Thứ Sáu, 29 tháng 1, 2010
Art and Dance at the Falls
If you are near the southeastern part of New Hampshire on February 4 from 6 to 9 pm, make sure you check out First Thursday at the Falls, a vibrant collection of the arts to make you dance and stir your soul. See them at firstthursdayatthefalls.com or by going to Rollinsford, NH at the Lower Mill at Salmon Falls and on Front Street.
Thứ Năm, 28 tháng 1, 2010
Carolyn Lamm To Defrauded Law Students: "Drop Dead And Go Eat Cake!"
Looks like Queen Lamm of the ABA is merely going to "look into" the blatantly fraudulent self-reported employment statistics and the sleazy shenanigans of the subprime banking/educator operators.
"Finally, with respect to your specific question about requiring changes in the way schools report salary and employment information on their recent graduates, the Section is in fact looking at ways it might revise its annual questionnaire to law schools to elicit additional information. While there is no evidence that we have seen that schools are inaccurate in their reports, we may not be asking all the right questions, and that is under review. But we also encourage prospective students to consider carefully their decision to attend law school, their choices of schools and how they finance legal education. We are concerned about student debt and the burden it places on graduates. But we do not equate that concern with limiting entry into the profession. As I said in my letter, we believe it is important that the legal profession be open to entry from all elements of society. The law is not and should not be a closed club."
http://abovethelaw.com/2010/01/aba_defends_itself_and_the_nee.php?show=comments#comments
Thứ Tư, 27 tháng 1, 2010
Report Of Man With Gun In Northwestern Law Building
A Chicago TV station has spoken with a law student inside the building, who said that about 50 students were inside for a first-year lecture when reports came in of an armed man spotted in an elevator on the building's 11th floor. The man appeared to be carrying a gun in his waistband, the story says.
That's pretty much all the news out there for now. Northwestern officials have told everyone in the building to lock themselves in their offices, and the student who communicated with media via his cell phone reported that people are laying low and staying away from doors and windows. The student said people were "calm" despite the situation.
That's pretty much all the news out there for now. Northwestern officials have told everyone in the building to lock themselves in their offices, and the student who communicated with media via his cell phone reported that people are laying low and staying away from doors and windows. The student said people were "calm" despite the situation.
Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 1, 2010
Law School Fraud - Georgetown Gaming the US News Rankings
"Well here's one way to boost your postgrad employment stats, I guess - presumably the fact that the university is funding these jobs itself doesn't count against them in the US News Rankings...
-----Original Message-----
From: Sophia Sim
Sent: Mon 1/25/2010 4:42 PM
Subject: short term alum position in Admissions
Dear All,
I hope things are going well with you. I'm contacting you to see if you are interested in a few newly created positions here in Admissions. We are looking for 3 recent alums to help us with the scholarship process from start to finish-this will involve responding to requests, reviewing several hundred applications, interviewing finalists and meeting with prospective students. This is a new hugely expanding area for us, and, frankly, we've been inundated with requests this year.
These full-time positions will begin 2/1, a week from today, and end around 3/12. The pay is $20/hour. If you are interested, please send me your resume as soon as possible at sims@law.georgetown.edu.
Incidentally, we received your name from OCS that you are still seeking employment-if this is incorrect, please let me know so that I can update their records.
Warm Regards,
Sophia"
-----Original Message-----
From: Sophia Sim
Sent: Mon 1/25/2010 4:42 PM
Subject: short term alum position in Admissions
Dear All,
I hope things are going well with you. I'm contacting you to see if you are interested in a few newly created positions here in Admissions. We are looking for 3 recent alums to help us with the scholarship process from start to finish-this will involve responding to requests, reviewing several hundred applications, interviewing finalists and meeting with prospective students. This is a new hugely expanding area for us, and, frankly, we've been inundated with requests this year.
These full-time positions will begin 2/1, a week from today, and end around 3/12. The pay is $20/hour. If you are interested, please send me your resume as soon as possible at sims@law.georgetown.edu.
Incidentally, we received your name from OCS that you are still seeking employment-if this is incorrect, please let me know so that I can update their records.
Warm Regards,
Sophia"
Melendez-Diaz Lives. Now Seek to Have it Applied
As we have previously written, in 2004, the United States Supreme Court, in Crawford v. Washington (541 U.S. 36 [2004]), overruled its prior holding in Ohio v Roberts ( 41 U.S. 36 [2004]) that reliability of hearsay evidence is the test for admissibility, and held that “Where testimonial evidence is at issue, however, the Sixth Amendment demands what the common law required: unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination…. [T]he only indicium of reliability sufficient to satisfy constitutional demands is the one the Constitution actually prescribes: confrontation.”
Despite that holding, the New York Court of Appeals has continued to consider the issue of reliability in determining whether evidence was testimonial and subject to confrontation. For example, the Court in People v Rawlins and People v Meekins (10 N.Y.3d 136 [2/19/2008]), considered how Crawford applies two categories of evidence: DNA reports and , fingerprints, comparisons. In Meekins the Court held that DNA profiles, as opposed to DNA comparisons, are not testimonial. The Court explained
the testing and procedures employed in this case were "neither discretionary nor based on opinion" nor did they concern the exercise of fallible human judgment over questions of cause and effect. This is not to say that errors could not have been made in the testing procedure itself. But those errors, if any, are not the product of "testimony" as we understand that term. Because the Gene Screen technicians only contemporaneously...Further, it is of no moment that the Gene Screen technicians knew or had every reason to know (because they were working on a rape kit) that their findings could generate results that could later be used at trial, nor that Gene Screen was performing work for law enforcement. Neither the prosecution nor law enforcement could have influenced the outcome; the government's involvement is inconsequential. Finally, the documents prepared by the Gene Screen technicians were not directly accusatory; none of them compared the DNA profile they generated to defendant's.
That decision appears to be inconsistent with that rendered a few months later by the United States Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts (129 S.Ct. 2527 [June 25, 2009]), in which the Court held that, under the Sixth Amendment, as interpreted in Crawford the Confrontation Clause requires that the expert who prepared a scientific report must be produced at trial so that the defendant has the opportunity to cross-examine the expert. The test for testimonial in Melendez-Diaz was that the statements were made “under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial.”
Despite this inconsistency between the New York holding and that of the Supreme Court, few were aggressively arguing that Meekins was wrongly decided, both because certiorari was denied in Meekins and because the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Briscoe v Virginia where the issue was whether where a state allows a prosecutor to introduce a certificate of a forensic laboratory analysis, without presenting the testimony of the analyst who prepared the certificate, does the state avoid violating the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment by providing that the accused has a right to call the analyst as his own witness.
As discussed previously (here and here)there was concern that the decision in Briscoe would either limit or overturn Melendez-Diaz.
Instead, after oral argument, the Court in Briscoe (559 U. S. ____ (1/25/2010) merely remanded the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion in Melendez-Diaz. Thus, attorneys can now, with confidence, urge that Crawford fully applies to scientific and medical test. Not only should the holding in Meekins be questioned, but also those of the courts in US v Feliz (467 F3d 227 [2d Cir. 2006]) and People v Freycinet (11 NY3d 38 [2008]) limiting the application of Crawford with respect to autopsy reports.
Despite that holding, the New York Court of Appeals has continued to consider the issue of reliability in determining whether evidence was testimonial and subject to confrontation. For example, the Court in People v Rawlins and People v Meekins (10 N.Y.3d 136 [2/19/2008]), considered how Crawford applies two categories of evidence: DNA reports and , fingerprints, comparisons. In Meekins the Court held that DNA profiles, as opposed to DNA comparisons, are not testimonial. The Court explained
the testing and procedures employed in this case were "neither discretionary nor based on opinion" nor did they concern the exercise of fallible human judgment over questions of cause and effect. This is not to say that errors could not have been made in the testing procedure itself. But those errors, if any, are not the product of "testimony" as we understand that term. Because the Gene Screen technicians only contemporaneously...Further, it is of no moment that the Gene Screen technicians knew or had every reason to know (because they were working on a rape kit) that their findings could generate results that could later be used at trial, nor that Gene Screen was performing work for law enforcement. Neither the prosecution nor law enforcement could have influenced the outcome; the government's involvement is inconsequential. Finally, the documents prepared by the Gene Screen technicians were not directly accusatory; none of them compared the DNA profile they generated to defendant's.
That decision appears to be inconsistent with that rendered a few months later by the United States Supreme Court in Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts (129 S.Ct. 2527 [June 25, 2009]), in which the Court held that, under the Sixth Amendment, as interpreted in Crawford the Confrontation Clause requires that the expert who prepared a scientific report must be produced at trial so that the defendant has the opportunity to cross-examine the expert. The test for testimonial in Melendez-Diaz was that the statements were made “under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial.”
Despite this inconsistency between the New York holding and that of the Supreme Court, few were aggressively arguing that Meekins was wrongly decided, both because certiorari was denied in Meekins and because the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Briscoe v Virginia where the issue was whether where a state allows a prosecutor to introduce a certificate of a forensic laboratory analysis, without presenting the testimony of the analyst who prepared the certificate, does the state avoid violating the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment by providing that the accused has a right to call the analyst as his own witness.
As discussed previously (here and here)there was concern that the decision in Briscoe would either limit or overturn Melendez-Diaz.
Instead, after oral argument, the Court in Briscoe (559 U. S. ____ (1/25/2010) merely remanded the case for further proceedings not inconsistent with the opinion in Melendez-Diaz. Thus, attorneys can now, with confidence, urge that Crawford fully applies to scientific and medical test. Not only should the holding in Meekins be questioned, but also those of the courts in US v Feliz (467 F3d 227 [2d Cir. 2006]) and People v Freycinet (11 NY3d 38 [2008]) limiting the application of Crawford with respect to autopsy reports.
Thứ Hai, 25 tháng 1, 2010
Alpha Wives: The Trend and the Truth
Why are more American men marrying women who make more money than they do? Maybe it is the simple fact that more higher-earning women are available. And social norms have changed, with the benefits of such unions supposedly winning out over the perceived blow to the male ego.
After a Pew Research Center study came out last week reporting on the rise of the breadwinning wife, the debate began.
continue
After a Pew Research Center study came out last week reporting on the rise of the breadwinning wife, the debate began.
continue
Antiquities traffickers deal with ancient coins
There is much controversy today about the inclusion of ancient coins under the auspices of laws that protect archaeological objects. Some say the laws should not regulate ancient coins at all. Consider two items in the news, nevertheless, that show how ancient coins are part of the traffickers' loot.
Yahoo! News reported today via the Associate Press that Cypriot authorities rounded up antiquities traffickers in the largest case of its kind in terms of the amount. The traffickers apparently had an undisclosed buyer and planned to move the pieces for %15.5 million (US) dollars--which means the items together were likely worth even more. Among the urns, gold, and other cultural objects were ancient coins.
See news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_cyprus_antiquities_theft
In another unrelated story, ancient coins were discovered when a man was arrested in the United Kingdom. UKPA reported that a "large volume of items of 'considerable antiquity' were seized at a house by officers who executed a search warrant in Barnham, near Chichester, West Sussex. Police said some of the artefacts were suspected of being stolen by "nighthawking" from an undisclosed site in the Chichester area and elsewhere recently. The items found so far include medieval and Roman coins, ivory and silver, and one gold Iron Age coin, brooches, buttons and horse equipment of similar ages."
See www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hNTZxAlDE31CnLZq_488cVR_XO2w
In the same way that drug traffickers deal with quantities of a variety of illegal drugs, antiquities traffickers deal with a variety of looted archaeological objects--including coins.
Yahoo! News reported today via the Associate Press that Cypriot authorities rounded up antiquities traffickers in the largest case of its kind in terms of the amount. The traffickers apparently had an undisclosed buyer and planned to move the pieces for %15.5 million (US) dollars--which means the items together were likely worth even more. Among the urns, gold, and other cultural objects were ancient coins.
