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Law

  1. company town
    Top Moneymaker Leaves LehmanFINANCE • Lehman lost its top-producing banker on Friday to a sudden resignation. Was Woody Young passed over for head of the finance group? [NYT] • Monday morning got you feeling uninspired? Ninja Stockbroker will return you to market-high glory. [Nova Cartoons via DealBreaker] • Fresh off its blowout purchase of Equity Office, the Blackstone Group scoops up Pinnacle Foods (Duncan Hines, Vlasic) for $2.16 Billion. [AP via CBS News]
  2. in other news
    Comptrollergate Ends With a Whimper Worth noting only because it seems to be the end of this saga: Alan Hevesi was sentenced Friday by an Albany judge. The former comptroller had already pleaded guilty last year to a felony fraud count for using state employees to chauffeur his wife (and, if we recall correctly, hang out with her, and help her with physical-therapy exercises, and so on). You’ll remember that Hevesi had previously quit his job despite handily winning reelection, paid back some $206,000 to the state to cover the cost of those employees’ salaries, agreed to never again run for public office, and submitted his DNA to the state’s criminal database. So what was the judge’s final blow to the fallen politician? A $5,000 fine. Seems a bit anticlimactic, no? Given a Fine, Hevesi Praises His Successor [NYT] The Penitent [NYM]
  3. company town
    Associates’ Pay Up, Partners’ Profits Down?LAW • Aaron Charney had secret settlement talks with Sullivan & Cromwell as late as January 31. A sticking point: the destruction of Charney’s home hard-drive. [Above the Law] • Former Thacher Proffitt & Wood associate pleads guilty to insider trading — firm happy to learn Amir Rosenthal wasn’t using client information. [NYLJ] • Will partner profits stay flat because of associate pay raises? [NLJ via DealBook/NYT]
  4. company town
    Sulzberger Tires of Wondering Whether Print Is DeadMEDIA • Pinch Sulzberger: “Will we print the NYT in five years? I don’t care.” [Haaretz via E&P] • GE CEO Jeff Immelt calls a Post story about a sale or spinoff of NBC Universal, “more or less made-up stupid drivel.” [Fortune] • Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen “too big” to share VF’s Hollywood cover. Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Chris Rock, and Jack Black apparently not so big. [Deadline Hollywood/LA Weekly]
  5. company town
    Blood Money: Blodget vs. CramerFINANCIAL • Stock picker Henry Blodget threw a party for his new advice book, The Wall Street Self-Defense Manual, then challenged rival stock picker Jim Cramer to an on-air debate. [DealBreaker] • Vornado finally cried uncle in its battle with the Blackstone Group to buy the nation’s largest office landlord. [DealBook/NYT] • Heads are rolling at hedge fund D.B. Zwirn & Co., which was busted in October for misallocating expenses. [NYP]
  6. company town
    Paper Trail Disturbed at Sullivan & CromwellLAW • Did Aaron Charney “misplace” documents belonging to a partner’s file at Sullivan & Cromwell? The firm’s countersuit suggests so. [Above the Law] • Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft is rising up the ranks of most profitable firms, thanks to some cut-throat tactics and, apparently, a wicked bowling night. [New York Law Journal] • Save a life, become a hero, and suffer the (tax) consequences. A law professor explains why the Subway Superman might get walloped by the IRS this tax season. [Mauled Again via Legal Blog Watch]
  7. company town
    How Clean Is Your Company Cafeteria?MEDIA • The cafeteria at Bloomberg LP got a bad score from the city Health Department. Hearst and Condé Nast were much more sanitary. [Radar Online] • Serendipity exists for online newspapers as well as print, thank you very much. [WSJ] • Despite what former GE boss Jack Welch had to say about him recently, Jeff Zucker is getting a promotion at NBC. [LAT]
  8. company town
    Arthur Sulzberger Punishes Morgan StanleyFINANCE • The Ochs-Sulzberger family wants their money out of Morgan Stanley, after a London-based Morgan managing director tried to incite a shareholder revolt at the Times. [Fortune via CNNMoney] • Hedge-fund heavies like T. Boone Pickens, Paul Tudor Jones II, and Carl Icahn have all donated to Rudy Giuliani’s exploratory committee. They maxed out their donation: a whopping $2,100. [DealBook/NYT] • Equity Office’s board rejects Vornado’s cash-and-stock takeover bid and instead goes for Blackstone’s cash offer of $54 a share. Shareholders will likely vote next week. [CNNMoney]
