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Justices reject appeal by Adelphia founder, son
Legal News |
2008/03/03 11:20
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| The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday an appeal by Adelphia Communications Corp founder John Rigas and his son Timothy of their conspiracy and fraud convictions.span id=midArticle_byline/spanspan id=midArticle_0/spanpThe justices declined to review a ruling by a U.S. appeals court in New York which upheld the pair's convictions on 22 of 23 counts of conspiracy and securities and bank fraud./pspan id=midArticle_1/spanpA jury found the father and son guilty in 2004 of the charges that accused them of concealing loans and stealing millions from the cable operator./pspan id=midArticle_2/spanpJohn Rigas, formerly Adelphia's president and chief executive officer, was sentenced in 2005 to 15 years in prison, while Timothy Rigas, the former finance chief, was sentenced to 20 years. They began serving their prison terms last year./pspan id=midArticle_3/spanpIn the appeal, defense attorneys argued that federal prosecutors were required to prove that John and Timothy Rigas had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or call an expert accounting witness in order to convict them of securities fraud./pspan id=midArticle_4/spanpThe attorneys also argued that the reversal by the appeals court of the bank fraud convictions on count 23 for John and Timothy Rigas required the reversal of their bank fraud convictions on count 22./p |
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Peloton hedge fund to liquidate and close shop
Legal News |
2008/03/02 12:38
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| Peloton Partners LLP, a London-based hedge fund that formerly held nearly $3 billion in assets, is liquidating its two funds and shutting down, the firm told investors on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the situation.span id=midArticle_byline/spanspan id=midArticle_0/spanpPeloton last week told investors that it was liquidating its $2 billion ABS Fund after lender banks pulled back on credit. It held out hopes that it could salvage its second fund, the $1.6 billion Multi-Strategy Fund, even though some 40 percent of that fund's assets were invested in the ABS Fund./pspan id=midArticle_1/spanpToday, however, the fund told investors that the Multi-Strategy Fund is being liquidated in coming days, with the proceeds returned to investors, the source said./pspan id=midArticle_2/spanpIt is unclear at this point what proceeds, if any, investors will get from the liquidation of the two funds, the company told investors./p |
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Law Firm Warns Of Looming Katrina Lawsuit Deadline
Legal News |
2008/02/28 14:05
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| That's significant not only in it being leap year, but it's also exactly six months until the deadline for anyone with a Katrina insurance dispute to file a lawsuit against insurance companies. Now one law firm is launching a campaign telling people who haven't decided whether to take their claim to court, not to wait until it's too late. pThe Merlin Law Group has already fought for hundreds of people unhappy with how their insurance companies handled their Katrina claims. Attorney Chip Merlin says he worries about the thousands who have yet to join the battle./ppThere's a whole bunch of people who've filed claims and they've been paid, said Merlin. Sometimes they've been paid a little bit, sometimes they've been paid a lot. But they're still owed some more. Insurance companies bank on people just giving up./ppBeginning February 29th, the Merlin Law Group will start running print and television ads letting people know the clock it ticking down./ppThe deadline effectively stops people's ability to collect from the insurance company, Merlin said. You have to have a lawsuit filed by that time. It doesn't mean the lawsuit is over with. It just means you have to have it filed./ppMerlin says he's not concerned about where people who lost their homes and businesses go to find legal representation, just that they go and quickly. /ppI don't think it's right for insurance companies to cheat people and not pay the full amount that's owed, said Merlin. I've devoted my adult life to this and I believe that, regardless if they go to my law firm or any other law firm anywhere, it would be really wrong in our society if we allowed insurance companies to cheat people. They shouldn't just let the claim go away because they don't think it's worth the hassle./ppAttorney Chip Merlin says many attorneys don't charge to review the merits of a claim, and will work on contingency. He says as the deadline for Katrina suits loomed in Louisiana last year, people were lined up outside the courthouse./p |
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Four law firms dominate school district services
Legal News |
2008/02/25 11:21
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On Long Island, where public education is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, four law firms control more than 60 percent of the estimated cost for legal services.
In 106 of the 124 school districts, $56.9 million was spent for legal fees from 2000 through 2004 -- $16.4 million alone during the 2003-2004 school year. Experts say legal costs have grown since then, with lawyers handling a wide range of issues from personnel and union issues to special education lawsuits.
The four law firms -- Guercio amp; Guercio in Farmingdale; Ingerman Smith in Hauppauge; Ehrlich, Frazer amp; Feldman, and Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman, both of Garden City -- earned the majority of that total amount during that period, the most recent data available to Newsday.
Some experts say that consolidation of legal services is expected because educational law is highly specialized and few lawyers are experts at it.
In an unprecedented series of moves that have unfolded in rapid-fire fashion in the past week, three of these firms -- Guercio amp; Guercio being the exception -- that have attorneys whose arrangements with school dalso heard oral arguments in Warner-Lambert v. Kent, 06-1498, where the Court considered whether federal law preempts a Michigan law that allows personal injury lawsuits against prescription drug manufacturers only when the drug at issue was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration based on the fraudulent submission or withholding of information./p |
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