See news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100125/ap_on_re_eu/eu_cyprus_antiquities_theft
In another unrelated story, ancient coins were discovered when a man was arrested in the United Kingdom. UKPA reported that a "large volume of items of 'considerable antiquity' were seized at a house by officers who executed a search warrant in Barnham, near Chichester, West Sussex. Police said some of the artefacts were suspected of being stolen by "nighthawking" from an undisclosed site in the Chichester area and elsewhere recently. The items found so far include medieval and Roman coins, ivory and silver, and one gold Iron Age coin, brooches, buttons and horse equipment of similar ages."
See www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hNTZxAlDE31CnLZq_488cVR_XO2w
In the same way that drug traffickers deal with quantities of a variety of illegal drugs, antiquities traffickers deal with a variety of looted archaeological objects--including coins.
NJ Shitlaw Wants your Wheels!
Check out this strange 30 K a year shitlaw ad from North NJ cragislist:
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/lgl/1569177492.html
I like how one "must never say "no" to where they are sent or why?" and also send him a photo or the make/model of your car. Things are getting mighty strange out there in shitlaw land as the desperation and saturation reach epic levels and the toilet schools keep cranking out JD's. Remember, it's less than 4 months until the class of 2010 get those precious sheepskins!
By the way, the pay works out to $14.25 an hour if you assume a 40 hour week. Where do we sign up!
L4L
Pro Bono Scam
As tuition skyrockets and law school diploma mills continue to blossom across the nation, American Bar Association President Carolyn Lamm has urged the organization and law firms to "think creatively" about how they might lead efforts to develop ways to employ lawyers hit by job cuts. Actually regulating the scam schools and the bogus post-graduate career statistics, and actually doing something about the endless supply of jobless graduates being pumped out into the job market is clearly off the table. The bloated law school administrators that sit on the ABA regulating committees will have none of it.
The ABA and the legal establishment have attempted to foster an illusion of an imaginary, nonexistent demand. The solo scam cheerleaders (most notably, Susan Cartier Liebel) are always trying to convince naive law graduates that there is some great untapped need for lower income legal services. She says this despite the fact that legal service organizations are inundated with the resumes of the thousands of unemployed lawyer grads who are willing to work for free. Even deferred associates and those short on hours are in a mad competition to "help the poor" and look busy.
It comes as no surprise then when I came across the following article published last weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle. Looks like Pillsbury Winthrop's pro-bono program has the city in quite an uproar. In a city with no shortage of homeless, the firm has been accused of using scorched-earth tactics to fight for the right of some scumbag to litter the city with 11 abandoned vehicles. On top of the litter and declining property values, the taxpayers have had to spend $71,320 to defend this matter. City residents have been pleading with the law firm to stop assisting with this vexatious litigation. "This guy is out of control," said local resident Ken Stewart. "It's unbelievable. We need some help on this." Perhaps, next time I head out that way, I could get this guy to park one of his vehicles on Carolyn Lamm's front lawn.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/23/BAA11BM6RJ.DTL
TTT
The ABA and the legal establishment have attempted to foster an illusion of an imaginary, nonexistent demand. The solo scam cheerleaders (most notably, Susan Cartier Liebel) are always trying to convince naive law graduates that there is some great untapped need for lower income legal services. She says this despite the fact that legal service organizations are inundated with the resumes of the thousands of unemployed lawyer grads who are willing to work for free. Even deferred associates and those short on hours are in a mad competition to "help the poor" and look busy.
It comes as no surprise then when I came across the following article published last weekend in the San Francisco Chronicle. Looks like Pillsbury Winthrop's pro-bono program has the city in quite an uproar. In a city with no shortage of homeless, the firm has been accused of using scorched-earth tactics to fight for the right of some scumbag to litter the city with 11 abandoned vehicles. On top of the litter and declining property values, the taxpayers have had to spend $71,320 to defend this matter. City residents have been pleading with the law firm to stop assisting with this vexatious litigation. "This guy is out of control," said local resident Ken Stewart. "It's unbelievable. We need some help on this." Perhaps, next time I head out that way, I could get this guy to park one of his vehicles on Carolyn Lamm's front lawn.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/23/BAA11BM6RJ.DTL
TTT
Thứ Bảy, 23 tháng 1, 2010
She Works. They’re Happy.
EVER since Betty Friedan urged women to leave the house and pursue careers, people have argued over whether women’s marriages and romantic prospects would suffer for it. Was a financially successful woman a threat to her husband or a relief?
Last week, a report from the Pew Research Center about what it called “the rise of wives” revived the debate. Based on a study of Census data, Pew found that in nearly a third of marriages, the wife is better educated than her husband. And though men, over all, still earn more than women, wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, up from 7 percent in 1970.
continue
Last week, a report from the Pew Research Center about what it called “the rise of wives” revived the debate. Based on a study of Census data, Pew found that in nearly a third of marriages, the wife is better educated than her husband. And though men, over all, still earn more than women, wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, up from 7 percent in 1970.
continue
Old Masters Week at Sotheby's NY
Old Masters Week is currently going on at Sotheby's in New York. You can see the events going on at
http://www.sothebys.com/minisite/omp/2010/newyork/winter/event.html
http://www.sothebys.com/minisite/omp/2010/newyork/winter/event.html
Thứ Sáu, 22 tháng 1, 2010
FREE ESTATE PLANNING SEMINAR at JCH of BENSONHURST
The Law Offices of Inna Fershteyn and McLain Accounting Services are proud to present Business and Estate Planning Seminar that will take place at JCH of Bensonhurst on February 9, 2010 at 7 p.m. at 7802 Bay Pkwy, Brooklyn, NY 11214.
Inna Fershteyn, a leading attorney in Trust and Estate Planning field will answer your questions regarding Trust and Estate Law, Business Continuation Planning, Asset Protection, Medicaid Planning, Wills and Trusts.
To register, call Law Office of Inna Fershteyn at (718) 333-2394.
For more information, please visit our website
www.advanced-legal.com
Inna Fershteyn, a leading attorney in Trust and Estate Planning field will answer your questions regarding Trust and Estate Law, Business Continuation Planning, Asset Protection, Medicaid Planning, Wills and Trusts.
To register, call Law Office of Inna Fershteyn at (718) 333-2394.
For more information, please visit our website
www.advanced-legal.com
Sad Note
"L4L,
Just wanted you to know that I heard a sad rumor that a contract attorney passed away on the downtown NYC Juristaff gig. I am not aware of what caused the death at this point, but was told that for whatever reason he wasn't able to seek out medical attention soon enough. At this time, I have no information as to the identity of this individual. I will keep you posted if I learn anything else."
Just wanted you to know that I heard a sad rumor that a contract attorney passed away on the downtown NYC Juristaff gig. I am not aware of what caused the death at this point, but was told that for whatever reason he wasn't able to seek out medical attention soon enough. At this time, I have no information as to the identity of this individual. I will keep you posted if I learn anything else."
Defense is an Offensive Game
January in Ithaca, NY can be brutally cold. This season though has been mild so far. It is funny to think that 30s and low 40s can feel downright warm but compared to sub zero days... it is!
A few weeks ago I was waiting for my wife's car to be serviced at a Syracuse dealership. In the reception area I struck up a conversation about Ithaca with another customer, and that lead to the "so what do you do?" question. When I said, "I am a DWI defense lawyer" eyes were raised from magazines, and off the TV set directly to me. One woman then proceeded to tell me about her brain damaged son and the drunk driver that hurt him. I thought, oh boy! here it comes. She asked me how I lived with myself? My practicing criminal defense and especially DWI defense OFFENDED her. She said, "Those" people don't deserve to be defended. She asked me why didn't I practice public interest law? Was I only interested in making money? She then launched into a personal attack without even knowing me. I did not sit complacent, I explained my role, my passion for justice, my belief in the Constitution, and my respect for the process. I did not apologize for what I do. I am proud to defend the accused. I told her I did condone reckless or irresponsible behavior ie. I am not "for" driving drunk. That would be ridiculous.
Often in the world of law, and attorneys it is best to conduct oneself civilly. I think there is a DWI defense exemption to this general rule. I believe that is why it takes a certain personality to do this type of work well. I am at core a street lawyer. I was born and raised in the gutters of Brooklyn, so to speak. There is nothing Ivy league about me. I am not very cultured. My wife is still teaching me proper etiquette. I am a little rough. Her lifetime project is to civilize me. Yet when it comes time for confrontation guess who she calls? I am her knight. I have no issues with
going face to face or head to head over things I believe in. I am small of stature but my passion for fair, and my heart for justice are large. I hate bullies. At times I think life requires confrontation, and although the large majority of the population does not like controversy, it is necessary. Nothing of value is ever won without a fight. That is so important I want to state it again, Nothing of value is ever won without a fight! The sweetness of victory is directly proportional to the price paid to earn it.
SO some lawyers should not be defense lawyers ... If they want to be liked, if they want to be accepted, if they want to be noble, then they should be another type of lawyer. Defense to most people does not usually imply attacking an opponent but evidence must be attacked. It must be questioned! It must be challenged!
Attack an invalid stop!
Attack an invalid arrest!
Attack the police investigation!
Attack the police observations of driving!
Attack the police observations from personal contact!
Attack the field sobriety tests!
Attack breath testing instruments and their results!
Attack the administration of the tests!
Attack the officer's finding of impairment and/or intoxication!
Yes, that is why I believe that DWI defense is an offensive game.
Thứ Năm, 21 tháng 1, 2010
Dying 13 hrs. too soon cost $3 mil in taxes
By SUSAN EDELMAN
If Fritz Lohman had only known, he would have waited another 13 hours to kick the bucket.
Lohman, 87, a SoHo real-estate magnate who pioneered the exhibition of gay art, died at home at about 11 a.m. on New Year's Eve after a long illness.
If he had instead passed away after midnight Jan.1, his partner of 48 years could have avoided paying at least $3 million in estate taxes -- thanks to Congress letting that levy lapse for 2010.
"He would probably say, 'Why didn't they tell me? I could have waited another day,' " said Charles Leslie, 76, Lohman's business and life partner -- and the sole beneficiary to his $10 million estate. "It's so utterly ludicrous," Leslie said. "You think you've done everything right, taken every precaution, and then by some congressional fiat your life turns upside down."
"What a difference a day makes -- literally," added Leslie's estate lawyer, Erica Bell.
Bell and others are shocked that Congress failed by the end of 2009 to extend the "death tax" in 2010 for the richest Americans. The rate is 45 percent of assets beyond the first $3.5 million.
Under current law, the estate tax is gone for one year, but will be reinstated -- and raised -- in 2011 for beneficiaries of more than $1 million.
"That means, if you have a choice and someone is probably going to die soon, it would be better this year than next," Bell said. "The joke is, 'Throw momma from the train.' "
She added, "This is not good public policy. There's something really wrong with a tax law that suggests when it's good to die."
But that dilemma tormented another New York family whose wealthy mother was terminally ill in December.
"The family could have put her on aggressive, artificial life support, with tubes and medical devices, until January 1, thereby saving $3 million in federal estate taxes," a source said. "The family chose the kinder path -- letting her die naturally and peacefully." She didn't make it to New Year's Day.
Leslie said his tax bills may force him to sell some of the SoHo commercial properties he and Lohman bought years ago, investments that made them a fortune. The debonair Lohman also ran a high-end interior decorating business.
Leslie is stoic about the irony of the timing of Lohman's death.
"You can't second guess things like that. We do not happen to life -- life happens to us."
And the second issue to discuss is “ Medicaid for millionaires” -
The health bills passed in Congress will prohibit states from using "asset tests" to screen people applying for Medicaid -- which critics charge will enable those with yachts and million-dollar properties to get taxpayer-financed medical coverage.
The more lax rules -- which New York put in place on its own Jan. 1 -- require applicants for public health insurance to provide only proof of income, not other assets.
"This is a screening system that is going to be fraught with abuse and fraud. You have no finger imaging, no photo identification card, and now no asset test," said state Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).
Other critics say the new policy will drive up health-care costs.
"It's an abuse of the taxpayers' generosity . . . If somebody has a million dollars of assets, why wouldn't we expect them to use their own assets before they ask their neighbors to pay their health-care bill?" said Dennis Smith, policy adviser with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Paterson and other Democrats claim stricter asset tests unnecessarily impede access.