  9. intel
    Cuomo Follows in Spitzer’s A.G. Footsteps, Tackling the Big Issues A press release issued yesterday afternoon by Andrew Cuomo’s Attorney General’s Office: Department of Law, The State Capitol, Albany, NY 12224 Department of Law, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271 Department of Law 120 Broadway New York, NY 10271 News from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Press Office / 212-416-XXXX ONTARIO COUNTY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER BANNED FOR FAILING TO DELIVER PHOTOS AND DECEIVING CONSUMERS Prohibited from operating in New York State and must pay over $10,000 in restitution and penalties
  10. company town
    Proenza Schouler Shoots Too Early at TargetFASHION • Proenza Schouler’s Target line was available online for four hours yesterday (three days before its official debut), causing mass Internet shopper hysteria. [Fashionista] • Snejana Onopka, one of the poster girls for the current Save the Models movement, is rumored to be skipping New York Fashion Week. [FlyPaper] • Jordan Scott, former designer at Betsey Johnson and child of the East Village, will launch his first collection during Fashion Week. [British Vogue]
  11. in other news
    Witness for the Prosecution, for Now The logistics of Plamegate have been making our heads hurt for three years now, so why should today be any different? Behold: Judith Miller, the ex-Times writer famously jailed for three months for refusing to name her Plame source, on the stand testifying for the same prosecutor who jailed her. The source was Scooter Libby, currently on trial for disclosing Valerie Plame’s identity, and Miller’s testifying against him because Libby “released” her from their confidentiality agreement, thus allowing her to become the prosecution’s star witness. Sound like legal suicide? Well, yes. Unless Libby’s side also wants Miller to say who else she had talked to — and, in fact, the biggest courtroom dustup yesterday was over the prosecution’s right to ask that exact question. Even more bizarre: Meantime, the same prosecutor from whom Miller is now testifying, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, also happens to be investigating her in an unrelated case, that one about Islamic charities. Oh, for the days of wine and blow jobs. Reporter Who Was Jailed Testifies in Libby Case [NYT]
  12. company town
    Star Takes the Stand, Forgets Her Past LAW • Back before Star Jones married a beard and was thwarted by Barbara Walters, she had to prosecute guys named T-Black and A. [NYP] • With New Jersey opening the door to “irreconcilable differences” in divorces, New York may now be the only state that forbids “no-fault” splits. [New Jersey Law Blog via New York Divorce Report] • New York State’s chief judge says underpaid jurists are at a new “level of frustration and anger and despair” over their meager paychecks. [NYLJ]
  13. company town
    Bloated Executive Birthday Parties are Back!FINANCE • Stephen A. Schwartzman’s 60th-birthday bacchanal will have 1,500 guests marching around the drill room of the Park Avenue armory on February 13. [NYT] • Management tips from Super Bowl coaches: Don’t scream at your employees. [WSJ] • At Citigroup, CEO Charles Prince can either improve the company’s performance, or break it up. [Crain’s]
  14. company town
    CNBC Backs Anchor Maria BartiromoMEDIA • The story of the jet-fueled relationship between ex-Citigroup exec Todd Thompson and CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo has turned from a snowball into an avalanche. [WSJ] • Newspapers eliminated about 1,500 positions in 2006, an improvement over 2005, when 2,500 scribes took a walk. [E&P] • Putting scratch-and-sniff ads in the Wall Street Journal actually makes us less inclined to read a newspaper. [AdAge]
  15. the morning line
    In Case You Haven’t Been Screwed Enough By the MTA… • Wait, now there’s a $3.9 billion surplus?! Just weeks ago, the city was projected to be mere $2 billion in the black. Bloomberg warns that the city’s become “very dependent” on transfer taxes from huge real-estate deals. Whatever. We want free cabs for a week. [NYT] • A “wacky” judge “ranted” “bizarrely” against a death-penalty case on his hands, preferring that the prosecutors shoot for life-in-prison instead. And that’s just the news story; you should see the epithets in the editorial. [NYDN] • Today the massed forces of NYPD will once again do furious battle with the evil swarm otherwise known as hippies on bicycles: Critical Mass is coming to town. Interestingly, Brooklyn cops appeared far more supportive two weeks ago: Officers even rode alongside the cyclists. [amNY] • The Post’s Andrea Peyser, having finally cracked, roams the floors of a Bed, Bath & Beyond waving photos of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Paris Hilton. It’s a “social experiment,” apparently. [NYP] • And City Hall is about to, um, roll out official New York City condoms. “Memorable packaging” may include the iconic subway map. Is the mayor getting frisky with the budget surplus already? [AP]
