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Judge Goes Where Governor and Legislature Fear To Tread
Justice Lucindo Suarez took a bold step February 5 when he judicially imposed a rate of $90 an hour for assigned counsel. The decision in New York County Lawyers' Assoc. v. The State of New York, 102987/00, followed a 16-day bench trial held last summer at which 41 witnesses testified. The judge's lengthy opinion admonished Governor George Pataki and New York's state legislature for failing to raise assigned counsel rates since their last change in 1986.
In recent years, the rates for counsel assigned to represent family court litigants ($40 per hour for in-court work and $25 per hour for out-of-court work, with a per-case cap of $1200) have offered little incentive for attorneys to take on such employment. For example, the court noted that at the time of trial, the administrator of the First Department law guardian program had stated that there were approximately 65 active attorneys available but that she would need 325 panel attorneys to adequately staff the assigned counsel needs of the intake parts in Family Courts in the Bronx and New York Counties.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.