The changes have made "applying for benefits less onerous for struggling families and local governments," said Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann.
If Fritz Lohman had only known, he would have waited another 13 hours to kick the bucket.
Lohman, 87, a SoHo real-estate magnate who pioneered the exhibition of gay art, died at home at about 11 a.m. on New Year's Eve after a long illness.
If he had instead passed away after midnight Jan.1, his partner of 48 years could have avoided paying at least $3 million in estate taxes -- thanks to Congress letting that levy lapse for 2010.
"He would probably say, 'Why didn't they tell me? I could have waited another day,' " said Charles Leslie, 76, Lohman's business and life partner -- and the sole beneficiary to his $10 million estate. "It's so utterly ludicrous," Leslie said. "You think you've done everything right, taken every precaution, and then by some congressional fiat your life turns upside down."
"What a difference a day makes -- literally," added Leslie's estate lawyer, Erica Bell.
Bell and others are shocked that Congress failed by the end of 2009 to extend the "death tax" in 2010 for the richest Americans. The rate is 45 percent of assets beyond the first $3.5 million.
Under current law, the estate tax is gone for one year, but will be reinstated -- and raised -- in 2011 for beneficiaries of more than $1 million.
"That means, if you have a choice and someone is probably going to die soon, it would be better this year than next," Bell said. "The joke is, 'Throw momma from the train.' "
She added, "This is not good public policy. There's something really wrong with a tax law that suggests when it's good to die."
But that dilemma tormented another New York family whose wealthy mother was terminally ill in December.
"The family could have put her on aggressive, artificial life support, with tubes and medical devices, until January 1, thereby saving $3 million in federal estate taxes," a source said. "The family chose the kinder path -- letting her die naturally and peacefully." She didn't make it to New Year's Day.
Leslie said his tax bills may force him to sell some of the SoHo commercial properties he and Lohman bought years ago, investments that made them a fortune. The debonair Lohman also ran a high-end interior decorating business.
Leslie is stoic about the irony of the timing of Lohman's death.
"You can't second guess things like that. We do not happen to life -- life happens to us."
And the second issue to discuss is “ Medicaid for millionaires” -
The health bills passed in Congress will prohibit states from using "asset tests" to screen people applying for Medicaid -- which critics charge will enable those with yachts and million-dollar properties to get taxpayer-financed medical coverage.
The more lax rules -- which New York put in place on its own Jan. 1 -- require applicants for public health insurance to provide only proof of income, not other assets.
"This is a screening system that is going to be fraught with abuse and fraud. You have no finger imaging, no photo identification card, and now no asset test," said state Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn).
Other critics say the new policy will drive up health-care costs.
"It's an abuse of the taxpayers' generosity . . . If somebody has a million dollars of assets, why wouldn't we expect them to use their own assets before they ask their neighbors to pay their health-care bill?" said Dennis Smith, policy adviser with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
Paterson and other Democrats claim stricter asset tests unnecessarily impede access.
The changes have made "applying for benefits less onerous for struggling families and local governments," said Paterson spokesman Peter Kauffmann.
Поиск выхода
Роман Янушевский
"Вести", приложение "Вести - 2",
30 декабря 2009 г.
Мировое еврейство находится на очередном перекрестке, испытывая кризис идентичности и идеологии. Возможно, это наиболее серьезный вызов, с которым пришлось ему столкнуться за всю его историю. Идет активный поиск выхода из сложившейся ситуации, потому что ассимиляция продолжается во всех странах мира, кроме Израиля. Постсоветское еврейство, раскиданное по всему миру, начинает осознавать свою уникальную роль в этом поиске.
Наиболее уязвимое звено, легче всего подвергающееся ассимиляции – молодежь. Она более открыта для любых новых веяний. Не получив необходимого еврейского образования и не поняв для себя, зачем ей сохранять свое еврейство, любить и защищать Израиль, ей проще всего уйти и заниматься чем-то другим. Современному миру есть что предложить и в плане работы, и в плане общественной самореализации, ну и в плане развлечений.
Read the full story
"Вести", приложение "Вести - 2",
30 декабря 2009 г.
Мировое еврейство находится на очередном перекрестке, испытывая кризис идентичности и идеологии. Возможно, это наиболее серьезный вызов, с которым пришлось ему столкнуться за всю его историю. Идет активный поиск выхода из сложившейся ситуации, потому что ассимиляция продолжается во всех странах мира, кроме Израиля. Постсоветское еврейство, раскиданное по всему миру, начинает осознавать свою уникальную роль в этом поиске.
Наиболее уязвимое звено, легче всего подвергающееся ассимиляции – молодежь. Она более открыта для любых новых веяний. Не получив необходимого еврейского образования и не поняв для себя, зачем ей сохранять свое еврейство, любить и защищать Израиль, ей проще всего уйти и заниматься чем-то другим. Современному миру есть что предложить и в плане работы, и в плане общественной самореализации, ну и в плане развлечений.
Read the full story
More Men Marrying Wealthier Women
Beagy Zielinski is a German-born 28-year-old stylist who moved to New York to study fashion in 1995 and stayed. Just before Christmas, she broke up with her blue-collar boyfriend, who repaired Navy ships.
"He was extremely insecure about my career and how successful I am," Ms. Zielinski said.
An analysis of census data to be released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center found that she and countless women like her are victims of a role reversal that is profoundly affecting the pool of potential marriage partners.
"Men now are increasingly likely to marry wives with more education and income than they have, and the reverse is true for women," said Paul Fucito, spokesman for the Pew Center. "In recent decades, with the rise of well-paid working wives, the economic gains of marriage have been a greater benefit for men."
Read the full story
"He was extremely insecure about my career and how successful I am," Ms. Zielinski said.
An analysis of census data to be released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center found that she and countless women like her are victims of a role reversal that is profoundly affecting the pool of potential marriage partners.
"Men now are increasingly likely to marry wives with more education and income than they have, and the reverse is true for women," said Paul Fucito, spokesman for the Pew Center. "In recent decades, with the rise of well-paid working wives, the economic gains of marriage have been a greater benefit for men."
Read the full story
Пришел, проглядел, проиграл
Молодость - это недостаток. И хотя со временем он проходит, но Америка не успела: Барак Обама стал президентом, а его политическая молодость (вернее, инфантильность) может привести к такому же результату, как у Джона Кеннеди, который тоже был очень обаятелен и улыбчив, до самой смерти считался мальчишкой, своими студенческо-фестивальными повадками убедил Хрущева в том, что он слабак, и Хрущев поволок ракеты на Кубу (теперь уже и Фидель заявляет, что они были ему совсем не нужны).
Инфантильность Кеннеди вылилась в Карибский кризис, и мир только чудом уцелел. Путин же "отцам-иезуитам вполне достойный сын" (Нателла Болтянская), и хватка у него железная. Использовать Барака Обаму, жалующегося на американскую демократию в полутоталитарной Москве, для него плевое дело. К беде неопытность ведет, и не только в пределах Татьяниной девичьей судьбы.
Говорила я американцам: выбирайте Маккейна, старый президент борозды не испортит. Маккейн пожил на свете, сражался с красными, был в плену, умирал, страдал, ненавидел, знает, почем фунт лиха и какая это лживая дешевка - разрядка, когда речь идет о братании с режимами, не признающими западные, то есть общечеловеческие ценности. С одним Гарвардом в багаже в президенты лучше не ходить.
Америка - единственный в мире хранитель западных ценностей, а ее президент - страж. Воин. Не популяризатор, не массовик-затейник. Да и какие американские ценности мог популяризировать Обама, равнодушно прошедший мимо клетки, где томятся Лебедев и Ходорковский, и мимо суда, где пытаются дать срок Андрею Ерофееву и Юрию Самодурову за организацию художественной выставки? Закон о защите свободы такого поведения американского истеблишмента не предусматривает.
Можно, конечно, как Никсон (и не в Уотергейте дело, Бог с ним, с Уотергейтом): обменять на страшный, жестокий, тоталитарный Китай демократический Тайвань, лишив демократию места в ООН и отдав его маоистам. За лишнюю пару кроссовок (хотя их и на Тайване сделать можно), за лишний доллар инвестиций.
По-моему, это худший вид коррупции. Лучше украсть половину госбюджета, чем выбирать Зло, делать союз со Злом содержанием американской политики и уменьшать в мире количество Добра (а потом посылать на борьбу с этим Злом авианосцы и морских пехотинцев). Себе дороже. Что теперь будет с Грузией (крейсер в Батуми зашел, это явно с подачи Конгресса и тамошних республиканцев; слава Богу, это США, и президент там не диктатор) и Ходорковским?
Как это у Толстого в "Царе Федоре Иоанновиче" сказано про перезагрузку отношений Шуйского и Годунова - когда Годунов стал арестовывать (после примирения) сторонников Шуйских? "Вы нашими миритесь головами". И как унизил Обама российских демократов Владимира Рыжкова, Гарри Каспарова и Бориса Немцова! Посадил сторонников американских ценностей, защитников и сторонников США рядом с кремлевскими холуями типа Леонида Гозмана или врагами США (такими, как Сергей Митрохин из "Яблока", коммунистами, "Справедливой Россией")... Борис Немцов напомнил Обаме про то, что в бытность свою сенатором он подписывал вместе с Маккейном резолюцию в защиту Ходорковского. Ах, где же снег былых времен?
Борис Немцов вообще пошел на этот недостойный сходняк в надежде защитить Ходорковского. Увы, Обаме на это наплевать. И на других заключенных тоже. Это вам не Рональд Рейган, назвавший СССР "империей зла". Это вам не Джимми Картер, зачитывавший Конгрессу список советских политзаключенных. Обама приехал "договорчики с большевиками подписывать". И кто сказал, что демократы больше республиканцев радеют за гражданские права и права человека? Демократы Рузвельта сидели дипломатами в Третьем рейхе после оккупации Чехословакии, после Хрустальной ночи, после начала Второй мировой войны. До 1941 года. До Перл-Харбора. Пока американские солдаты не погибли из-за трусости и подлости американских политиков. Зато потом демократу Трумэну пришлось бросать на Хиросиму и Нагасаки атомную бомбу: другого выхода не осталось.
Да, не получилось у Обамы veni, vidi, vici. Он пришел, ничего не увидел и проиграл чекистам этот баскетбол. Это мы, а не Обама защищаем в России вечные американские ценности. Это мы, а не он и не его левые советники готовы отдать за них жизнь. Дай Бог миру и Америке пережить Обаму с его дешевым шоу-бизнесом, на который он разменял вечные идеалы свободы. Надеюсь, американцы увидят, услышат и не простят.
Валерия Новодворская
Инфантильность Кеннеди вылилась в Карибский кризис, и мир только чудом уцелел. Путин же "отцам-иезуитам вполне достойный сын" (Нателла Болтянская), и хватка у него железная. Использовать Барака Обаму, жалующегося на американскую демократию в полутоталитарной Москве, для него плевое дело. К беде неопытность ведет, и не только в пределах Татьяниной девичьей судьбы.
Говорила я американцам: выбирайте Маккейна, старый президент борозды не испортит. Маккейн пожил на свете, сражался с красными, был в плену, умирал, страдал, ненавидел, знает, почем фунт лиха и какая это лживая дешевка - разрядка, когда речь идет о братании с режимами, не признающими западные, то есть общечеловеческие ценности. С одним Гарвардом в багаже в президенты лучше не ходить.
Америка - единственный в мире хранитель западных ценностей, а ее президент - страж. Воин. Не популяризатор, не массовик-затейник. Да и какие американские ценности мог популяризировать Обама, равнодушно прошедший мимо клетки, где томятся Лебедев и Ходорковский, и мимо суда, где пытаются дать срок Андрею Ерофееву и Юрию Самодурову за организацию художественной выставки? Закон о защите свободы такого поведения американского истеблишмента не предусматривает.
Можно, конечно, как Никсон (и не в Уотергейте дело, Бог с ним, с Уотергейтом): обменять на страшный, жестокий, тоталитарный Китай демократический Тайвань, лишив демократию места в ООН и отдав его маоистам. За лишнюю пару кроссовок (хотя их и на Тайване сделать можно), за лишний доллар инвестиций.