  16. company town
    Uniqlo’s Success Brings More Japanese RetailFASHION • Following the ultrasuccessful debut of Uniqlo, Japanese store Muji to open two stores in NYC. [WWD] • Libertine settled its copyright-infringement suit against knockoff king Allen Schwartz. [Downtown Darling] • Tyra Banks gains weight, laments fashion’s unreasonable expectations. [People] FINANCE • Merrill’s top brass gave themselves a big ($172 million) pat on the back for a job well done in 2006. [WSJ ] • Venture capitalists invested $2 billion in 249 companies in the New York area last year, up 18 percent from 2005. It was the highest level of funding since 2001, when the Internet broke. [Crain’s] • If increasing the size of the biggest leverage buyout bid in history doesn’t make Stephen Schwarzman sweat, the Blackstone Group should be just fine. [DealBook]
  17. company town
    Sullivan & Cromwell Bleeds AssociatesLAW • Sullivan & Cromwell lost about 30 percent of its associates in 2004 and 2005. It might take more than a raise to fix that. [WSJ] • Don’t despair, associates! Where Simpson Thacher goes, Milbank Tweed, Sullivan & Cromwell, Paul Weiss, Cleary Gottlieb, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft are sure to follow. [Above the Law] • Long Island lawyer Gary Berenholtz, who once exposed a corrupt Brooklyn judge, stole money from clients and his partner’s widow to fund fine dining and finer vacations. [NYP] FINANCE • The New York Stock Exchange will trade almost exclusively electronically by the end of today; investment firms will continue to lay off floor traders. [WSJ] • The New York City employees’ pension fund is the lead plaintiff in a suit against Apple Computer Inc. for overcompensating executives with illegal stock options. [Reuters]
  18. it just happened
    Jared Paul Stern Now Officially Less Scummy Than We ThoughtWell, call us a little dumbstruck. The Observer’s Daily Transom is reporting this afternoon that former “Page Six” reporter Jared Paul Stern, who we were under the distinct impression had been caught on videotape last April demanding money from supermarket mogul Ron Burkle in exchange for favorable coverage from the New York Post gossip column, has been notified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that he will not be charged with a crime. The Observer promises more coverage in tomorrow’s edition of the weekly paper. And so we wait, eagerly. Jared Paul Stern to Not Be Charged [Daily Transom/NYO]
  19. company town
    Yeah, We Should Have Gone to Law SchoolLAW • Simpson Thacher & Barlett has raised first-year associate salaries from $145K to $160K. Expect the rest of the white-shoe firms to follow suit. [Above the Law] • Lawyers dissed in Oscar nominations. Whither Atticus Finch? [Law Blog] FASHION Is Valentino retiring? The rumor — straight from yesterday’s couture show — has the designer stepping down in July. [Fashion Week Daily] • The latest Chanel accessory: furniture. The company is commissioning a red chair inspired by a Swiss Army knife. [WWD]
  20. in other news
    New Jersey and YouSo you know how the New York State minimum wage rose to $7.15 on January 1? Turns out New Jersey’s has been there since October 1. Then, starting February 19, of course, New Jersey will allow gay couples to enter into civil unions. (New York’s top court ruled out such unions back in July.) And now, reports the Times, a legislative committee in New Jersey has recommended the state abolish the death penalty, which would make the Garden State the first to do so since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the punishment 35 years ago. All of which brought us to a shocking realization this morning: Who knew we were living on the less progressive side of the Hudson? Panel Seeks End to Death Penalty for New Jersey [NYT]
  21. in other news
