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NewsScandal-hit Spitzer faces wait for law firm role
Legal Line News |
2008/03/13 14:32
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pSo what will Eliot Spitzer do next, assuming he escapes criminal prosecution and disciplinary sanction following his alleged involvement with a high-end prostitution ring? If he follows the example of his three living predecessors as governor, he will join a law firm. /ppGeorge Pataki last year joined Chadbourne amp; Parke as a counsel in the environmental practice, and Mario Cuomo has long hung his hat at Willkie Farr amp; Gallagher. Hugh Carey survived the 1987 collapse of Finley Kumble Wagner Underberg Manley Myerson amp; Casey and is now a partner in the Manhattan office of Harris Beach./ppBut Spitzer's reasons for resigning office mark him as something of a different candidate. /ppIt matters how you leave, said the chairman of one large New York firm who asked to remain unnamed. /ppFormer governors and other prominent political names generally have a cachet with clients that makes them attractive to firms, he said, but the scandal forcing Spitzer out of office may have exhausted the current governor's quotient of good will. /ppHe would need to rehabilitate himself first, agreed the managing partner of another large New York firm who also requested anonymity. It would probably be a year or more before any firm would even consider bringing the soon-to-be ex-governor aboard, the partner said. He's radioactive in this environment, he added.
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Verdict upheld for Valley law firm suing over fees
U.S. Court News |
2008/03/12 14:35
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A federal Appeals Court has upheld a nearly $3.3 million verdict obtained by a Valley law firm against another firm from Texas for unpaid legal fees.
In their unanimous ruling, the judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by the attorney for John M. O'Quinn amp; Associates that the legal fees being charged by Brown amp; Bain were not reasonable. Neil McCabe said that put the Phoenix law firm in violation of ethical rules adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court.
But appellate Judge John Noonan, writing for the panel, said the O'Quinn firm had in fact agreed to pay Brown amp; Bain a certain amount once the case settled.
Potentially more significant for attorneys, the appellate judges said Ethical Rule 1.5, which bars fees that are unreasonable, applies only to the dealings that lawyers have with their clients. It does not regulate what one law firm charges another.
The case involves a lawsuit filed by about 900 property owners in the Phoenix area who filed suit against Motorola contending that toxic chemicals from its plant caused environmental damage. The deal the property owners had was the O'Quinn law firm would get 40 percent of any recovery plus the cost of litigation. |
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Miami appraiser pleads guilty to fraud scheme
Court News |
2008/03/11 09:58
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pA Miami real estate appraiser has pleaded guilty to wire fraud for her involvement in the Southwest Ranches-area fraud scheme in Broward County, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida said. /ppMartine Yanisse Castrillon is one of 15 defendants charged with buying homes through straw buyers at an inflated price, and then getting cash back at the closings. So far, nine defendants have pleaded guilty to various federal charges in the indictment. /ppCastrillon admitted that she did fraudulent appraisals -- valuing the properties at the amount requested by another defendant, not the true market price -- and forged the name of the certified appraiser who was to review her work. /ppAccording to the indictment, co-defendants Lazara Villalba and Henry Quintero-Lopez would offer the owner's full asking price and then inflate the contract purchase price to allow their companies, New World International and Damp;H Investments of South Florida, to receive a finder's fee, assignment fee or additional funds to allegedly construct improvements to the properties. They would then recruit individuals, who, for a fee, acted as straw buyers of the properties. Villalba and a co-defendant would obtain fraudulent pay stubs, IRS documents, verification of employment and verification of deposit forms; documents would be submitted to cooperating mortgage brokers and the loans were approved to purchase the properties. /ppCastrillon faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each of the wire fraud counts and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. Sentencing is scheduled for May 22.
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Health-Care Fraud: Keep an Eye on the Small Fry
Legal Opinions |
2008/03/11 06:01
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pYou might have been afraid to attend the American Bar Association’s white-collar crime conference last week. But the Health Blog, armed with the First Amendment, endured the topic and the tropical clime of Miami to check out a panel on health-care fraud. /ppThe government and the corporate defenders were there. Big Pharma bogeywoman Susan Winkler, chief of the health-care fraud unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Boston office, shared the dais with defense attorneys Ty Cobb, Nicholas C. Theodorou, Katherine Lauer and Thomas Dwyer./ppThe group ran though the health-fraud hit parade: off-label marketing, assessing the value of a case and how a company, once cornered, can strike a productive note with the feds. /ppBut the thing that jumped out at us was the group’s consensus that smaller companies–biotechs and device companies—are expected to be the next big hunting ground for fraud and wrong-doing. “Small cap companies, biotech and medical device companies, their resources are limited in terms of compliance,” Theodorou said. And, he added, “they’re very sales and marketing driven.” /ppWinkler agreed, saying, “We’re going to see more and more off-label with medical devices.” The U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston has been a leader in rooting out health- care fraud, including cases against a host of drug companies. Sketchy pricing schemes and off-label marketing, or pitching a drug for uses beyond those approved by FDA, have been regular fraud fodder./ppBut Big Pharma, said the panel, has learned from its lumps after battling government investigations and charges. “There are a lot of drug executives walking around with huge dents in their heads,” Cobb said. “They’ve been beaten with rules and compliance.” It’s the little guys, particularly single-product companies, who don’t have the resources and infrastructure to set up checks and balances. The legal stakes can break a company, Cobb said. “I got a case where the first person I called wasn’t the forensics guy, but the bankruptcy guy.”/p
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