По-моему, это худший вид коррупции. Лучше украсть половину госбюджета, чем выбирать Зло, делать союз со Злом содержанием американской политики и уменьшать в мире количество Добра (а потом посылать на борьбу с этим Злом авианосцы и морских пехотинцев). Себе дороже. Что теперь будет с Грузией (крейсер в Батуми зашел, это явно с подачи Конгресса и тамошних республиканцев; слава Богу, это США, и президент там не диктатор) и Ходорковским?
Как это у Толстого в "Царе Федоре Иоанновиче" сказано про перезагрузку отношений Шуйского и Годунова - когда Годунов стал арестовывать (после примирения) сторонников Шуйских? "Вы нашими миритесь головами". И как унизил Обама российских демократов Владимира Рыжкова, Гарри Каспарова и Бориса Немцова! Посадил сторонников американских ценностей, защитников и сторонников США рядом с кремлевскими холуями типа Леонида Гозмана или врагами США (такими, как Сергей Митрохин из "Яблока", коммунистами, "Справедливой Россией")... Борис Немцов напомнил Обаме про то, что в бытность свою сенатором он подписывал вместе с Маккейном резолюцию в защиту Ходорковского. Ах, где же снег былых времен?
Борис Немцов вообще пошел на этот недостойный сходняк в надежде защитить Ходорковского. Увы, Обаме на это наплевать. И на других заключенных тоже. Это вам не Рональд Рейган, назвавший СССР "империей зла". Это вам не Джимми Картер, зачитывавший Конгрессу список советских политзаключенных. Обама приехал "договорчики с большевиками подписывать". И кто сказал, что демократы больше республиканцев радеют за гражданские права и права человека? Демократы Рузвельта сидели дипломатами в Третьем рейхе после оккупации Чехословакии, после Хрустальной ночи, после начала Второй мировой войны. До 1941 года. До Перл-Харбора. Пока американские солдаты не погибли из-за трусости и подлости американских политиков. Зато потом демократу Трумэну пришлось бросать на Хиросиму и Нагасаки атомную бомбу: другого выхода не осталось.
Да, не получилось у Обамы veni, vidi, vici. Он пришел, ничего не увидел и проиграл чекистам этот баскетбол. Это мы, а не Обама защищаем в России вечные американские ценности. Это мы, а не он и не его левые советники готовы отдать за них жизнь. Дай Бог миру и Америке пережить Обаму с его дешевым шоу-бизнесом, на который он разменял вечные идеалы свободы. Надеюсь, американцы увидят, услышат и не простят.
Валерия Новодворская
Incredible story for everyone to see
Dear all, I have to forward this video to all of you - it’s very inspirational. Considering I just visited Yad Vashem in Israel with American Jewish Committee, this hit right at home.
My mom saw this video and decided to show it to all of her 5-8 grade classes at Manhattan Beach Yeshivah… I didn’t show it yet to my kids – I will save it until they get a bit older. However we can all learn from this incredible survival story and realize the value of EACH life that someone saves…
Click here to view the video
My mom saw this video and decided to show it to all of her 5-8 grade classes at Manhattan Beach Yeshivah… I didn’t show it yet to my kids – I will save it until they get a bit older. However we can all learn from this incredible survival story and realize the value of EACH life that someone saves…
Click here to view the video
The Garden State's Rates Deflate!
This just went up an hour ago (1/21/09) on nj craigslist:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/lgl/1564000500.html
"Deflate the rate" comes to New Jersey! BTW, can anyone confirm that Barasso/Deloitte has cut the Westfield sweatshop rate to $25 for the incoming coders? Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse! Lady Barasso must address this immediately and reclaim the mantle of cheapest sweatshop operator in the Garden State from our new pals in Morristown!
This is great news for the Valvoline Dean Pat Hobbs of the infamous Seton Hall Unemployment Center. He's probably working the phones right now and loading Greyhound buses at Newark Penn Station to truck those grads up to Morristown, just in time to mention his "99% employment rate" to our pals at US News!
Do the math: 44 K a year tution at Seton Hall to scrounge for $25 an hour temporary doc review gigs with no health benefits or chance for advancement! Come on down.....
L4L
(By the way, this will likely be my last post as Tom is getting back from vacation soon and taking back the reins. It's been fun, coders! L4L
Fakes on the Market, Looting on the Decline...
MSN posted an insightful piece of interest to collectors, dealers, and archaeologists. It is reported that the production of fakes is easier than looting authentic archaeoligical objects, thereby reducing looting from archaeological sites.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Ebay & Looting
Peruvian archaeology has found an unusual ally in the battle against looting in the internet and websites such as eBay. This is according to Charles Stanish, a UCLA archaeologist, writing in the June 2009 issue of Archaeology. Stanish has excavated for 25 years at fragile archaeological sites in Peru. It was feared that online auction sites would increase looting as the looter could sell directly to the buyer eliminating costly middlemen. In fact, online auction websites have actually helped reduce looting as the average looter or craftsman can now make more money selling cheap fakes online rather than spend weeks digging for the real thing and running the risk of not finding anything. It is less costly to transport a fake and the risk of arrest is removed. Moreover, workshops churning out cheap fakes and replicas can also produce elaborately detailed fakes which can be so authentic even experts are deceived. Locals can use original ancient moulds, often found during excavations but of no real value themselves, to create exact replicas using clay from original sources and local minerals to make paint fordecorating the pottery. The only way to know for sure if a piece is genuine is through thermo-luminescence dating which calculates when the pottery has been fired. But this is expensive for the buyer and many sellers will not offer refunds on pottery that has undergone “destructive” analysis. Ten years ago the ratio of real to fake Peruvian artefacts for sale online was roughly 50:50. It is now thought that only 5% of items are authentic, 30% are fakes and the rest are too difficult to judge from online photographs. This turnaround emphasises how paradoxically online auction sites have helped to combat the trade in illicit antiquities. Also, its not just Peruvian fakes that are flooding the illicit antiquities online market; Chinese, Bulgarian, Egyptian and Mexican workshops are also producing fakes at a frenetic pace.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Ebay & Looting
Peruvian archaeology has found an unusual ally in the battle against looting in the internet and websites such as eBay. This is according to Charles Stanish, a UCLA archaeologist, writing in the June 2009 issue of Archaeology. Stanish has excavated for 25 years at fragile archaeological sites in Peru. It was feared that online auction sites would increase looting as the looter could sell directly to the buyer eliminating costly middlemen. In fact, online auction websites have actually helped reduce looting as the average looter or craftsman can now make more money selling cheap fakes online rather than spend weeks digging for the real thing and running the risk of not finding anything. It is less costly to transport a fake and the risk of arrest is removed. Moreover, workshops churning out cheap fakes and replicas can also produce elaborately detailed fakes which can be so authentic even experts are deceived. Locals can use original ancient moulds, often found during excavations but of no real value themselves, to create exact replicas using clay from original sources and local minerals to make paint fordecorating the pottery. The only way to know for sure if a piece is genuine is through thermo-luminescence dating which calculates when the pottery has been fired. But this is expensive for the buyer and many sellers will not offer refunds on pottery that has undergone “destructive” analysis. Ten years ago the ratio of real to fake Peruvian artefacts for sale online was roughly 50:50. It is now thought that only 5% of items are authentic, 30% are fakes and the rest are too difficult to judge from online photographs. This turnaround emphasises how paradoxically online auction sites have helped to combat the trade in illicit antiquities. Also, its not just Peruvian fakes that are flooding the illicit antiquities online market; Chinese, Bulgarian, Egyptian and Mexican workshops are also producing fakes at a frenetic pace.
Blue Shield Statement on Haiti
The Blue Shield has posted a statement concerning the tragedy in Haiti
Haiti. Blue Shield Statement. 14th January 2010
The Blue Shield expresses its sorrow and solidarity with the population of Haiti for the loss of lives and the destructions caused by the earthquake which occurred on 12th January. Culture is a basic need, and cultural heritage a symbolic necessity that gives meaning to human lives connecting past, present and future. Cultural heritage is a reference full of values helping to restore a sense of normality and enabling people to move forward. Cultural Heritage is fundamental in rebuilding the identity, the dignity and the hope of the communities after a catastrophe. The Blue Shield Mission is “to work to protect the world’s cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict, natural and man‐made disasters”. While it appreciates that the immediate priority is to find the missing, and to help the injured and homeless, it places the expertise and network of its member organisations at the disposal of their Haitian colleagues to support their work in assessing the damage to th
e cultural heritage of their countries including libraries, archives, museums and monuments and sites, and subsequent recovery, restoration and repair measures.
The Blue Shield calls on the international community, responsible authorities and local population to give the fullest possible support to the efforts, official and voluntary, underway to protect/rescue the rich and unique heritage of Haiti. The member organisations of the Blue Shield are currently liaising with Haitian colleagues, to obtain further information on both the situation in the area and on the possible needs and types of help required so as to mobilise our networks accordingly. A more complete report on damages, needs and actions will be published subsequently, to facilitate coordination.
The Blue Shield
The Blue Shield is the protective emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention which is the basic international treaty formulating rules to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts. The Blue Shield network consists of organisations dealing with museums, archives, audiovisual supports, libraries, monuments and sites. The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), founded in 1996, comprises representatives of the five Non‐Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in this field:
- The International Council on Archives (www.ica.org),
- The International Council of Museums (www.icom.museum),
- The International Council on Monuments and Sites (www.icomos.org), and
- The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (www.ifla.org)
- The Co‐ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (www.ccaaa.org)
National Blue Shield Committees have been founded in a number of countries (18 established and 18 under construction). The Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield (ANCBS), founded in December 2008, will coordinate and strengthen international efforts to protect cultural property at risk of destruction in armed conflicts or natural disasters. The ANCBS has its headquarters in The Hague. Contact Information: secretariat.ICBS@blueshield.museum
Haiti. Blue Shield Statement. 14th January 2010
The Blue Shield expresses its sorrow and solidarity with the population of Haiti for the loss of lives and the destructions caused by the earthquake which occurred on 12th January. Culture is a basic need, and cultural heritage a symbolic necessity that gives meaning to human lives connecting past, present and future. Cultural heritage is a reference full of values helping to restore a sense of normality and enabling people to move forward. Cultural Heritage is fundamental in rebuilding the identity, the dignity and the hope of the communities after a catastrophe. The Blue Shield Mission is “to work to protect the world’s cultural heritage threatened by armed conflict, natural and man‐made disasters”. While it appreciates that the immediate priority is to find the missing, and to help the injured and homeless, it places the expertise and network of its member organisations at the disposal of their Haitian colleagues to support their work in assessing the damage to th
e cultural heritage of their countries including libraries, archives, museums and monuments and sites, and subsequent recovery, restoration and repair measures.
The Blue Shield calls on the international community, responsible authorities and local population to give the fullest possible support to the efforts, official and voluntary, underway to protect/rescue the rich and unique heritage of Haiti. The member organisations of the Blue Shield are currently liaising with Haitian colleagues, to obtain further information on both the situation in the area and on the possible needs and types of help required so as to mobilise our networks accordingly. A more complete report on damages, needs and actions will be published subsequently, to facilitate coordination.
The Blue Shield
The Blue Shield is the protective emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention which is the basic international treaty formulating rules to protect cultural heritage during armed conflicts. The Blue Shield network consists of organisations dealing with museums, archives, audiovisual supports, libraries, monuments and sites. The International Committee of the Blue Shield (ICBS), founded in 1996, comprises representatives of the five Non‐Governmental Organisations (NGOs) working in this field:
- The International Council on Archives (www.ica.org),
- The International Council of Museums (www.icom.museum),
- The International Council on Monuments and Sites (www.icomos.org), and
- The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (www.ifla.org)
- The Co‐ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (www.ccaaa.org)
National Blue Shield Committees have been founded in a number of countries (18 established and 18 under construction). The Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield (ANCBS), founded in December 2008, will coordinate and strengthen international efforts to protect cultural property at risk of destruction in armed conflicts or natural disasters. The ANCBS has its headquarters in The Hague. Contact Information: secretariat.ICBS@blueshield.museum
Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 1, 2010
The Lender Collector
NPR has an insightful story on a recent trend: lending an art collection.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122619567
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122619567
Thứ Hai, 18 tháng 1, 2010
Art thief sentenced for stealing works by Chagall and Picasso
Last week a federal district court sentenced Marcus Patmon, 38, to 23 months in prison after he pled guilty to mail fraud, attempted wire fraud, and the interstate transport of stolen goods. See http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100114/NEWS01/1140346/1006/NEWS for details.