    Dr. Spitzer’s Five-Step Plan for a New You As we mentioned earlier, Governor Spitzer kicked off his term with an impressive display of work ethics, rousing himself early on New Year’s Day to sign five executive orders before 9 a.m. What brave new world, then, did the rest of the bleary state wake up to? 1. Use of state property — cars, computers, phones — for non-official business is explicitly prohibited. (Clear inspiration: Alan Hevesi.) Nepotism in hiring and contracting is banned. (Possible inspiration: Joseph Bruno.) Almost all gifts are off the table, so to speak. And former state employees can’t lobby their former colleagues for two years after leaving the office. 2. State workers can’t contribute to gubernatorial campaigns or their PACs or appear in ads for state-funded initiatives. (Probable inspiration for the latter: George Pataki.) 3. All state agencies and boards must gear up to start broadcasting their sessions over the Internet. Yesss! (Think of the YouTube-able blooper potential.) 4. Judicial screening committees are established for a number of vacant judgeships. 5. And finally, continuity: This order, which was called “ministerial,” simply prolongs the shelf life of some existing orders from Cuomo and Pataki. So, you know, not everything changes. (In other, somewhat related news, the New York State minimum wage rose yesterday to $7.15 per hour, and the so-called marriage penalty was eliminated on state income taxes.) Spitzer Is Sworn and Begins Push on Ethics Rules [NYT]
  22. intel
    Lawyers’ Group Seeks Inquiry Into Brooklyn’s Anti-Immigrant Author-JudgeWhen we saw yesterday that Brooklyn judge John Wilson wrote a children’s book, Hot House Flowers, that reads as a not-so subtle dis on immigrants — “dandelions,” in his telling, barge into a happy hothouse and proceed to spawn legions of weedlike children who take up all the soil and drink all the water — we thought, Well, that’s not going to sell in New York, like, at all. But poor sales may be the least of “Border in the Court” Wilson’s problems. The Legal Aid Society of New York just told its staff that it is requesting an inquiry by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct into whether His Honor can be trusted to rule impartially in cases involving immigrants. Perhaps Wilson will soon have more time to tend his own garden? — Jon Steinberg Judge Is in Immig Groups’ Bad Books [NYDN]
  23. in other news
    MetLife Stuy Town Deal Tripped Up by 50-Year-Old Fine Print? There’s a major plot twist in the story of Stuyvesant Town’s impending $5.4 billion sale, potentially the largest real-estate deal in history. As any good plot twist should, it begins with a lawyer, alone in a library after hours, poring over a dusty folio (or so we’d like to think). He’s representing the megacomplex’s tenants (who lost their own bid for the place to Tishman Speyer), and he has unearthed an obscure provision in the 1942 agreement between the city and MetLife, Stuy Town’s owner. Under its terms, MetLife would get a 25-year tax break in exchange for a promise: The insurance company would keep rents low and, crucially, it would cap its annual profit at six percent. The tenants’ lawyer has thus concluded that, should MetLife go on with the sale, it must either dissolve its subsidiary named in the agreement or fork over all excess profit to the city (yeah, right). MetLife, meantime, is of course shrugging this off as “a last-minute, desperate attempt to interfere.” Tishman Speyer is staying out of the mess altogether. And the ball is now in the city comptroller’s court, where the discovery may actually get some traction. Consider Comptroller William Thompson’s original statement when the sale was announced: “I am deeply disappointed that Metropolitan Life rushed to sign a deal without giving serious consideration to the offer submitted by the residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.” Is this his chance to remedy that disappointment? MetLife Real Estate Deal Could Be Derailed [Crain’s] Thompson Statement, 10/17/06 [NYC.gov]
  24. the morning line
    Small Victories • Holy crap, could this be …? It is! There is actual construction afoot at ground zero — and on the Freedom Tower, no less. The steel cage defines the areas where elevators and stairwells will go; the pouring of concrete starts tomorrow. And if we’d seen this, oh, let’s see, four and a half years ago, we’d probably burst with pride. [NYT] • In case you want to relive the glory of last Tuesday: A Democratic congressional candidate in Connecticut WON! WON! WON! the recount against his GOP opponent, a three-term incumbent. “Landslide Joe” (hey, he nicknamed himself) Courtney’s sweeping mandate is now officially based on a 91-vote advantage. [NYT] • NYC’s Board of Health might