New York Paralegal Blog

By LUCILE SCOTT BROOKLYN (CN) - The New York Daily News defamed an innocent man by publishing his photo atop an article about a dentist who pleaded guilty to bilking Medicaid for $500,000, the pictured man claims in court.

NYCPA Annual Election & General Meeting May 23, 2010 6:30 - 8:30 PM North Star Fund 520 Eighth Avenue, Suite 2203 New York, NY 10018 Between 36th & 37th Street |Subway: 34th Street – Penn Station

An indictment was unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn this morning charging Agron Hasbajrami, a legal U.S. resident and Albanian citizen residing in New York City, with providing material support to terrorists.1 Hasbajrami is scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge John Gleeson.

University at Buffalo Law School, The Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy Monday, September 12 & Tuesday 13, 2011 Forty years ago, the deadliest prisoner rebellion in U.S. history occurred. Next month, a major conference will bring together prisoner advocates, legislators, policymakers, corrections professionals, activists, and people who were on the front lines of the conflict, on both sides.

Racism Is Alive And Well In New York NEW YORK – New York University, the largest private university in the United States and one of New York City’s ten biggest employers, will pay $210,000 and furnish other relief to settle a race and national origin harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had alleged that NYU violated federal law by subjecting an African-born employee to a hostile work environment that included degrading verbal harassment.

A bill for licensing paralegals in New York state would be something to get excited about if the reason for its introduction were not suspect. The justification of this bill is as follows :

Last night, the New York Yankees lost their sixth straight game but this time it was not completely the fault of the offense. A.J. Burnett was in cruise control for most of his start and after a three run homer by Curtis Granderson , all he needed to do was pitch two more solid innings. Instead, he surrendered a four run lead in the sixt h inning on home runs my Matt Joyce and B.J. Upton to make it 6-5 and the Yankees was shell shocked. Why does this happen to every New York team in almost every professional sport? The Mets choked back to back seasons in '07 and '08 when leading their division, the Knicks get too complacent and can't ever seem to bury a team, the Rangers can never seem to play a good game when they really need to, both New York football choke when they can't afford it, and now we can add the Yankees to that list. As a New York sports fan, I know how sick we are of our teams constantly doing this. Whatever is wrong with the Yankees, they be...

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today pledged to sue the federal government if it doesn’t commit in 30 days to conducting a full environmental review of proposed regulations that would allow natural gas drilling – including the potentially harmful "fracking" technique – in the Delaware River Basin. The Basin includes the New York City watershed and portions of Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Schoharie, Green, Ulster, Orange and Sullivan Counties, and provides approximately 50 percent of the drinking water used by over nine million New York residents and visitors every day. “Both the law and common sense dictate that the federal government must fully assess the impact of its actions before opening the door to gas fracking in New York,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “New Yorkers are correctly concerned about fracking's potential dangers to their environment, health and communities, and I will use the full authority of my office, including aggressive ...

LOS ANGELES—Lenny Dykstra, who played outfield for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies baseball clubs and later gained notoriety as a stock picker, has been charged with bankruptcy fraud for allegedly selling items from his $18 million mansion in Ventura County. Lenny Kyle Dykstra, 48, who is currently residing in Encino, was named in a one-count criminal complaint filed Wednesday that accuses Dykstra of one count of embezzling from a bankruptcy estate. The federal criminal case against Dykstra was announced today after he was taken into custody last night at his residence by local authorities on unrelated charges. The federal charges stem from a bankruptcy case that Dykstra filed on July 7, 2009. The criminal case filed in United States District Court alleges that Dykstra removed, destroyed, and sold property that was part of the bankruptcy estate without the permission of the bankruptcy trustee. According to court documents, after Dykstra filed for bankruptcy, he sold...

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the passage of the 2011-2012 budget that eliminates a $10 billion deficit. The budget includes historic reforms that redesign state government, create efficiencies through consolidation, cap spending increases for education and Medicaid, and transform the future budgeting process. The approximately $132.5 billion budget reduces spending overall by more than 2 percent from the previous year, eliminates 3,700 prison beds, establishes Regional Economic Development Councils, brings performance funding to education, redesigns Medicaid, and caps next year's education and Medicaid spending.

STATEMENT OF MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON SENATE'S LAST IN FIRST OUT PROPOSAL "The Senate compromise makes sense in both the short and long term - it will enable us to keep the best teachers this year and achieve our share d goal of quickly implementing a new teacher evaluation system that will eventually be used to guide any future layoff decisions." There is no such thing as a good teacher or a bad teacher. There is only office politics, manipulation and who gets all the problem children. All of New York City's school teachers are well educated and qualified for the job that they have been hired to do. The question that the teacher's union and the public needs to ask is who is stacking the deck when it comes to assigning students to a particular teacher and classroom? Is Sally Super Teacher, doing a good job because she is teaching the same group of children that have historically performed well in class prior to Sally Super Teachers arrival or did Sally Sup...

It is going to be a great year for for New York Paralegal Blog. Please keep reading my blog so you will not miss out on the wonderful surprises that I have in store for my readers.