Patmon stole a Chagall lithograph and a Picasso etching from Galerie Lareuse in Washington, DC in 2007. He sold them for approximately $63,000. He also stole two other Picasso etchings from Gallery Biba in Palm Beach, FL in 2008. State authorities prosecuted Patmon for the Florida theft.
Patmon stole a Chagall lithograph and a Picasso etching from Galerie Lareuse in Washington, DC in 2007. He sold them for approximately $63,000. He also stole two other Picasso etchings from Gallery Biba in Palm Beach, FL in 2008. State authorities prosecuted Patmon for the Florida theft.
Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 1, 2010
The "Swine" Group Pigs Deflate the Rate!
Our pals at The "Swine Group" aka EP Dine aka "Franken-Dine" aka "EP Slime" are hard at work "deflating the rate" with this new $25 an hour cattle call that needs 100+ bodies:
http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/lgl/1554510102.html
As predicted on this blog months ago, the new waves of recently-admitted lemmings will drive rates to shockingly low levels. We're reached the point where agencies are testing new floors for doc review rates daily, and don't doubt that they'll fill this job w/in hours. Don't be surprised if we see rates fall to the high teens or very low twenties by mid-spring. Remember, the NY Bar 1st Dept has a big admissions ceremony in January, and then in March all the out-of-staters head up to Albany for that swearing-in. The agencies are licking their chops at this new group of desperate, heavily indebted lemmings who will code like crazy and ask for more! We learned a couple days ago that a Hudson job that's happening in NYC right now is paying $27 flat and was filled w/in hours with admitted NY attorneys.
(Another rumor awaiting confirmation is that the infamous Deloitte/Barasso gig in Westfield NJ cut the rate for incoming coders from $29 to $25- can any T the T readers confirm this?)
We certainly hope that all experienced coders boycott this project. At that rate, you might as well drive a truck or wait tables and preserve at least a bit of your pride. Posts like the new Swine project really remove all doubt that we're in an ugly, bumpy race to the bottom out in doc-review land.
*UPDATE: We learned today at Tom the Temp that the $25 an hour Dine project is at Huron Consulting. Another agency, Synergy, is staffing Huron gigs at $33 an hour and have been for some time. Apparently, Dine is simply testing the bottom to see if they can steal a few more bucks from the coders and pad their already fat bottom lines.
L4L
Thứ Sáu, 15 tháng 1, 2010
Ethics Complaints Dismissed
Norwich bankruptcy attorney Zenas ZelotesFriday, January 15, 2010
Attorney Ethics Complaints Dismissed
Ethics Complaints Dismissed In Total Attorneys Case
The Connecticut Law Journal by Douglas S. Malan - January 15, 2010
Grievance complaints were dismissed Friday afternoon against five Connecticut attorneys who have done business with Total Attorneys Inc. of Chicago. A Norwich bankruptcy attorney has grieved 12 attorneys in Connecticut more than 550 attorneys in 47 total states claiming that attorneys participating in the Total Attorneys network are paying for referrals, which is a felony offense in this state. Connecticut-licensed attorneys Matthew Rousseau, Gregg Wagman, Steven Lesko, Kenneth Lenz and Russell Small all have been cleared by the Statewide Grievance Committee. It’s likely that the other seven complaints, including one against Manchester attorney and State Rep. Ryan Barry, will be dismissed similarly, though a time table isn’t evident. The short summary decision offered no insight into the three-person hearing committee’s logic behind the decision. A full-length decision is due in two weeks. Chief Disciplinary Counsel Mark Dubois declined to comment until the full decision is released.
Connecticut was the only state to hold formal hearings on the matter. Those hearings occurred in November. Several other states had decided to take no action on the complaints. For defendants who have been part of a massive ethics complaint that was launched last spring, Friday afternoon offered a lot of peace of mind. “We’re delighted with the decision and hope it ends this particularly difficult piece of legal history,” said Raymond Garcia of Garcia & Milas, who was local counsel for Total Attorneys. Kimberly A. Knox and Brendon P. Levesque from the high-powered Hartford appellate firm Horton, Shields & Knox represented Wagman and Lenz. Levesque said it’s “been a crazy ride.” Levesque added, “We are thrilled that Connecticut has dismissed the grievance complaints. Our position has always been that this is simply lawyer advertising.” The company operates numerous web sites for different practice areas that all work the same way: Attorneys pay $65 to receive leads on potential clients who enter their zip code and other contact information through the web site. There’s no guarantee that the leads will turn into paying clients. Total Attorneys says its business model allows lawyers, who are mainly solo and small firm practitioners, to pool resources and pay for group advertising online.
Posted by Corrupt Courts Administrator at 10:13 PM
Politician-Lawyer Named In Ethics Complaint
By DOUGLAS S. MALAN
LINK
State Rep. Ryan Barry, (pictured above) the co-chair of the legislature’s Banks Committee, is under fire after a local grievance panel found probable cause Friday that Barry engaged in unethical conduct through his Manchester law practice.
The finding does not mean Barry broke any laws or violated any ethics rules, but that his case is ripe for further review.
Barry is one of 12 attorneys in Connecticut who have been swept up by a massive ethics complaint filed against Total Attorneys, a Chicago-based business, over accusations that the company’s business model results in attorneys paying for referrals, which is a felony offense in Connecticut. Grievance officials have found probable cause for ethics violations against 11 of the attorneys.
Attorney Kimberly A. Knox, of Horton, Shields & Knox in Hartford, represents Barry and other Connecticut-licensed attorneys who have done business with Total Attorneys. She said current ethics rules established before the digital age have been wrongly applied to lawyers attempting to grow their business through the Internet.
“The advertising that forms the basis of the probable cause finding is not a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct,” Knox said in a written response to the finding. “The public’s need to know about legal services is fulfilled in part through advertising and the interest in expanding public information about legal services ought to prevail over considerations of tradition.”
Barry deferred to Knox for response to the finding.
Norwich bankruptcy attorney Zenas Zelotes filed the original complaint against Total Attorneys and its affiliated lawyers this spring, naming five attorneys. A supplemental complaint named an additional seven attorneys licensed to practice here.
Zelotes has targeted more than 550 lawyers in 47 states for their business dealings with Total Attorneys. The company operates numerous web sites for different practice areas that all work the same way: Attorneys pay $65 to receive leads on potential clients who enter their zip code and other contact information through the web site.
There’s no guarantee that the leads will turn into paying clients. Total Attorneys says its business model allows lawyers, who are mainly solo and small firm practitioners, to pool resources and pay for group advertising online.
Barry is name partner and founder of Barry & Barall where his general litigation practice includes commercial litigation, employee benefits and criminal law matters.
He entered into a relationship with Total Attorneys in July 2008 and was featured on two web sites -- totaldivorce.com and totalcriminaldefense.com. He terminated those contracts earlier this year after “very little business was generated,” according to Knox.
The panel found probable cause that Barry violated Rule 7.2 of the Rules of Professional Conduct that prohibits giving “anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer’s services.” An exception includes paying the “reasonable cost of advertisements.”
The Statewide Grievance Committee will now set a hearing date.
Knox said Barry had no direct contact with anyone who contacted his firm through the Total Attorneys web sites; Barry’s partner, Maria C. Barall, handled all contacts.
Barry was elected to the state legislature in November 2002 as a Democratic representative for Manchester. In addition to being co-chair of the Banks Committee, he’s also a member of the Finance, Judiciary and Revenue & Bonding committees.
Four states have decided not to pursue Zelotes’ complaints. Connecticut is the only state that has found probable cause for ethics violations.
Last month, a formal hearing was conducted for Matthew Rousseau, a Massachusetts-based bankruptcy attorney who is licensed in Connecticut. His was the only case to be heard by a three-member ethics commission in Hartford. Rousseau’s lawyers moved to dismiss the case.•
Grievance Officials Target Legal Web Site
Connecticut Law Tribune
Monday, November 16, 2009
Copyright 2009, ALM Properties, Inc.
Hearing focuses on whether lawyers pay for referrals
By DOUGLAS S. MALAN
A Connecticut-licensed attorney ensnared by a nationwide ethics complaint moved to dismiss his case last week after a six-and-a-half hour hearing before a three-member ethics commission in Hartford.
The decision on the motion could have an impact on more than 550 lawyers in 47 states who have done or are doing business with Total Attorneys, a Chicago-based company that helps connect consumers to lawyers through web sites such as www.totalbankruptcy.com.
Norwich bankruptcy attorney Zenas Zelotes filed grievances against all of those lawyers, arguing that Total Attorneys’ method of connecting the parties is an example of lawyers paying for referrals, which is a felony in Connecticut and a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
For a $65 fee, attorneys who sign up with Total Attorneys receive leads on potential clients who enter their zip code and other contact information and click for a “free consultation.” The potential client is routed to the fee-paying lawyer who is closest to that zip code, and the lawyer has exclusive rights to all leads in that zip code.
Matthew Rousseau, a Massachusetts-based attorney licensed in Connecticut, is one of 12 lawyers licensed in this state to be named in Zelotes’ complaints. Five of those attorneys have had probable cause found against them.
Rousseau’s case was the only one heard last Thursday because his was the first in which probable cause was found.
Chief Disciplinary Counsel Mark Dubois argued that the Total Attorneys model violates state law and ethics codes because it is recommending a lawyer to people who enter their contact information. “We got in all of the evidence [during the hearing] that we needed to get in,” Dubois said. “The facts are not disputed. It’s just a matter of whether there were rules violations.”
Like Google?
Attorney David Atkins, of Pullman & Comley, represents Rousseau and two other Connecticut lawyers under fire. He moved for dismissal of the case, arguing that the Total Attorneys set-up is not recommending any lawyers but is just pointing people toward attorneys who choose to advertise with the company, similar to Google’s advertisement model.
“The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel cannot establish what it must establish by clear and convincing evidence,” Atkins said, that Total Attorneys is recommending lawyers to the public.
Zelotes said TotalAttorney is not the same as Google. While the search engine is selling advertising, he said, the net effect of the Chicago-based site is to provide direct referrals to lawyers. However, he acknowledged that at last week’s hearing, that he “got a sense from the questioning that the committee may not have [understood] the distinction” between Google’s model and Total Attorneys’ model.
If the motion to dismiss is granted, all of the Connecticut cases will be dropped. If the motion is denied, testimony in the Rousseau case will resume and the door will open for additional hearings. “Whatever the decision is, it will open a lot of eyes and we’ll see where we stand with all of this,” Zelotes said.
At least one state has already made that determination. Last month, Hawaii’s disciplinary counsel completed a full inquiry and decided that there was no basis to take any action on the ethics complaints filed there, mainly because the complaints raised First Amendment free commercial speech issues. •
Solo Cheerleaders say we're "whiners"
Came across this post on good old Solo Practice U's website:
http://buildasolopractice.solopracticeuniversity.com/2010/01/11/dont-be-a-victim-of-the-victim-mentality/
You really gotta hand it to the solo cheerleader shysters and their denigration of anyone not swilling the $595 "Solo Practice U" Kool-Aid! Who knew that forking over $595 for a bunch of YouTube clips of fellow solo losers was the fast-track to success?
Fact is, American lawyers cannot compete with a continent full of unlicensed third-world "lawyers" who will cut, paste and code the same slop-work garbage as us for 1/100th the pay. It's like a baseball game where one side gets 3 outs and the other 15. You cannot compete on a playing field that unlevel. And lest we forget, LegalZoom has stolen most of the makework garbage like LLC formation and wills, while the terrible economy and unemployment make it impossible for DWI and other shitlaw quasi-criminals to pay even modest attorney fees.