take things slower with the trans-fat ban. It may also give it a form other than a piece of City Council legislation, lest the city be hit with a ton of lawsuits. McDonald’s, by the way, says it will totally comply (even as it’s hiring new high-profile lawyers). [Crain’s] • A fired media executive is in deep trouble for being a good Samaritan, of sorts. Stevan Hoffacker was allegedly monitoring the company’s e-mail traffic from his home PC in Queens and sending colleagues heads-up messages if they were about to get canned as well. The bosses at SourceMedia must have been puzzled by all the prescient “You can’t fire me, I quit” storm-offs. [NYDN] • And alleged phone-thrower Naomi Campbell is looking for a plea deal but won’t take anything that will require her to do cleanup duty (the court-mandated humiliation du jour for errant celebrities). “It’s not that she’s squeamish,” her lawyer is quoted saying — and trailing off directly afterward. [NYP]
  25. gossipmonger
    It’s Not Easy Being a PatakiBreaking: Tinsley Mortimer shops for her own groceries! Kevin Federline is broke, steals food and booze from a restaurant. Emily Pataki failed the bar exam. How Kennedyesque. Former Tom Cruise sparring partner Brooke Shields is going to his wedding, perhaps as a publicity stunt. Nicole Kidman probably isn’t pregnant, Ivanka Trump maybe had a boob job, but Tom DeLay definitely nominated about-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as Time’s Person of the Year. Dave Chappelle bowed out of a gig for HBO, and HBO isn’t happy. Axl Rose brought some strippers to Soho House. Borat’s cultural learnings may soon be available in a Barnes & Noble near you. (Meantime, he’d do well to avoid getting into a fight with fellow Kazakh Wladimir Klitschko.) Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at a London concert; the crowd liked him. George Gershwin and Ed Bradley were honored at Lincoln Center, where it is discovered that Mr. Gershwin used to be quite the ladies’ man. Liza Minnelli played a $1 million bat mitzvah pro bono. A former America’s Next Top Model winner ditched Tyra Banks as her manager, changed her last name. Angelina Jolie was going to adopt an Indian kid, but Madonna scared her off.
  26. in other news
    Peter Braunstein Is Now At Least 50 Percent More NutsIt’s time to check back with our favorite former Women’s Wear Daily writer, Peter Braunstein. New accusations suggest that the serial harasser — currently awaiting trial for entering a colleague’s apartment in firefighter’s uniform, chloroforming and sexually assaulting her for over twelve hours — is even more serial than previously thought. The Daily News reports that the prosecutors have submitted a motion to bring “prior bad acts” into the jury trial. What are these bad acts? Bad indeed. According to the D.A.’s office: • Braunstein “tormented” at least three other women, all of whom worked in the fashion industry and spurned his advances in one way or another, with threatening phone calls and e-mails. • Even while on the run, he found time to call and harass an ex-girlfriend, telling her “If you testify … you will die.” For an extra dose of crazy, consider the fact that Peter left that message with her assistant. • On the lam, Braunstein found the darnedest ways to support himself. In one instance, in Cincinnati, he pretended to be (more?) mentally ill — ever the dutiful reporter, he noted in his diary that he was going for “really neurotic verging on manic-depressive psychotic” — to gain access to a psychiatrist’s office. Once there, he slapped plastic cuffs on the M.D. and took his wallet, netting $200. When the loot ran out, he repeated the procedure on another man. It may come as a shock to learn Braunstein’s attorneys are planning to make full use of the insanity defense. Halloween Fiend’s Twisted Anger [NYDN] Sex and the City: The Horror Movie [NYM]
  27. in other news
