personally liable for operating an unlawful commercial use in a residential district because her conduct was undertaken in her capacity as a corporate officer for Claudia Dowling, Inc. The court also rejected her claim that the commercial use qualified as a permissible accessory use, but it ruled in her favor that stop work orders issued for the unlawful use were invalid because they did not relate to any building code violations.
Pro Bono Opportunities Lunch and Learn
Free Program for NYSBA Members
Register
Sponsored by the Committee on Lawyers in Transition and the Department of Pro Bono Services of the New York State Bar Association.
Panelists will discuss how they got involved with Pro Bono legal representation and about their feelings regarding the experience and its benefits to their legal careers.
Thursday, March 29, 2018
11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
New York State Bar Association
One Elk Street | Albany, NY 12207
Free Program for NYSBA Members | Non-members $100
Program Faculty:
Erin K. Flynn, Esq., Chair, Committee on Lawyers in Transition
Marcy C. John, Esq., Volunteer Lawyers Project of Onondaga County Inc.
Anne L. LaBarbera, Esq.
Faye Polayes, Esq., Ernst & Young
Susan Pattenaude, Esq., The Legal Project
Myleah Misenhimer, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York
Kristen Wagner, Esq., Director, Pro Bono Services, New York State Bar Association
Stephen P. Gallagher is a thought leader and deep thinker about our future. He is also a long-term friend and mentor of mine. But his area of interest isn't about the latest technology. He focuses on the challenges of human beings practicing law. His company is LeadershipCoach.us. Leonard E. Sienko, Jr. is a solo practitioner in Hancock, NY.
These two teamed up to write "For Sole Practitioners, the Future's Not What It Used to Be" in 2015 for the New York State Bar Association Journal. Some of the thoughts that they discussed then about the future of law seem timeless and others are already somewhat dated, even though it has been less than three years since its publication. Mr. Sienko is understandably proud of his career as what we would now call in futurist circles, an artisan lawyer. Today being an artisan lawyer is often referenced as the opposite of the preferred modern "lean" systems-based lawyer. I note that there are many artisan lawyers still practicing and delivering great value to their clients.
Their follow up article, The Legal Profession in Transition, Download The Legal Profession in Transition - Gallagher-Sienko-Sept17 was published in September 2017. In it, they discuss Baby Boomers in the legal profession. Sienko postulates that "The new reality is that many lawyers and others are in no position financially to retire."
The costs of nursing home and assisted living care are driving sales -- and innovation -- in the technology market, said Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and author of The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care.
For many, the technology offers not just the tools they need to continue to live at home, but newfound confidence and connectedness with faraway family and friends.
Topol calls it "monitored independence," and it is changing how older generations age in America. "People want to be autonomous, irrespective of age," he said.
Stormy Daniels (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford, but the "hush agreement" referred to her as Peggy Peterson or "PP", according to the suit [FULL TEXT], filed in California state court. The agreement referred to Trump as "David Dennison" or "DD."
Trump didn't sign the agreement "so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the hush agreement and Ms. Clifford," according to the suit seeking a declaratory judgment. The Washington Post and the New York Times have coverage.
Despite the lack of a signature, Daniels received $130,000 under the agreement. Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said last month that he used his own money to pay Daniels, "thus evidencing Mr. Cohen's apparent position (at least in that context) that no binding agreement was in place," the suit says.
Even if there were contractual obligations under the agreement, they were breached when Cohen spoke publicly to the media, the suit says.
Daniels also asserts alternate grounds to set aside the contract, including that it is unconscionable, illegal or a violation of public policy.
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According to Lindon's complaint, he claims that in order successfully complete his probation and treatment, he was required to take part in Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step program. More specifically, Lindon claims that his failure to participate in the 12-step program would result in "incarceration or other detrimental consequences."
Lindon's specific issue with this program is that it's dependent on belief in a "higher power" or a single God and "compelling any person to attend de facto religious services as a part of mandatory substance abuse treatment program is a predictable and systemic violation of constitutional law." After objecting to the religious element of Alcoholics Anonymous program, Lindon claims that the staff at the treatment center refused to adjust his treatment plan.
You can read the full lawsuit below:
James Lindon Complaint by FindLaw on Scribd
LawHelpNY.org, powered by Pro Bono Net, is an online tool for helping low-income New Yorkers solve their legal problems. Our mission is to provide and promote access to high-quality online information about:
We are committed to helping low-income and other vulnerable New Yorkers achieve equal access to justice by providing information that is user-friendly in English, Spanish and other languages.
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LawHelpNY.org is New York's only comprehensive source of legal referral information and includes:
Internal NYPD files show that hundreds of officers who committed the most serious offenses -- from lying to grand juries to physically attacking innocent people -- got to keep their jobs, their pensions, and their tremendous power over New Yorkers' lives.
When you're looking for an attorney, you may be confronted by a confusing slew of letters after someone's name, including "J.D." and "Esq."
While those abbreviations are both associated with legal professionals, their meanings aren't exactly the same.
The difference between J.D. and Esq., as commonly used in the United States, is the ability to practice law.
Starting on March 1, more than 1,000 employees of the federal judiciary will be subject to a policy that prohibits them from partisan political activity, including campaign contributions.
Judges and court employees have lived under similar rules for decades, but the new policy extends the restrictions to those who work at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the Federal Judicial Center, both based at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C.
The lawyer, James E. Kolenich, got involved because "white people must save and preserve their civilization," the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
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Do Kolenich's comments constitute an ethics violation? It's unknown if anyone has complained to Ohio lawyer discipline authorities. Ohio disciplinary counsel Scott Drexel says state supreme court rules bar him from revealing whether there is a pending grievance or investigation against Kolenich or any other lawyer. Investigations are confidential until a formal complaint is filed.
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Read more for ethical discussion...