And if solo practice is so lucrative and fufilling, why aren't these people out there doing it? By their deeds you shall know them.
L4L
http://buildasolopractice.solopracticeuniversity.com/2010/01/11/dont-be-a-victim-of-the-victim-mentality/
You really gotta hand it to the solo cheerleader shysters and their denigration of anyone not swilling the $595 "Solo Practice U" Kool-Aid! Who knew that forking over $595 for a bunch of YouTube clips of fellow solo losers was the fast-track to success?
Fact is, American lawyers cannot compete with a continent full of unlicensed third-world "lawyers" who will cut, paste and code the same slop-work garbage as us for 1/100th the pay. It's like a baseball game where one side gets 3 outs and the other 15. You cannot compete on a playing field that unlevel. And lest we forget, LegalZoom has stolen most of the makework garbage like LLC formation and wills, while the terrible economy and unemployment make it impossible for DWI and other shitlaw quasi-criminals to pay even modest attorney fees.
And if solo practice is so lucrative and fufilling, why aren't these people out there doing it? By their deeds you shall know them.
L4L
Thứ Năm, 14 tháng 1, 2010
Fakes and Forgeries
The Associated Press reported in today's NY Times that Italian authorities last year recovered thousands of looted art and antiquities valued at close to $240 million US dollars. The story said: "Police figures show the number of illegal archaeological excavations discovered in 2009 decreased dramatically, from 238 in 2008 to just 58 in 2009. But at the same time, the number of people charged with falsifying artwork rose more than 400 percent."
The fact is that forged art exists in the marketplace, and this newspaper report serves as a caution to stay alert. Authenticating artwork is an essential component to ethical collecting. One should take time to ensure that a piece is not just looted or illegally exported, but that it is genuine.
The fact is that forged art exists in the marketplace, and this newspaper report serves as a caution to stay alert. Authenticating artwork is an essential component to ethical collecting. One should take time to ensure that a piece is not just looted or illegally exported, but that it is genuine.
Junior Associates in India Earn $8100 a year
Good luck competing with folks who pay no bar dues, student loans, CLE fees, and work hard for 8 grand a YEAR:
From Bloomberg.com (link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBo8DnfekWZQ
(Bloomberg) -- Bruce Masterson, chief operating officer of Socrates Media LLC, asked his outside counsel to customize a residential lease for all 50 U.S. states in 2003. The firm's estimate: about $400,000. He rejected that price tag and hired QuisLex, in Hyderabad, India, which did it for $45,000.
``It was good quality,'' said Masterson, whose Chicago-based company publishes legal forms on the Internet. ``We've been working together ever since.''
Clients are pushing law firms like Jones Day and Kirkland & Ellis to send basic legal tasks to India, where lawyers tag documents and investigate takeover targets for as little as $20 an hour. The firms are reacting to a trend that will move about 50,000 U.S. legal jobs overseas by 2015, according to Boston- based Forrester Research Inc.
``The objective is to have only the most valuable people in London or New York, and the others in India, China or Columbus, Ohio,'' said Robert Profusek, co-head of the mergers and acquisitions practice at Jones Day in New York, who sends low-end work to the cheapest locations and plans to open a document center in India. ``Lawyers are service providers. We are not gods.''
Companies with in-house legal departments in India include Wilmington, Delaware-based DuPont Co., San Jose, California-based Cisco Systems Inc., and New York-based Morgan Stanley, according to ValueNotes Database Pvt. The Indian legal services industry will more than quadruple to $640 million by 2010 from $146 million in 2006, Maharashtra, India-based ValueNotes said.
General Electric
General Electric Co. sends about $3 million a year in routine legal work to its Indian affiliate, said Janine Dascenzo, the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company's managing counsel for legal operations.
``India has very talented lawyers,'' she said. ``But it's a misconception that you can just send work there and it gets done. You need proper supervision and security.''
Kirkland & Ellis, the seventh-largest U.S. law firm, works with offshore attorneys at the client's request, said Gregg Kirchhoefer, a senior partner in the firm's outsourcing and technology transaction practice.
``I'm not an advocate of offshoring legal services, but having worked in this area for so long, I understand the value of the model,'' he said. Typically, clients hire a provider and Chicago-based Kirkland helps manage the attorneys, Kirchhoefer said.
Markup Disclosure
U.S. law firms are required under ethics rules to disclose markups on what they pay foreign attorneys who aren't licensed to practice law in the U.S. Such rules don't apply to legal work performed by lawyers admitted to practice in U.S. jurisdictions.
Traditionally, law firms pay U.S. contract attorneys $50 to $65 per hour and bill clients up to three times the fee. For work performed by associates at the law firm, firms typically bill clients about $250 to $400 an hour.
Armed with the knowledge of how little law firms might pay for offshore work, corporations can use the threat of cutting them out and sending legal tasks overseas on their own to force law firms to reduce fees.
``Law firms can earn more by using labor they can mark up without disclosure,'' said Stephen Gillers, professor of legal ethics at New York University School of Law in Manhattan. ``But clients are knowledgeable about costs, and they want to negotiate the markup on these charges.''
Trend
Not every law firm has accepted the trend.
``Some firms are spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt,'' says David Perla, co-chief executive of Pangea3 LLC, an offshore legal services company based in New York and Mumbai. ``They see any competition as bad and they'll raise any issues as to why you shouldn't go offshore.''
Of the 10 highest-grossing U.S. law firms, seven declined to comment on outsourcing. Only one, Chicago-based Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, said it doesn't use the practice.
``I don't think law firms are ashamed of offshoring,'' Perla said. ``The firms that are having success with it aren't talking, because they view it as a competitive advantage.''
Of about 100 third-party legal services providers in India, clients give top marks to Pangea3 and New York-based Integreon Managed Solutions Inc., according to The Black Book of Outsourcing, a survey published in July by Clearwater, Florida- based Brown-Wilson Group Inc.
About 80 percent of Pangea3's clients are corporations and 20 percent are law firms, Perla said.
`In-House'
``Some firms are coming to us because in-house clients suggested it or pressured them,'' Perla said. ``Others want to come to the client first and offer a solution.''
Integreon, which provides legal services in India, the Philippines and Fargo, North Dakota, has long-term contracts with about 45 companies and 15 law firms, said CEO Liam Brown.
Law firms contribute 45 percent to offshore revenue, while corporate law departments contribute 36 percent, ValueNotes said.
Integreon recruits lawyers from second-tier law schools in India and managers from the litigation practices of firms such as New York-based Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Brown said. After training in India, managers relocate to New York or Los Angeles.
In India, legal education is based on common law, conducted in English, and requires two or three years of classes. The country produces about 80,000 law school graduates a year, according to ValueNotes, compared with about 44,000 in the U.S.
Offshore companies charge $10 to $25 an hour on low-end work and $25 to $90 an hour on advanced jobs. Junior Indian lawyers might earn as much as $8,160 a year, according to ValueNotes, compared with the $160,000 average salary for associates in major U.S. cities.
Janice D'souza, 26, a lawyer in Pangea3's litigation and research department in Mumbai, says she makes three times as much as she would at an Indian law firm.
``At an Indian law firm, generally your potential is not recognized at an early stage,'' D'souza said. ``Here it's talent- based. In the near future, I think I will be a department manager.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Cynthia Cotts in New York at ccotts@bloomberg.net and; Liane Kufchock in Southfield, Michigan, at lkufchock@bloomberg.net
Legal Tools for Artists
The Carving Studio in Vermont is holding a workshop in July. It is titled Legal Tools for Artists. Go to the link at carvingstudio.org/workshops/courses.asp
Thứ Tư, 13 tháng 1, 2010
Out of State Licenses and NYS DWI
As is often the case with students attending Cornell University, Ithaca College, or SUNY Binghamton I have clients with driver's licenses from many different states, and sometimes even different countries. With criminal charges pending, often a DWI, wasting time by waiting for things to improve on their own accord is futile.
There are unique and collateral issues that need to be dealt with early in the majority of situations. For instance, if someone is from New Jersey and holds a NJ license, and now is a student residing in New York State, and if their future plans include staying in NYS for a number of years then why are they maintaining a NJ driver's license? Is it in there best interests, financially and functionally to maintain their NJ driver's license? These issues may not be as pressing until I tell them that because they hold a NJ driver's license their NYS DWI conviction is going to cost them $1000/year for three years ($3,000 in total) in NJ, and then another $250/year for three years in NYS. In addition, NJ will suspend their driving privileges for 210 days (with NO conditional or restricted license privileges).
So waiting to hire a lawyer is not a good idea. In fact hiring a lawyer not conversant in how a DWI/DUI conviction can impact your state's driving privileges is a bad idea.
Any lawyer can do any type of legal matter. BUT will they do a good job is another story. Will they be thorough? Will they understand the collateral consequences? Just today I got an email:
"First and foremost, I'd like to say that ive gotten more information from you on your website than i did from my own lawyer! My question is...."
So my advice:
Always Hire the best Bankruptcy lawyer for your bankruptcy!
Always Hire the best family lawyer for your divorce!
Always Hire the best estate lawyer for your will and trust!
Always Hire the best business lawyer for your incorporation!
Always Hire the best real estate lawyer for your house closing or sale!
Having a generalist lawyer handle your case "may be" like having your family doctor (GP) handle a foot problem (instead of a podiatrist) or
handle a back problem (instead of a Chiropractor or an orthopedic surgeon) or
handle a skin problem (instead of a dermatologist) or
handle a psychological problem (instead of a psychologist)
Don't tell me but he's been practicing for 25, 30, or 35 years so he knows what he's doing. Remember the world is dynamic. The laws are constantly changing, the days of the generalist are over, and staying current and focused is the best strategy for long term success!
Thứ Hai, 11 tháng 1, 2010
Doc Review R.I.P.?
Can NYC doc review finally be pronounced dead? It's been months since any large projects have gone up on Posse List or craigslist, and the few projects we do hear about seem to pay abysmal rates ($25-$30/hr) with no chance for any OT.
Is anyone working out there? If so, post agency, rate, and expected duration below in the comments.
Thứ Sáu, 8 tháng 1, 2010
LA Times: No More Room on the Bench
Wow, wow, and just WOW!. Perhaps the hardest-hitting mainstream Op-Ed yet on the dismal state of the legal "job market." From todays Los Angeles Times:
The American Bar Assn. allows unneeded new law schools to open and refuses to regulate them. The government should consider taking steps to stop the flow of attorneys into a saturated marketplace.
By Mark Greenbaum
Remember the old joke about 20,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea being "a good start"? Well, in an interesting twist, thousands of lawyers now find themselves drowning in the unemployment line as the legal sector is being badly saturated with attorneys.
Part of the problem can be traced to the American Bar Assn., which continues to allow unneeded new schools to open and refuses to properly regulate the schools, many of which release numbers that paint an overly rosy picture of employment prospects for their recent graduates. There is a finite number of jobs for lawyers, and this continual flood of graduates only suppresses wages. Because the ABA has repeatedly signaled its unwillingness to adapt to this changing reality, the federal government should consider taking steps to stop the rapid flow of attorneys into a marketplace that cannot sustain them.
From 2004 through 2008, the field grew less than 1% per year on average, going from 735,000 people making a living as attorneys to just 760,000, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics postulating that the field will grow at the same rate through 2016. Taking into account retirements, deaths and that the bureau's data is pre-recession, the number of new positions is likely to be fewer than 30,000 per year. That is far fewer than what's needed to accommodate the 45,000 juris doctors graduating from U.S. law schools each year.
This jobs gap is even more problematic given the rising cost of tuition. In 2008, the median tuition at state schools for nonresidents was $26,000 a year, and $34,000 for private schools -- and much higher in some states, such as California. Students racked up an average loan debt in 2007-08 of $59,000 for students from public law schools and $92,000 for those from private schools, according to the ABA, and a recent Law School Survey of Student Engagement found that nearly one-third of respondents said they would owe about $120,000.
Such debt would be manageable if a world of lucrative jobs awaited the newly minted attorneys, but this is not the case. A recent working paper by Herwig Schlunk of Vanderbilt Law School contends that with the exception of some of those at the best schools, going for a law degree is a bad investment and that most students will be "unlikely ever to dig themselves out from" under their debt. This problem is exacerbated by the existing law school system.
