Legal Research

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REPUTED MOBSTER'S LIFE TERM REINSTATED AS COURT REJECTS BAD-ADVICE CLAIM
"The state Supreme Court on Thursday denied a new trial to reputed mobster Martin Taccetta and reinstated his life sentence for racketeering and extortion, rejecting his claim that bad legal advice led him to reject a favorable plea deal. The Court reversed lower court rulings granting post-conviction relief on the ground that given Taccetta's protestations of innocence, accepting the deal would have required him to perjure himself to provide a factual basis. 'Because a trial court cannot give its seal of approval to, or become complicit in, a defendant's plan to commit perjury at a plea hearing, a PCR court, engaging in a hindsight review, cannot hold that a plea would have been acceptable had a defendant lied under oath,' the Court said. "

YEARS AFTER DISBARMENT, EX-LAWYER AGAIN CHARGED WITH THEFT
"A lawyer convicted, jailed and disbarred in 2002 for thieving from his firm apparently wasn't dissuaded from his lawless ways, a new criminal episode suggests. Gregory Luhn has an Aug. 5 court date in Bergen County at which he is expected to enter a plea bargain on charges that he took more than $200,000 from a business acquaintance who sought his help with filling out tax returns. Luhn was disbarred in 2002 after he pleaded guilty to charges of forgery and theft by deception for taking $307,000 from his firm, Smith, Luhn & Doran in Morristown, and $200,000 from University Health Plan of Newark, where he worked as a financial consultant."

THIRD CIRCUIT UPLOADS BAR TO ARBITRATOR SUING LITIGANTS
"An arbitrator cannot sue a lawyer for wrongful use of civil proceedings, even if the lawyer allegedly lodged false accusations in court papers to have the arbitrator disqualified, because lawyers enjoy an "absolute privilege" that immunizes them from liability over any communication made in the course of litigation, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The decision, in Naythons v. Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, upholds the dismissal of a suit brought by a former federal magistrate judge who now works as a private arbitrator. In May 2008, U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb of the District of New Jersey declared that an arbitrator has no standing to pursue an abuse of process claim against litigants, even if the motion to disqualify included false charges, because the arbitrator is not a party to the litigation".

FOR MIDLEVEL ASSOCIATES, A YEAR TO FORGET
"Unhappiness is the sentiment that stands out in the 6,101 replies to The American Lawyer's annual survey of midlevel associates. Associate morale plummeted to the lowest level recorded in the survey's five-year history, as associates expressed anxiety and frustration in the wake of mass layoffs and cuts in survivors' salaries, bonuses and basic perks. Many survey respondents were also disappointed with their firms' pay cuts, reduced or nonexistent bonuses and decreased benefits, and they were troubled by what they saw as a lack of transparency on financial issues and layoffs. The magazine asked approximately 80 questions, including queries about billable hours and the path to partnership."

ATTORNEY EMBARKS ON MULTISTATE HUNT FOR N.J. INVESTOR'S ASSETS
"In another chapter of a long-running fight over a failed land deal, attorney Abbey Kaplan is about to hit the road in search of more than $16 million awarded a client over lost profits. Kaplan, of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine in Miami, represented Downtown Associates in its suit against New Jersey investor Eli Weinstein and his related companies. And while Downtown won the suit, getting paid is the next step in a five-year-old journey that now is likely to take Kaplan to New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As some investors, sellers and lenders head to court in the aftermath of the implosion of the commercial real estate market, more lawyers could be joining the hunt for money over soured deals".