(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.
Kuhne v. Cohen & Slamowitz, LLP, No. 08-1669
In an action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claiming that defendants illegally attempted to collect a debt because they were not licensed to do so in New York, the Court of Appeals certifies the following questions to the New York Court of Appeals: 1) whether defendant was a “debt collection agency” under the pre-amendment version of New York City Administrative Code section 20-489(a); and 2) if so, whether defendant violated New York Gen. Bus. Law section 349.
The New York Law Journal – ; Revocation of Lawyer’s Pension Violated Due Process, Judge Says
By Vesselin Mitev
August 27, 2009
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli improperly revoked the $106,000 annual pension of a Long Island lawyer, an Albany judge has ruled in ordering the state to restore the benefit.
The state violated Albert D’Agostino’s due process rights by “depriving him of continuing retirement benefits prior to granting him a hearing and by failing to provide adequate notice” of the case against him, Acting Supreme Court Justice Gerald W. Connolly ruled in D’Agostino v. DiNapoli, 8134-08.
The court would like to make CM/ECF filers aware of certain security concerns
relating to a software application or “plug-in” called RECAP, which was designed by a group from Princeton University to enable the sharing of court documents on the Internet. This plug-in is currently only available for the latest release of the Firefox web browser.
Once a user loads RECAP, documents that he or she subsequently accesses via PACER are automatically sent to a public Internet repository. Other RECAP/PACER users are then able to see whether documents are available from the Internet repository. RECAP captures District and Bankruptcy Court documents, but has not yet incorporated Appellate Court functionality. At this time, RECAP does not appear to provide users with access to restricted or sealed documents, nor does it function while logged into your CM/ECF account (the plug-in only activates when logged into your PACER account). Please be aware that RECAP is “open-source” software, which can be
freely obtained by anyone with Internet access and modified for benign or malicious purposes, such as facilitating unauthorized access to restricted or sealed documents. Accordingly, CM/ECF filers are reminded to be diligent about their computer security practices to ensure that documents are not inadvertently shared or compromised.
The court and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts will continue to analyze the implications of RECAP or related-software and advise you of any ongoing or further concerns.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Lawrence K. Baerman, Clerk
***
Editor’s Note: for more about the RECAP plugin click here.
JURIST – Paper Chase: Obama administration releases highly anticipated CIA interrogation report
On Monday the DOJ released a much anticipated 2004 Central Intelligence Agency inspector general report [text, PDF] detailing controversial interrogation techniques used on terror detainees.
Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the Internal Revenue Service. This channel will feature videos produced by the IRS on various tax administration topics.
JURIST – Paper Chase: NY appeals court rules governor lacks authority to appoint lieutenant governor
A New York state appeals court ruled [opinion text] Thursday that Governor David Paterson acted beyond the scope of his constitutional authority when he appointed Richard Ravitch lieutenant governor. The Second Judicial Department Appellate Division affirmed a lower court ruling that blocked Ravitch’s appointment.
Tired of delivering the typical stream of status updates on Twitter?
Thanks to an open API and a philosophy of interconnectivity, Twitter’s vast array of third-party services has you covered on a number of alternative uses for the famed microblogging tool.
Click here to take a look at a few of them.
Office of the President
Dear NYSBA Member:
In continuing my theme of “Lawyers Helping Lawyers,” I am pleased to announce that a new form updating and replacing the old Power of Attorney form is available free of charge to State Bar members in an easily downloadable format on our Web site. Also available on our Web site is the Statutory Major Gifts Rider form that must be completed to grant an agent the authority to make major gifts. For more information and to access these free forms, please visit www.nysba.org/poaform.
The new Statutory Durable Power of Attorney is scheduled to go into effect in New York State on September 1, 2009. To assist attorneys in understanding this new law, the State Bar’s Trusts and Estates Law Section and Committee on Continuing Legal Education will present a 2-credit MCLE webcast on Thursday, August 27, 2009 from 1:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. This program also will be broadcast live from the State Bar Center in Albany for those who would like to attend in person. For further details, including registration information for this webcast, please visitwww.nysba.org/POAWebcast.
We are pleased to provide not only an educational program on the new law, but also a free Power of Attorney form. We hope that this package of resources will guide you through this important change in the law. Note that although the specific language of the statutory forms cannot be changed, modifications can be made in subsection (g) of the Power of Attorney form and under paragraphs (b) and (c) of the Major Gifts Rider Authorization. A review committee developed suggested clauses that can be included as modifications in these forms. You are strongly encouraged to insert the clause regarding the revocation of prior powers of attorney in paragraph (g) of the Power of Attorney form. Please note that some of these clauses are mutually exclusive and should be inserted in accordance with the direction/best interests of the Principal.
I am extremely grateful for the assistance and expertise of the many dedicated State Bar members who worked tirelessly in the development of these new forms. Their efforts also were instrumental in delaying the effective date to September 1st, so as to give attorneys additional time to educate the public on what these changes would mean for their clients.
I hope you take advantage of this important member benefit that will greatly assist attorneys in their efforts to provide the best service possible to meet their clients’ needs.
Best regards,
Michael E. Getnick
President, New York State Bar Association
Getnick Livingston Atkinson & Priore, LLP
U.S. Courts | TTB | July 2009 | Internet Materials in Opinions: Citations and Hyperlinking
The Judicial Conference has issued a series of “suggested practices” to assist courts in the use of Internet materials in opinions. The recommendations follow a pilot project conducted by circuit librarians who captured and preserved webpages cited in opinions over a six-month period.
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