Despite the tough job market, new schools continue to sprout like weeds. Today there are 200 ABA-accredited law schools in the U.S., with more on the way, as many have been awarded provisional accreditation. In California alone, there are 21 law schools that are either accredited or provisionally accredited, including the new one at UC Irvine.
The ABA cites antitrust concerns in refusing to block new schools, taking a weak approach to regulation. For example, in 2008 the ABA created an accreditation task force to study the need for changes, but saddled it with a narrow charter. In the end, it proposed only cosmetic changes and rejected out of hand the possibility of giving up control over accreditation, calling the idea not viable and "draconian."
The task force also raised the possibility that if the ABA gave up its accreditation authority, the Federalist Society, a conservative-leaning interest group, could take over that job. This is an intellectually dishonest red herring, likely injected to divert attention from the idea's merits. The Federalist Society would have no reason to do this because the technical, expensive accrediting process does not gibe with its mission, nor would the Department of Education be likely to give it such authority.
The ABA has also refused to create and oversee an independent method of reporting graduate data. Postgraduate employment information generally provides the most useful facts for prospective students to study in deciding whether to go to law school.
In many cases, the data that schools now furnish are based on self-reported information, skewing the results because unemployed and low-paying grads are less likely to report back. Law schools do this because they want the rosiest picture possible for the influential rankings given by U.S. News & World Report. Despite its ample resources, the ABA has rebuffed calls to monitor the schools to get more accurate data, calling the existing framework an effective "honor system."
Based on what happened with the accreditation task force, the ABA is not likely to force change; it is too intertwined with the law schools. ABA groups -- such as the task force, which was chaired by a former dean -- are stacked with school officials who have no incentive to change the status quo. This is why the ABA should get out of the accreditation business completely.
Unlike other professional fields such as medicine and public health, whose preeminent professional organizations do not have control over the accreditation of schools and programs, the ABA exercises unfettered power over the accreditation of law schools.
The American Dental Assn., the nation's leading dental group, offers a model for the ABA to follow. It accredits schools but assiduously guards the profession and has allowed respected dental schools such as the ones at Emory, Georgetown and Northwestern to close for economic reasons and to prevent market saturation. Such a move by the bar association would be unprecedented. Dental schools go even further to protect the profession's integrity by collectively boycotting the U.S. News rankings.
The U.S. Department of Education should strip the ABA of its accreditor status and give the authority to an organization that is free of conflicts of interest, such as the Assn. of American Law Schools or a new group. Although the AALS is made up of law schools, it is an independent, nonprofit, academic -- not professional -- group, which could be expected to maintain the viability and status of the profession, properly regulate law schools, curtail the opening of new programs and perhaps even shut down unneeded schools. The AALS has cast a very skeptical eye on for-profit schools, compared with the ABA's weak hands-off accreditation policies.
Although these would be unprecedented moves, they are necessary. The legal profession must be saved from itself.
Link to original here:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-greenbaum8-2010jan08,0,4457698.story?track=rss
Thứ Năm, 7 tháng 1, 2010
A Year-End Snapshot of the job market
From "Adjunct Law Prof Blog"
Student loan debt is up and job expectations are down according to a year-end, informal snapshot of several sources. The online ABA Journal is reporting today that almost a third of all law students expect to graduate with more than $120k in loan debt. Over at Above the Law, editor Elie Mystal describes, in a column called "Debt: the Silent Killer," the effect $150k in law school debt has had on him since he graduated from Harvard Law in 2003. Since he decided he didn't like the practice of law after all, he calls the experience "a very expensive vacation that debt financed." The ABA president is urging Congress to offer law students debt relief.
On the employment side of the equation, the year that just concluded represents the worst period ever in BigLaw lay-offs with more than 12,000 jobs lost. The picture is brighter for more nimble, mid-size firms although even 65% of those surveyed still expect to reduce associate salaries in the coming year. And then there's this: "Associate Pay Cuts Here to Stay."
Perhaps for that reason, law students have changed their expectations about working in the private sector with more indicating a desire for (lower paying) public interest work according to the most recent Law School Survey of Student Engagement (and here).
This year's survey found that the percentage of law students who expected to work in private law firms dropped to 50 percent, down from about 58 percent in each of the previous three years. The percentage of law students who anticipated finding work in the public-interest sector rose to 33 percent, from about 29 percent in each of the past three years.
The findings "may indicate that law students are reframing their career expectations in response to changes in the economic climate that have affected hiring at many law firms," said Lindsay Watkins, the survey's project manager.
How will it all end? This article reminds us that we've been through a severe legal recession before and survived just fine - some even thrived. Whether circumstances exist now that didn't then (more law schools, more law grads, outsourcing, etc.) is still the big unknown.
Full link here:
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/2010/01/a-yearend-snapshot-of-the-job-market-for-law-grads.html
L4L
*REMINDER: All racist/anti-Nigerian/anti-Semitic comments will be removed. Comments are being moderated before publication. So don’t waste your time- no one will see/read your racist gutter ranting. Get the picture? Thank you.
L4L
Thứ Ba, 5 tháng 1, 2010
Let's give temping the "Frontline" Treatment
Frontline, the award-winning PBS documentary series, has recently run feature programs on the Madoff scandal, the financial/derivatives market meltdown, and other infamous swindles of late.
Yet it seems they’ve overlooked one of the biggest scams of all: the law school/student lending cartel. This festering cesspool is just begging to be pumped out. We have Dick Matasar of NYLS steering lemmings to a notorious student lender “loan shark” whose board he chairs, the obvious salary/employment fraud broadcast by the schools and the NALP, the total lack of jobs for new grads, tuitions increasing at 5 X the rate of inflation, and of course the ABA’s infamous 08-451 outsourcing opinion. Plenty of grist here for the Frontline scambusting mill.
Here’s the link to email Frontline your story idea:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/contact/
Make sure to forward this link to all your struggling friends. Just imagine the squirming TTT deans being confronted on national television with hordes of their pissed-off grads and held to answer for their patently bogus salary/employment brochures. Talk about must-see TV.
*NOTE to COMMENT POSTERS:
All racist/anti-Nigerian/anti-Semitic comments will be deleted, so don't waste your time. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves.
Thứ Hai, 4 tháng 1, 2010
Skadden Stiffs Bomb Scare Victims
Rumor has it that Skadden Arps has decided to screw over victims of the recent Times Square bomb scare incident. As you've probably heard, a building doorman reported a suspicious looking van without license plates to the NYPD, who quickly called in the bomb detail and evacuated all high-rise buildings in the area including Skadden Arps headquarters at 4 Times Square the day before New Year's Eve.
Skadden has apparently informed the coders that they will not be paid for the time they were out of the building due to the evacuation. This doesn't surprise us here at T the T, since Skadden is a notoriously cheap crew of shysters. They suffer from a major prestige defecit due to their "McBiglaw" reputation, and recently axed scores of long-time staff attorneys and paras without a moment's notice or a dime of severance. In these turbulent times, it's comforting to know that scumbags like Skadden haven't changed their tune.
Senator John Sampson Joins a Law Firm as "Counsel"
Sampson playing a law-firm Shel game
By BRENDAN SCOTT Post Correspondent, January 4, 2010
LINK
ALBANY -- Move over, Sheldon Silver!
Senate boss John Sampson has borrowed a page from the powerful Assembly speaker and become the second big-time Democrat to join a law firm with ties to the state's powerful trial-lawyers lobby, The Post has learned.
Sampson, the state Senate Democratic leader, quietly accepted a job last month as "counsel" to Belluck & Fox, a politically connected Manhattan law firm that specializes in asbestos litigation and that claims to have won $220 million in judgments.
The new gig, which comes just six months after Senate Democrats elected Sampson to run the legislative chamber, bears striking similarity to the oft-criticized side job held by Silver (D-Manhattan).
Like Silver, Sampson won't say how much his job pays. And, as is the case with Silver's firm, Weitz & Luxenberg, a founding partner of Sampson's firm, Joseph W. Belluck, sits on the board of the state Trial Lawyers Association.
The potent advocacy group spends about $2 million a year on campaign contributions and lobbying expenses. Silver has repeatedly come under fire for aiding its decades-long winning streak in the Assembly.
The group's new ties to the Senate leader are sure to draw similar concern, especially from those who back reforming the state's medical-malpractice laws.
"The trial lawyers are now covered in both houses," one veteran Capitol lobbyist said. "They have Shelly in one prominent firm, and they have the Senate leader in another firm that has a seat on their board of directors."
"You can't do any better than that that."
Sampson controls day-to-day decisions in the Senate in addition to leading its Judiciary and Ethics committees. The "part-time" Brooklyn lawmaker earns $88,500 annually, including a $9,000 leadership stipend.
Sampson spokesman Austin Shafran refused to disclose the senator's outside income, but insisted the job would not compromise his official duties.
"Senator Sampson's outside work has never been and never will be in conflict with his official duties," Shafran said.
The career move comes as Democratic lawmakers negotiate ethics-reform legislation in response to several recent embarrassments, including the corruption conviction of former Republican Senate leader Joseph Bruno.
During Bruno's trial, an Albany businessman testified that he started paying Bruno consulting fees after the senator complained about the money Silver was getting "from the trial lawyers." Bruno denied the remark.
brendan.scott@nypost.com
Chủ Nhật, 3 tháng 1, 2010
Manhattan Surrogate's Court Judge Kristen Booth Glen
Do Not Vote for Judge Kristin Booth Glen !!!
LINK
I am shocked to learn just two days before the election that Judge Kristin Booth Glen is up for election two days from today for New York Surrogate. Nineteen years ago in a moment of illegal and wrongful misconduct, Judge Glen destroyed my family in ways which adversely affect me and my children to this day.
I have just learned that Judge Glen got on the ballot by surviving a close and hard-fought primary contest in which she narrowly defeated her opponent by just a few votes. Several other persons made charges of misconduct against Judge Glen at that time, but they were apparently ignored by the voters.
I will be filing a formal complaint against Judge Glen tomorrow for her misconduct in 1986, in the hope that this matter be heard and that she be disbarred from the practice of law before she can take office in January.
The date was September 3, 1986, a date I remember well because of the events which changed the lives of my family and especially my children on that date.
On that date a final hearing had been scheduled for the custody of my two children, Peter and Mary, in the New York Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street. My ex-wife Anda had been refusing for more than a year to comply with a court order giving me two hours of weekly visitation with my children, ever since she had remarried. I had filed several petitions for habeas corpus with respect to these children. In violation of CPLR 7003, Judge Glen had refused to sign these petitions. She had postponed the matter several times over a period of months. She had ordered me and my ex-wife to submit to examination by a psychologist, Dr. Bennett, who had charged us each $1000. Dr. Bennett was supposed to have his report ready in time for the hearing, which was scheduled for September 3, 1986.
I brought my mother, Dr. Marjorie Sloan, with me to the hearing. When the case was called, the attorney for Anda, Walter Anderocci, stated and indeed insisted that he needed urgently to speak in private to the judge.
Judge Glen refused to agree to this. When Anderocci persisted, Judge Glen told him that she found his conduct objectionable.
At about that time, the clerk informed the judge that she had received a telephone call. Judge Glen went back into chambers to receive the call. When she returned some time later, she stated that she had received a call from "Judge Larry Janow" in Virginia. Judge Janow had stated that he was the judge in the case of the custody of another of my children, Shamema, aged 4. Charles and Shelby Roberts, who were unrelated to the child, had filed a petition for the custody of the child. Judge Janow wanted the child returned to Virginia. Judge Glen had stated that she had seen me with a four year old child when I had come to her courtroom to check on the status of the case the previous day. Judge Glen had concluded that this was the same child that Judge Janow wanted. Therefore, Judge Glen had called the police and ordered my arrest. As a result, she was disqualifying herself from the case.
As Judge Glen was explaining all this, I turned around and found several New York City Police Officers standing behind me. Walter Anderocci stated that he had arranged for my mother to be transported to my brother, Creighton's, house in North Carolina. My mother replied sharply that she wanted nothing to do with Creighton. She preferred to go to jail with me, she said. With that, the New York City Police Officers carted us off to the Police Station on Elizabeth Street in Chinatown and locked us up in jail.