    Nazis, ‘Cats’ Conspire Against Mendelssohn, PicassoLet’s say your parents force you to give away your puppy. A month later, you walk past a pet store and see Fido — and he’s unmistakably yours — in the window, for sale. It’s not a good feeling, and, ultimately, there’s not much you can do. Julius H. Schoeps is experiencing something similar, except his puppy is a Picasso. As auction season gets started, a Manhattan judge yesterday dismissed a suit in which Schoeps tried to stop Christie’s from selling The Absinthe Drinker; he says his great-uncle was forced to sell the work under duress because of Nazi persecution. The claim didn’t fly, Christie’s wanted to know why the heir waited 70 years to speak up, and the judge ultimately tossed the lawsuit on a technicality. The painting will be auctioned today, and it’s projected to fetch between $40 and $60 million. But what makes this all much more interesting is the cast of characters. The painting’s current owner is Andrew Lloyd Webber, who bought it through his charitable foundation in 1995. And Schoeps is a descendant of Felix Mendelssohn. So not only are judges, painters, and Nazis involved, but the whole business also has the strange auxiliary whiff of a Broadway tunesmith thumbing his nose at the phantom of a classical composer. It’s enough to put anyone in a blue period. Judge Refuses to Halt Auction of a Picasso [NYT] Houses on Fire [NYM]
  28. the morning line
    End of the Race • As you probably know by now, Brazil’s Gomes dos Santos won the men’s side of the New York marathon yesterday in a massive upset; Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia defended her women’s title. Lance Armstrong came in 856th. And, in a rare moment when the cliché actually makes sense, a good time was had by all. (Yuk yuk yuk.) [AP via NYDN] • The Post, classy as ever, Photoshops a noose on Saddam’s neck, as Republicans furiously milk the dictator’s curiously well-timed death sentence for last-minute gains. [NYP] • Jury selection begins in one of the weirdest murder trials in recent history: A one-legged Long Island man shot an arrow at a stranger he found threatening, piercing his heart and killing him. The alleged bow killer, although caught on the run, is pleading not guilty. [amNY] • The Intrepid sails off! The museum ship — as familiar a fixture on the West Side as the Lincoln Tunnel, at least for the last few decades — is heading to Bayonne, New Jersey, for repairs. Eighty-eight-year-old Rear Admiral Lloyd Abbot Jr., who commanded it more than 40 years ago, will serve as skipper for the short journey. [WNBC] • And Jeanine Pirro gets a late endorsement for attorney general where it counts: from the New York City Department of Correction Columbia Association (an organization of Italian-American prison workers). We don’t even know which joke to go with here. [Empire Newswire]
  29. Even With Big Circ, ‘Post’ Gets SuedPlaintiff: Christopher Capanelli Defendants: NYP Holdings, doing business as New York Post; K. Rupert Murdoch; Joseph Vincent; Lloyd Vasquez Accusation: It’s a lovefest at the New York Post this week, but, as always happens, someone is trying to ruin the party. In a lawsuit filed October 25 in Bronx Supreme Court, Rupert Murdoch and his Posties are accused of launching an aggressive campaign of intimidation to squeeze out the Pressman’s Union.
  30. today in astor-ia
    Brooke Astor’s Kid Gets Ready to RuuuumbleDid you think the Astor family saga was finally effectively over? Us too. In fact, we were thinking about retiring that Today in Astor-ia tag and launching into a full-on obsession with the Aokis. But not so fast, it turns out. Earlier this month, Brooke Astor’s son and heir Anthony Marshall, along with his wife Charlene, reluctantly agreed to give up running Brooke’s affairs and return about $1.3 million in disputed money. That seemed to be the end of them, for a while. But now they’re back, distributing morbid hints that they’ll be around for good, and soon. “There will be a battle royal when Brooke Astor dies,” Charlene informs the new Vanity Fair. The whistle-blowing grandson, Philip, notes dryly that now that Brooke is out of Marshalls’ care, her death is not quite as imminent as it was. Still, the Loathsome Couple appears content to lie in wait, expecting to receive everything they gave up (and more) when the will is read. Of course, speaking of the will, a big juicy part of the scandal is an investigation into whether someone had altered it and/or forged Brooke Astor’s signature on one of its provisions. In short, it ain’t over till it’s over — and not even then. Astor Kin Ready to Rumble [NYDN]
  31. What a Drag It Is Getting Old: Mick Jagger Sued Over Alleged Sore ThroatPlaintiffs:Rosalee Margolis Druyan, individually and as a class representative of ticket purchasers Defendants: Mick Jagger; the Rolling Stones; Ticketmaster; Live Nation; “John Doe” Promoter Accusation: Pissed off Rolling Stones fans are fighting mad and fighting back against Mick Jagger, the Stones, and Ticketmaster after a much-ballyhooed October 27 concert in Atlantic City was canceled. They don’t buy Mick’s sore-throat-and-doc-won’t-let-me-perform excuse — and they want more than $50 million for their troubles.
