FCBA Seminar

On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, the Northern District of New York Federal Court Bar Association is presenting a free 2-hour seminar in Albany New York. “Privacy and Public Access to Documents in Federal Court” will be held between 2 and 4 p.m. at the Crown Plaza Hotel, at State and Lodge Streets, in Albany. A panel of experts from law and media will discuss when litigants can expect documents and proceedings to be sealed and when they will be open to public scrutiny, as well as the procedures involved. The course has been approved for 2.0 hours CLE by New York State. Light refreshments will be served. To register, open the brochure at:

http://www.nynd.uscourts.gov/documents/AlbanySeminarII2009.pdf

Lawrence K. Baerman
Clerk of Court

CLE Program: Representing the Pro Bono Debtor Under BAPCPA*

Underwritten by: The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc.
and the Upstate Institute of Colgate University

Friday, October 30, 2009
Registration at 11:45 a.m.
Buffet lunch at 12:00 p.m.
Presentation from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Cost: Lunch and CLE credits are free of charge to attorneys admitted to practice in New York State and who pledge to take a minimum
of two pro bono bankruptcy cases annually.

Where: Radisson Hotel-Utica Centre, 200 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13502

CLE Credit: 3 Hours Skills and 1 Hour of Ethics

*Appropriate for both newly admitted and experienced attorneys

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER NO LATER THAN MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2009.
by emailing Dawn_Simmons-Norris@nynb.uscourts.gov
For questions, call Dawn Simmons Norris at (315) 295-1683.

Trista F. O’Hara, Esq.
Pro Se Coordinator
NDNY Federal Court Bar Association, Inc.
221 S. Warren Street, Suite 130
Syracuse, New York 13202
Office #: (315) 422-2711
Toll Free #: 1-877-422-1011
Fax #: (315) 422-2778
tohara@ndnyfcba.org

“Operation Bad Deeds”

The United States Department of Justice – United States Attorney’s Office

OPERATION BAD DEEDS CHARGING DOCUMENTS

Six lawyers were among 41 defendants charged in New York yesterday for allegedly using fraud to obtain over $64 million in mortgages on more than 100 properties. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced the multi-agency effort, dubbed “Operation Bad Deeds,” at a news conference yesterday, saying the 41 were charged in eight separate cases representing a “smorgasbord of scams”

Read entire article.

Modernization of New York’s Land Use Laws Continues to Meet Growing Challenges of Sustainability

Patricia Salkin
Albany Law School

Pace Law Review, Vol. 29, No. 563, 2009

Abstract:
There has never been a more challenging time to practice land use planning and zoning law in New York. With goals of sustainability at the forefront of the land use regulatory agenda, this brief account of recent developments in land use law highlights some discernable trends, namely: the modernization and increased flexibility of New York State planning and zoning enabling acts, the inspired local initiatives and lethargic State response to affordable housing issues, and the increasing impact of alternative energy systems on local regulatory schemes.

Part I of this article explores the impacts on community development caused by the many modifications to New York State’s planning and zoning enabling acts over the last two decades. Particularly, the article identifies the delegation of extensive discretionary authority to local governments as New York’s signature approach to land use control.

Part II discusses “affordable housing” as a key attractant for judicial action and local government response. With the exception of the Long Island Workforce Housing Act in 2008, the State has been slow to act on judicial calls to action, forcing local governments to develop unique solutions in order to provide affordable housing.

Finally, Part III notes the challenges being faced by lawyers and planners in light of growing preference for alternative energy systems, with specific focus on reactions to Wind Energy and Solar Energy installations.

Download the entire article here.

NYS OCA: Volunteer Attorney Program

Volunteer Attorney Program

The sharp downturn in the economy has had a profound impact on the justice system and the legal community. The number of unrepresented litigants in court has increased dramatically. At the same time, substantial numbers of attorneys find themselves unexpectedly unemployed.

In response to these concerns, the court system has established the Volunteer Attorney Program, offering attorneys opportunities to volunteer to serve the courts and the public.

Under the Program, attorneys can volunteer to provide advice and assistance to unrepresented litigants (Pro Bono Volunteer Attorney); or, they can serve in a judge’s chambers, performing legal research, writing and related functions (Chambers’ Volunteer Attorney).

Attorneys can volunteer full-time or part-time, on a schedule that is convenient to them. Participating attorneys select the court in which they want to serve and the type of cases they prefer to handle (subject to availability).

Newszingo

Current News cloud – Google US News Tags by NEWZingo

NEWZingo is constantly watching Google News for new stories, extracts related “tags” and displays them in a cloud.
The cloud shows the current popular news tags. The bigger the tag, the more stories are about its topic.
In one glimpse you can see what the news is about, watch the cloud change as real world events unfold and then are forgotten.

The little arrows (^,v) indicate whether the tag is becoming more important, or less important

ABA Files Suit Against FTC Over Applying Red Flags Rule to Lawyers

The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times : ABA Files Suit Against FTC Over Applying Red Flags Rule to Lawyers

(Updated 1:51 p.m.)

The American Bar Association filed suit today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Federal Trade Commission, seeking an injunction to block the application of the so-called Red Flags Rule to practicing lawyers.

The ABA’s 20-page complaint (.pdf), was filed by a team from Proskauer Rose.

Bad Week for “Bottom-Feeders” Continues: NAF Barred from Credit Card & Consumer Arbitrations

Office of Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson

National Arbitration Forum Barred From Credit Card And Consumer Arbitrations Under Agreement With Attorney General Swanson

Swanson Also Wants Congress to Ban “€œFine Print”€ Forced Arbitration Clauses

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and the National Arbitration Forum, €”the country’€™s largest administrator of credit card and consumer collections arbitrations, €”have reached an agreement that the company would get out of the business of arbitrating credit card and other consumer collection disputes.

“€œI am very pleased with the settlement.  To consumers, the company said it was impartial, but behind the scenes, it worked alongside credit card companies to get them to put unfair arbitration clauses in the fine print of their contracts and to appoint the Forum as the arbitrator.  Now the company is out of this business,”€ said Swanson.

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Read entire Press Release from Minnesota AG

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Hat tip to Bob Ambrogi, who looks at the implications of this move and the connections to collections industry giant Mann-Bracken..

Law.com – ABA Plans for Litigation Over FTC Rules on Identity Theft

Law.com – ABA Plans for Litigation Over FTC Rules on Identity Theft

The president of the American Bar Association said Wednesday that the group is preparing to go to court if it cannot persuade the Federal Trade Commission to exempt lawyers from new regulations to protect against identity theft.

H. Thomas Wells Jr. said in an interview that the New York-based firm Proskauer Rose has signed up to represent the ABA pro bono. The trade commission is scheduled to begin enforcing the regulations Aug. 1, and Wells said the bar association would file a lawsuit by the end of next week if necessary to head off enforcement.

“If they stay with the Aug. 1 date and we don’t get some kind of sign, we’ll be filing before Aug. 1,” said Wells, a partner at Maynard Cooper & Gale in Birmingham, Ala.

***

Read entire article.

ABA PUBLIC PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

Held at the ABA headquarters in Chicago, this public program series focuses on law and legal issues of general interest. Past programs are now available for download.

Programs include The Response, Guantanamo Courtroom Drama: Screening and Q&A with Producer/Actor/Lawyer Sig Libowitz;

The Lincoln Myth: How pop culture defines America’s great lawyer/president; and

A Conversation with Joseph Margulies, author of Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power.