Former New York State Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo was convicted today by a federal jury in Albany, N.Y., of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe. Spargo, 66, was convicted following a three-day jury trial. Evidenced introduced at trial showed that on Nov. 13, 2003, Spargo solicited a $10,000 payment from an attorney with cases pending before him in Ulster County, while Spargo was serving as a state supreme court justice. The trial evidence showed that when the attorney declined to pay the money, Spargo increased the pressure by a second solicitation communicated through an associate. According to evidence presented at trial, on Dec. 19, 2003, Spargo directly told the attorney in a telephone conversation that he and another judge close to him had been assigned to handle cases in Ulster County, including the attorney’s personal divorce case. According to the evidence at trial, the attorney felt that if he did not pay the money, both the cases handled by his law firm an...

New York-( 10/16/08)-Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo met today with Edward M. Liddy, the new Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) In a candid discussion, the Attorney General laid out his serious concerns regarding executive compensation issues and exorbitant expenses at AIG. The meeting in the Attorney General’s New York City Offices occurred one day after Attorney General Cuomo informed AIG that it must recover improper bonuses and other payments and perks from its former executives or Cuomo would do so pursuant to New York law. During the meeting, Mr. Liddy agreed to take several significant actions with respect to expenditures at AIG. First, AIG has agreed to provide the New York Attorney General’s Office with an accounting of all compensation paid to its senior executives and has agreed to assist the Attorney General’s Office in recovering any illegal expenditures. This includes all forms of compensation paid to former CEO Martin Sull...

Washington, D.C. - The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting an Information Technology (IT) Security Expo on Sept. 24, 2008, at its Alexandria, Va. campus. The event is free and open to the public. Special speakers will kick off the event beginning at 9:00 a.m. while vendor booths will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. More than 30 vendors will showcase and demonstrate the latest in IT security hardware and software, and also will provide information on techniques and trends in the growing field of IT security. Visitors to the expo will be able to take away with them ideas and information that can be critical to both business and personal computer use. WHAT: IT Security Expo WHEN: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. WHO: As an added feature of the expo, the following presentations will be given by noted experts in the field of IT security: 9:00 a.m. - Mr. Roy Stephan, Director of IT Architecture & E...

Join us as we celebrate our continued success at the trendy Manhattan hot spot Latitude Bar and Lounge on September 23rd. Network with other career paralegals, paralegal students and other law firm staff. All members will receive a free gift! Come for valuable info and prizes! Our event will take place 7 to 9 pm at Latitude Bar and Lounge, 783 8th Avenue (between 47th & 48th Streets). Please RSVP to events@nyc-pa.org as soon as possible so we can accommodate members at our reserved tables. The event is free for members. Non members are welcome for a nominal fee of $15.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today that it has settled its employment lawsuit on behalf of Tracey Marshall, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, against the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Hillsborough County, Fla.The Department’s complaint, filed last October in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, alleged that the Clerk’s Office violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The Clerk’s Office failed to reemploy Marshall in her prior position as supervisor of the Clerk’s Court Clerk II Section of the Circuit Criminal Division when she return from active duty in October 2005. In addition, it is alleged that the Clerk’s Office retaliated against Marshall after she took action under USERRA, by transferring her from the Clerk’s Circuit Criminal Division to the Clerks Traffic Department, which offered a lower pay rate. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the Clerk’s Office will reinstate Marshall to Manager of the Court Cl...

(BLS) - Earnings of paralegals and legal assistants vary greatly. Salaries depend on education, training, experience, the type and size of employer, and the geographic location of the job. In general, paralegals who work for large law firms or in large metropolitan areas earn more than those who work for smaller firms or in less populated regions. In May 2006, full-time wage-and-salary paralegals and legal assistants had median annual earnings, including bonuses, of $43,040. The middle 50 percent earned between $33,920 and $54,690. The top 10 percent earned more than $67,540, and the bottom 10 percent earned less than $27,450. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of paralegals were: Federal Government $56,080 Management of companies and enterprises 52,220 Local government 42,170 Legal services 41,460 State government 38,020 In addition to earning a salary, many paralegals receive bonuses, in part, to compensate them for sometimes having to work l...

WASHINGTON—Colorite Specialty Resins, headquartered in Somerville, N.J., has agreed to perform corrective measures at its Burlington, N.J., manufacturing facility that will reduce harmful emissions of vinyl chloride to resolve alleged violations of federal and state environmental laws, the Justice Department, the State of New Jersey, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. Along with the corrective remedies, Colorite will pay a $1.3 million civil penalty to be split between the United States and the State of New Jersey. Colorite will also perform two federal environment projects valued at over $1 million that will further reduce vinyl chloride emissions from the facility. Colorite’s facility manufactures PVC plastic and vinyl products. As part of its manufacturing processes, the facility emits vinyl chloride. EPA has classified vinyl chloride as a Group A human carcinogen. Exposure to the chemical has been linked to adverse human health effects, including liver c...