  32. Lawyer’s Delight Plaintiffs: Michael Wright, professionally known as Wonder Mike; Guy O’Brien, p/k/a Master G; collectively p/k/a The Sugarhill Gang Defendants: Rhino Entertainment Co.; The Sanctuary Group; Sugar Hill Music Publishing Ltd.; Joseph Robinson Jr. Accusation: Wonder Mike and Master G, two of three original members of Sugarhill Gang, say the son of the couple who signed them back in 1979 stole their names through fraudulent trademark applications and has put together a replacement band that performs — well, lip-syncs — Sugarhill’s songs. In a lawsuit filed Oct. 20 in a Manhattan federal court, Wright and O’Brien also say the poseur is laying claim to their royalties, and that they haven’t been paid for at least fifteen years on any of their recordings.
  33. it just happened
    New Jersey Okays Gay Marriage New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled today that gay and lesbian couples in the state must be afforded “the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes.” That could mean same-sex marriage, or it could mean Vermont-style civil unions, and the Court gave the state legislature 180 days to decide which. Only three months ago, New York’s highest court punted in a similar case, refusing to give similar instructions to our legislature. We checked in with Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, to ask whether it’s time for New York’s gays — well, more of New York’s gays — to start house-hunting in Montclair. So who’d have thought that side of the Hudson would go first? I haven’t read the decision in full yet, but it’s not just New Jersey going in the right direction. Every state that borders New York, with the exception of Pennsylvania, has passed a comprehensive regulation or law that protects gay and lesbian couples. New Jersey will soon have probably marriage, Connecticut and Vermont have civil unions, Massachusetts has marriage, and Quebec and Ontario have marriage. We’re surrounded by jurisdictions that understand that gay and lesbian couples need protections, and we’re alone.
  34. intel
    Parking-Court ConfessionsHaskell Nussbaum is a former New York City parking-violations judge, and he just wrote a book called Beat That Parking Ticket, on how to, well, beat a parking ticket. Problem is, Nussbaum’s treatise doesn’t come out till the end of November — and you forgot to move your car this morning. Daily Intel to the rescue! We spoke to the judge yesterday, and he gave some time-honored tips for finagling your way out of a summons. We just happen to have a ticket right here for an expired meter. Any advice? Have you looked at it to make sure everything is filled in correctly, like the license plate, location, stuff like that? Those are technicalities that often work. Looking now, and it’s fine. Next? Well, if you almost made the meter, the best defense is to question whether it was operational — because it could have been fast. Meters break down so often, and almost every meter in the city has an administrative repair history that’s several screens long.
  35. early and often
    See Dick Get Steamrolled Oh, poor Dick Grasso. Now he’ll have to retire from the New York Stock Exchange with a mere $39.5 million parting gift, after a state-court ruling took $100 million from his retirement package and negged the idea that he was owed another $95 million for wrongful termination. More than anything else, this is very bad news for Grasso, who now might be forced to live out his golden years subsisting on cat food and boiled ears of corn. (Sorry; we saw the new Grey Gardens musical the other night, and we’ve since been sort of haunted by that diet. And by the fleas. Yuck.) It is, however, very good news for someone else: your next governor, Eliot Spitzer. On Early and Often, Jon Dolan explains. Grasso Verdict Nice But Not Necessary for Spitzer [Early and Often]
  36. in other news
    Peter Braunstein: Crazy, Yes. But, Insane? In a move that shocks exactly no one, Peter Braunstein’s lawyer has declared his client crazy. The lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, filed papers yesterday stating that Braunstein “lacked criminal responsibility by reason of mental disease or defect,” according to today’s Post article. Braunstein is charged with kidnapping, burglary, robbery, and sexual abuse for tricking a former co-worker into letting him into her Chelsea apartment on Halloween, then chloroforming her and sexually assaulting her for hours. But here’s the thing: Just because someone seems nuts doesn’t mean he’s legally insane. So we called bigshot defense attorney Ed Hayes — his clients range from the Mafia cops to Richard Johnson — for some perspective. Does he think this gambit will work?
