New York Paralegal Blog

Marketers of a weight-loss patch have agreed to pay $110,539 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated two 2004 consent orders by continuing to make false claims that their product causes substantial weight loss and weight loss in all users. After agreeing to the 2004 consent orders, the marketers continued making the same bogus claims they had made previously, but this time they targeted consumers abroad. They made these claims in brochures accompanying shipments of the patches that were intended for sale to overseas consumers. In 2004, Advanced Patch Technologies (APT), its distributor, Buckhead Marketing & Distribution LLC (Buckhead), and their officers, settled FTC charges of deceptive marketing based on their claims that, among other things, the “Peel Away the Pounds” patch would cause substantial weight loss when applied to the skin. That settlement required the defendants to pay more than $1 million in consumer redress. More...

WASHINGTON — A British citizen and former executive of British Airways World Cargo has agreed to plead guilty, serve eight months in jail and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix rates for international air cargo shipments, the Department of Justice announced today. According to the charges filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, Keith Packer, former Commercial General Manager for British Airways World Cargo, and his co-conspirators engaged in a conspiracy to fix the air cargo rates charged to customers for international air shipments, including to and from the U.S., in violation of the Sherman Act. Under the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Packer has agreed to serve eight months in jail, pay a $20,000 criminal fine and cooperate with the Department’s ongoing investigation. More...

MENLO PARK, CA -- Robert Half Legal, a leading provider of highly skilled attorneys, paralegals and legal support personnel on a project and full-time basis, today announced it will exhibit as a gold-level sponsor at the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) 2008 Annual Meeting. More than 2000 attendees, speakers, and exhibitors are expected at the conference to be held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Washington, October 19-22, 2008. Details about the conference can be found at http://am.acc.com . On Tuesday, October 21, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Robert Half Legal, ACC's exclusive staffing partner, will conduct a Continuing Legal Education seminar entitled, “Good to Excellent: Managing and Maintaining a Successful Law Department.” Panelists scheduled to appear are John Morrow, senior vice president and general counsel of Vertafore; Jeffry Shelby, vice president and general counsel, Varolli Corporation; and Charles Volkert, executive director, R...

(openPR) - West Palm Beach, FL – Former Independent presidential candidate Daniel Imperato speaks out in our second interview about the so-called Washington bailout. Though marginalized and blacked out by the major media, tracing his words from the last three years of campaigning will show just how accurate this international businessman has been. Long before our elected officials in congress and the administration even recognized the problems, Imperato was offering solutions for Iraq, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Yemen, relations with China, South America and, of special concern this week, the derivatives market. Imperato called himself the People’s President 2008, and developed a website using that name. Now he offers a solution to the proposed bailout with specific long-term goals for correcting the economic woes in the global financial sector. Because in his words, “what ails America will eventually effect the rest of the global markets.” His ten point program for the ...

(openPR) - A safety lighting technical breakthrough by Chalmit Lighting will deliver significant advances over conventional safety light sources. LaserLite is based on a solid state laser source to provide a continuous 150 metre strip of lighting. Recessed into the floor or installed on the wall near floor level, LaserLite illuminates corridors and stairwells to exits. It is also an ideal way to highlight obstructions or even provide illumination below water. The technology has been jointly developed with Photo Synergy, a company owned by St Andrew’s University, who supply the diode pumped laser light source. Linked to a side-emitting optical fibre cable, the LaserLite is a safe and effective light source for use in oil and gas exploration and processing facilities. The light source can be installed in Zones 1 and 21 and the optical fibre, with no live electrical component is safe for use in Zone 0 hazardous areas. More...

Jamie Harper was last seen on the morning of Saturday, March 10, 2007, at approximately 4:30 a.m. She had attended a party the previous evening in Rantoul, Illinois, and had made plans to spend the night at a friend's house. She never arrived at the friend's house and never returned home. All of her possessions, including her epilepsy medication, were left at her residence. Harper has a pierced nose and a tattoo of a tribal design on her back. She was last seen wearing a white jacket, blue jeans, and sandals, and was carrying a black handbag. Individuals with information concerning this case should take no action themselves, but instead immediately contact the nearest FBI Office or local law enforcement agency. For any possible sighting outside the United States, contact the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate .

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Sterling Jewelers Inc., the largest specialty retail jeweler in the country, violated federal law by discriminating against a large class of female employees at stores nationwide, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charges in a systemic lawsuit filed yesterday under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In its suit, the EEOC asserts that Sterling Jewelers pays its female retail sales employees less than male employees performing equal work and denies female employees promotional opportunities for which they are qualified. Sterling Jewelers intentionally discriminates against female retail sales employees by maintaining a system for making promotion and compensation decisions that is excessively subjective, and through which Sterling Jewelers has permitted or encouraged managers to deny female employees equal access to promotion opportunities and the same compensation paid to similarly situated male employees, the EEOC states in its suit. More...

ALBANY, N.Y. (September 25, 2008) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the indictment of former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek and his wife for taking part in a highly organized narcotics distribution organization that operated in the Capital District and was supplied from Long Island. In an indictment unsealed by Schenectady County Court Judge Karen Drago today, a Grand Jury charged Gregory Kaczmarek, 56, and his wife Lisa Kaczmarek, 48, both of Roma Street in Schenectady, with having participated in a cocaine and marijuana drug distribution ring run by Kerry “Slim” Kirkem, 40, of VanVranken Ave. in Schenectady and Guideboard Road in Waterford. Today’s indictment supersedes a May 2008 indictment that charged 24 defendants, including Lisa Kaczmarek, with being involved in a highly organized narcotic distribution network that brought cocaine and marijuana from Long Island to Schenectady. The Kaczmareks were arraigned this morning in Schenectady County Court. Ba...

Four debt-negotiation companies have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated federal law by falsely claiming they could reduce consumers’ debt by up to 60 percent, leading many people into financial ruin and bankruptcy. The proposed settlements bar them from engaging in further violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The settling defendants were among three individuals and seven companies charged by the FTC with deceptive and unfair practices in violation of the FTC Act (see press releases dated September 21, 2006 and December 5, 2006 ). All of the defendants in the nationwide operation were charged with misrepresenting how much they could reduce consumers’ debt, and not adequately disclosing the likelihood that consumers would be sued if they took the defendants’ advice and stopped paying creditors. The FTC also charged the defendants with not disclosing that consumers’ account balances would grow from interest, interest rate increases, late fees,...

WASHINGTON – A leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced today to life in prison for his participation in a racketeering enterprise, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Edward M. Yarbrough announced. Ronald Fuentes, a/k/a "Spia," was sentenced in Nashville, Tenn., by Chief U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell of the Middle District of Tennessee. At his plea hearing on July 28, 2008, Fuentes admitted that, as a leader of the MS-13 gang, he conspired with others to participate in a pattern of racketeering activity in the Nashville metropolitan area that included murder, attempted murder and witness tampering. Fuentes admitted that in addition to personally committing various acts of violence, he exercised his leadership by enforcing MS-13 rules and inciting other members to attack and kill rival gang members. More...