New York Paralegal Blog

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a sweeping new initiative that will give the Attorney General the authority to investigate and potentially prosecute any wrongdoing involving government spending, including member items, contracts, and pension fraud. By working with the Comptroller to police public integrity in Albany, the Attorney General is building on his multi-pronged approach to root out waste, fraud and corruption in state government. “As stewards of the public trust, we are all responsible for doing our part to crack down on public corruption with every tool at our disposal. We need to be smarter, faster and more efficient than what current law allows,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “That is why it is critical we close every loophole that exists in current law as part of comprehensive ethics legislation. We need such legislation now more than ever, and I look forward to working with the Governor and legislative leaders in the coming weeks t...

A bill intended to prevent parties from using the federal judicial process to conceal matters that harm the public health or safety circumvents the prescribed method of changing court rules, a federal judge told a congressional subcommittee. U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz of Connecticut testified in behalf of the Judicial Conference of the United States before the House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. He chairs the Conference’s Advisory Committee on Civil Rules. Kravitz said the Conference opposes the Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5884) “on the ground that it effectively amends the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure outside the rule-making process,” contrary to federal law. “Direct amendment of the federal rules through legislation, even when the rule-making process has been completed, circumvents the careful safeguards that Congress itself established,” he said. The bill at issue would impose requirements on federal judges for sealing certain materials in...