  37. in other news
    Fun With Local Papers’ Headlines: ‘One of These Things Is Not Like the Others’ Edition Old-lefty defense attorney Lynne Stewart was sentenced yesterday to 28 months in prison for smuggling messages out of prison for her convicted terrorist client, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. The government had requested a 30-year sentence. Here are five local papers’ headlines on today’s story: “Stewart Gets 28 Months on Terror Charge” “Terror Lawyer Off Light” “Lawyer, Facing 30 Years, Gets 28 Months, to Dismay of U.S.” “Civil Rights Lawyer Gets 28 Months in Prison” “Wrist Slap for Smirk Jerk Terror Attorney” So, can you guess which one is the Post’s? Earlier: Lynne Stewart Sentence Begins; Chaos Ensues
  38. intel
    Lynne Stewart Sentencing Begins; Chaos Ensues Chaos erupted on the twelfth floor of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in lower Manhattan this morning when Lynne Stewart, the left-wing criminal-defense lawyer convicted of materially aiding terrorism last year, appeared for sentencing before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl a bit after nine. “Free Lynne! Free Lynne!” shouted at least 100 of her supporters massed outside the courtroom, some of them raising their fists in a Black Power salute, others singing from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” They had gathered earlier for a rally in Foley Square to support Stewart’s efforts to be spared prison, perhaps with a sentence of home confinement. She has undergone radiation therapy for breast cancer.
  39. today in astor-ia
    A Grand, Astorian Finale?Is there a settlement afoot in the convoluted real-life telenovela starring Brooke Astor, her son, his son, Annette de la Renta, Henry Kissinger, J.P. Morgan Chase, a laid-off butler in Maine, and a chorus of lawyers? Perhaps yes. There’s a hearing this afternoon, and the parties are expected to submit a settlement agreement, eliminating the need for a trial, which was set to start next week, according to the Times. Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, will step down from running her business and personal affairs, and two guardians will take over, according to the report. (This is, keep in mind, exactly what her grandson, Philip Marshall, had requested when he started the whole messiness.) And why is Anthony suddenly agreeing to this? Because Chase will agree not to sue him for the millions of dollars he may (or may not!) have skimmed from his mom. And everyone will live happily ever after — not least the rest of us, who got to learn all about Maine estates, Childe Hassam paintings, and urine-soaked couches. Yay, voyeuristic thrills! Settlement Expected In Dispute Over Astor Matriarch [NYT] The Family Astor [NYM]
  40. in other news
    City Loses 800 Lawyers; Sky Brightens and Birds SingReady your rim shots. Today’s Post reports that more than 800 lawyers were suspended yesterday for failure to pay their $350 biennial registration fees. A state appellate court ruled that the delinquent legal eagles had been offered plenty of opportunities to pay up, considering notices were sent to their homes and offices and posted on an official court Website; unless restitution is made, the suspensions will take effect in 30 days. Among the unlicensed litigators are corporate lawyers from such white-shoe firms as Skadden and Davis Polk; in-house counsels from Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, MasterCard, Chase Manhattan, and AT&T; and attorneys for the Justice Department, the state Attorney General’s Office, the SEC, and the city Law Department. And it gets worse: The notices only went to attorneys whose last names begin with A through D. Extrapolating, that means some 5,000 lawyers — nearly a quarter of the New York City Bar Association’s 22,000 members — will be discredited by alphabet’s end. And what do you call that? As the old joke goes, a start. — Melena Ryzik Cheap Legal Eagles [NYP]