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The ruling paves the way for California to become the second state where gay men and lesbians can marry.
Text of the Opinion

 

Lithuania-based Baltsoft has announced its online PDF conversion site, which enables users to convert MS Word documents images, web pages and vector graphic files to PDF documents.

Example: you need to convert a Power Point (PPT) file into PDF. Use the “Browse” button to locate the source file on your local PC, select it and click the “Convert” button.

Albany Times Union (Rick Karlin): Class-action lawsuit in state pension cases?

An Albany lawyer is preparing a class-action lawsuit to try to stop Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli from stripping pension credits from lawyers who state officials say don’t deserve them. The lawsuit will likely be filed later this week in state Supreme Court in Albany County and will seek restraining orders against Cuomo and DiNapoli, said lawyer James Roemer, who specializes in public sector employment issues. While he wouldn’t immediately divulge details of his legal strategy or name the initial plaintiffs, Roemer said he’s representing four individuals from Long Island who have lost pension credits during the past few weeks.

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UPDATE: Roemer has a web site for the class action suit Save New York State Retirement Benefits.

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Albany Times Union (Fred LeBrun Column): Cuomo pension probe tinged with a certain lack of fair play

On the best of days, elevating the reputation of lawyers in general is too heavy a lift for one mere columnist. And these are certainly not the best of days for the image of the legal profession, thanks in great measure to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and his zealous rooting out of lawyers who may have gotten public retirement benefits for which they were not eligible. That Cuomo is himself a lawyer, and the First Lawyer of the state to boot, must be disconcerting at the least to the lawyer community. Particularly because the brush with which he’s tarring a wide range of attorneys who don’t deserve it is usually the stuff of spiteful lawyer-bashing. Hasn’t Andrew heard all those professional courtesy jokes?

Albany Times Union (Jay Jochnowitz): Pay raise suit no excuse for judges

New York’s judges can’t refuse to hear cases involving state lawmakers or legislators’ law firms because Chief Judge Judith Kaye and the Unified Court System are suing the Legislature for a judicial pay hike, the Commission on Judicial Conduct said Monday. Moreover, the panel warned, it wouldn’t help the judiciary’s image if the commission has to look into instances of judges bowing out of cases involving lawmakers or their firms. A commission spokesman would not say whether any judges are under investigation for refusing to hear such cases. The issue came to the fore in recent weeks after various judges around the state started citing conflicts of interest because of Kaye’s battle with the Legislature.
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Full Text of Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinion

Get the answers to the most frequently-asked-questions about the stimulus payments.

Check the Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center on IRS.gov for updates. Also in Spanish.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE

Gonzales v. US, No. 06–11612
Express consent by counsel suffices to permit a magistrate judge to preside over jury selection in a felony trial, pursuant to the authorization in the Federal Magistrates Act, 28 U.S.C. section 636(b)(3)

IronKey: Privacy Protection from an Encrypted Flash Drive

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ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, EVIDENCE, LANDLORD TENANT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE

In the Matter of IG Second Generation Partners L.P. v. New York State Div. of Hous. and Cmty. Renewal, No. 67
In an appeal addressing whether the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) had the authority to cancel rent arrears owed by a rent-stabilized tenant as a result of DHCR’s resolution of an unusually protracted fair market rent appeal, the court of appeals rules that DHCR did not have the authority under the circumstances of this case.

 

 

COMMERCIAL LAW, CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW, CONTRACTS, CORPORATION & ENTERPRISE LAW, EVIDENCE, INJURY AND TORT LAW

Pludeman v. N. Leasing Sys., Inc., No. 64
The court of appeals rules that plaintiffs sufficiently pleaded a cause of action for fraud against individually-named corporate defendants pursuant to CPLR 3016(b) where it was not unequivocal, as a matter of law, that a finder of fact could not reasonably infer the requisite knowledge or participation by the individual defendants in an act of fraud.

 

 

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE

People v. Umali, No. 66
Conviction for manslaughter in the first degree is affirmed where: 1) precluding defendant from speaking to counsel about his testimony during a trial recess did not deprive his right to counsel, as the ban on attorney-client communication was rescinded promptly after defendant’s protest; 2) the jury charge as a whole accurately stated that the government had to disprove the justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt; and 3) defendant’s remaining contentions were either unpreserved, meritless, or harmless.

Stimulus payments directly deposited into IRAs and other tax-favored accounts may be withdrawn tax-free and penalty-free. See news release IR-2008-68.

Check the Economic Stimulus Payments Information Center on IRS.gov for updates. Also in Spanish.