Only about two hours later, however, the police unlocked the doors to the jail cells and let us out. They stated that they had been on the phone with the Commonwealth Attorney in Amherst County, Virginia and had learned that there was no warrant for our arrest and that Charles and Shelby Roberts did not have legal custody of my daughter. They also said that the silly assed judge had no right to order us arrested and her order meant nothing. Therefore, they were letting us go. They specifically referred to Judge Kristin Booth Glen as a "silly assed judge". That was their exact words.
My mother and I immediately went back to the same courtroom where we had been arrested a few hours earlier. It was not yet 4:00 PM and I was still hoping to get the hearing that had been delayed for nearly a year for custody or visitation with my two children, Peter and Mary Sloan. However, Judge Kirstin Booth Glen had left the courthouse. The courtroom was empty.
The following day I went to the clerks office to check the case file. There was an order in the case file signed by Judge Glen stating that she had disqualified herself from the case because I had been arrested in her courtroom. The clerk informed me that the case was over. I would have to file a new petition for habeas corpus and start a new case from square one to get the matter back into court.
The case is Sloan vs. Sloan, Index No. 36654/1980. I have just been to the clerk's office at 60 Center Street and learned that the original case file has been sent to Philadelphia for microfilming. The clerk informed me that it will take about two weeks to get the file back. When the file comes back I intend to obtain a copy of Judge Glen's order stating that I was arrested in her courtroom and present this document to the Appellate Division to have Judge Glen disbarred from the practice of law so that she cannot take office as New York Surrogate in January.
What Judge Glen did was plainly illegal. Because of what Judge Glen did, I realized that the situation was unsafe for me, my mother and my daughter. Judge Janow had not told Judge Glen that Charles and Shelby Roberts had only filed for custody on August 27, 1986, one week earlier. No hearing had been held on the matter. There was no jurisdiction in Virginia because neither the child nor either of the parents of the child had been in Virginia since the time of filing. The mother of the child was in Pakistan and I, the father of the child, was in New York. In any event, the courts of Virginia had no jurisdiction because the custody of the child had already been decided by Judge Anthony Mercorella of the Bronx Supreme Court in Sloan vs. Awadallah, 17815/1981. Virginia had no jurisdiction to modify this award.
Had I been allowed to speak, I could have addressed these issues and demonstrated that what I was saying was factually correct. However, Judge Kristin Booth Glen had given me no opportunity to say anything. Based on nothing more than a telephone call from a person she did not know, she had called the police and ordered my arrest. She had also cancelled the custody hearing which had been pending for nearly a year.
Realizing that both Judge Glen and Judge Janow were acting crazy,. It was clear that my family was in imminent danger. Therefore, my mother decided that she had no choice but to flee the country. I agreed to go with her, as I had already been scheduled to go to Argentina as the trainer and manager for the Polgar Sisters. My mother had never had a passport in her life, because she had been born in a rural area of Iowa in 1910 and no birth certificate had ever been issued for her. Nevertheless, she managed to convince the US Passport Office in Rockefeller Center to issue her a passport and off we went to Rio Gallegos, Argentina.
Soon thereafter, we discovered that my brother Creighton had frozen all the bank accounts of our mother and had cancelled her credit cards, so she had no funds to travel on or to live on. I soon figured out what should have been obvious all along that Creighton was the mastermind of this entire plot. Creighton had known both Anda and Charles and Shelby Roberts and had introduced them to each other. That is how Judge Janow in Virginia had known that a custody hearing had been scheduled with respect to my other children in New York in September 3, 1986.
We soon became aware that Charles and Shelby Roberts were feverously trying to kidnap my daughter Shamema and Creighton was trying to kidnap his own mother. My mother, my daughter and I became vagabonds traveling from place to place without funds. Eventually, we reached Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where I got a job working as a journalist for a newspaper, the Gulf News. We were able to survive until I was able to open a computer business there.
Exactly four years later, on September 3, 1990 Creighton finally succeeded in having his mother kidnapped and brought back to America, where he had her locked up until she died 12 years later, in 2002. Shamema was kidnapped on October 7, 1990 and was held prisoner by the Roberts for ten years until she became of legal age, joined the Marines, and went to fight in Iraq.
My children, Peter and Mary Sloan, who were the subject of the custody proceeding that was supposed to have been heard on September 3, 1986, never got to see their father again. My daughter Mary, who is now 26, refuses to see me because she believes that I abandoned her when she was a child. She thinks that I just stopped coming to see her. She does not realize that her mother cancelled all visitation when she remarried and that I went to court more than 50 times and filed three habeas corpus petitions and two family court proceedings all in a fruitless attempt to see her.
My son Peter recently established contact with me because he has become a chess master and sees me at chess tournaments. At the same time, he had no contact with his father at all from 1982 until he became an adult, except for a few visits that were allowed in 1985.
My children have suffered problems because of having no father. In spite of bring bright and talented, scoring in the 99 percentile on standardized tests, they have a history of failure and near failure in school and being left back. They both have serious problems which they might not have had it not been for the actions of Judge Kristin Booth Glen.
The actions of Judge Glen were illegal. If there were valid grounds for having me arrested, Judge Janow could simply have contacted the police in Virginia where he was a judge and the police could then have contacted the New York City Police who would then have come to the courtroom and arrested me. This is obvious. Accordingly, Judge Glen should have realized that the call was bogus. Judge Glen simply had no right to call the police and have me and my mother arrested.
CPLR 7003 c provides for penalties for this violation.
�� 7003. (c) Penalty for violation. For a violation of this section in refusing to issue the writ, a judge, or, if the petition was made to a court, each member of the court who assents to the violation, forfeits to the person detained one thousand dollars, to be recovered by an action in his name or in the name of the petitioner to his use.
The actions of Judge Kristin Booth Glen on September 3, 1986 have had a devastating impact on my life and the lives of my children and they were illegal. Accordingly, you should not vote for Judge Glen on November 8, 2005. Judge Glen should be disbarred from the practice of law and not be allowed to take office as New York Surrogate in January, 2006.
Sam Sloan
1664 Davidson Avenue, Apt. 1B
Bronx NY 10453
samsloan@samsloan.com
http://www.samsloan.com/notoglen.htm
917-507-7226
347-869-2465
# Complaint against Judge Kristin Booth Glen
# Order of Judge Kristin Booth Glen (PDF Format)
# Motion to the South Carolina Court of Appeals (HTML Format)
# Motion to the South Carolina Court of Appeals (PDF Format)
# Petition for Rehearing from Order Dismissing Appeal
# Transcript of Hearing on February 4, 2004
# Hearing on Sloan Estate Appeal in Aiken set for Tuesday, April 6 at 11:30 AM
# Transcript of Hearing on April 6, 2004
# Grounds for Appeal in Re: Helen Marjorie Sloan
# Complaint to Judge Little, Aiken County Probate Court
# Opposition to motion by Creighton Sloan to dismiss appeal
# Affidavit in Opposition to Appointment of Creighton Sloan as Personal Representative
# Letter to Creighton's Lawyer
# Creighton won the court case !!!!
# Demand that South Carolina Judge Recuse Herself
# Complaint to the Supreme Court of South Carolina
# Who is Sam?
# South Carolina Supreme Court
# Justice Jean Hoefer Toal biography
# Judge Jean H. Toal another biography
# Lynchburg Circuit Court
# Will of Dr. Marjorie Sloan
# My mother, Dr. Marjorie Jacobson Sloan, 92, has died
# Obituary of Dr. Marjorie Jacobson Sloan
# Transcript of Proceedings to Sell My Mothers House at 917 Old Trent's Ferry Road in Lynchburg, Virginia
# Order appointing Frank G. Davidson as Guardian ad litem for Helen Marjorie Sloan
# Is Sam Sloan the "Black Sheep" of his family
# My mother's lawsuit to lift the freeze on her bank account and to recover her stolen funds
# Letter from his mother, Dr. Marjorie Sloan, about this
# At the Acropolis in Athens, Greece
# With Shamema Honzagool Sloan in Abu Dhabi
# With an elephant on the Street in Sri Lanka
# With a Snake Charmer in Colombo, Sri Lanka
# Shamema Sloan and Dr. Helen Marjorie Sloan in Sri Lanka, 1987
# News Clipping of my mother, Dr. Marjorie Sloan, in 1966
# Birthday Party for Dr. Helen Marjorie Sloan at age 80, March 17, 1990
# At the Crocodile Farm in Thailand
# My mother, Dr. Helen Marjorie Sloan, in 1988
# My mother, Dr. Marjorie Jacobson, in 1937
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Manhattan Surrogate's Court
Know about something you don't see here? Let us know at campaign05@gothamgazette.com
Election Results ...
General Election Results
Kristen Booth Glen
Primary Results
Kristen Booth Glen
Candidates...
The Incumbent:
There is no Incumbent posted for this race.
General Election Challenger(s):
Kristin Booth Glen
Primary Election Challenger(s):
Kristin Booth Glen
Eve Rachel Markewich
(Candidate Biographies below)
Feature Articles ...
Surrogate's Court And Why It Should Go
July 4, 2005
The removal of Brooklyn Surrogate's Court Judge Michael Feinberg does not end a system that allows judges, lawyers and politicians to loot money from widows and orphans.
Read article
Candidate Bios ...
The Incumbent:
There is no Incumbent posted for this race.
Challenger(s):
Kristin Booth Glen | Dem | WFP |
Kristin Booth Glen served as Dean of CUNY School of Law from 1995 until 2005. She was elected to the Civil Court of the City of New York in 1980, and in 1986 she was elected Justice of the New York Supreme Court. In 1992 she was appointed to the Appellate Term where she heard appeals from the Civil Court and the Criminal Court.
Eve Rachel Markewich | Dem |
Eve Rachel Markewich is a partner at Blank Rome LLP. From 1997 to 2005, she was a Democratic district leader for the 67th Assembly District.
Campaign Trail ...
Below are the latest Campaign Trail items for the Manhattan Surrogate's Court race. For the full Campaign Trail archive, go here
Amsterdam News Endorses Markewich
September 8, 2005
Ms. Markewich has been rated most highly qualified by the New York County Independent Judicial Screening Panel. Herself disabled, Ms. Markewich has written extensively on civil and corporate law as it pertains to minors and the disabled.
She is particularly interested in the legal problems of disabled persons, children, same sex couples and the elderly.
We believe, strongly, that she should be the Manhattan Surrogate. (Amsterdam News)
Two Candidates Fight for Judicial Seat
September 5, 2005
It's a litte-known race that will end up bestowing a great deal of power: Manhattan voters will elect a new Surrogate Court judge this year. The court has jurisdiction over wills and estates - and with 14-year terms, the two judges who oversee it wield significant pull over the fate of many heirs and many millions of dollars. The court also handles adoptions. In the Democratic primary on Sept. 13, lawyer Eve Rachel Markewich is opposed by former state Supreme Court Justice Kristin Booth Glen. (Daily News)
Daily News Endorses Glen For Manhattan Surrogate
September 4, 2005
Democratic primary voters in Brooklyn and Manhattan have a rare opportunity to elect surrogates, the judges who oversee the estates of the dead - a mother lode of patronage spoils. The Daily News endorses Margarita Lopez Torres in Brooklyn and Kristen Booth Glen in Manhattan because they appear most likely to remain above cronyism.
...In Manhattan, the decisive factor is also independence from the party. On that score, Glen, dean of the CUNY law school who has served on both the Civil and Supreme courts, tops Eve Rachel Markewich, a private estates lawyer. Until recently, Markewich was a Democratic district leader, and she is backed by party bosses.
Glen promises to bar from appointment all elected party leaders, district leaders, county committee members and club presidents. She should add judicial nominating convention delegates to the list, and, if victorious on Sept. 13, she and Lopez Torres must follow through on aggressive reforms.
Full Manhattan Surrogate's Court Campaign Trail Archive
Manhattan Surrogate's Court Campaign Trail in RSS format.
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