Christine Simmons

July 17, 2012 | Law.com

The proposed rules establish a process for the court to designate a caretaker in the temporary management and closure or sale of a law practice on behalf of an attorney who has died, retired, faced discipline such as suspension or disbarment, is incapacitated or is otherwise unable to practice law, permanently or temporarily.

By Christine Simmons

5 minute read

December 10, 2012 | New York Law Journal

Six weeks after Sandy hit New York, lower Manhattan law firms that remain out of their offices are hoping to return by next month but are confronting the possibility it could take much longer.

By Christine Simmons

5 minute read

June 22, 2012 | New York Law Journal

While some courts have long referred cases to arbitration or mediation, lawyers say their clients are voluntarily seeking an out-of-court forum in order to control costs, resolve disputes more quickly and maintain confidentiality.

By Christine Simmons

6 minute read

August 28, 2012 | New York Law Journal

A Southern District judge has found that there's not enough evidence to prove a real estate lawyer used his firm for alleged racketeering activities, calling his use of standard office supplies "incidental."

By Christine Simmons

4 minute read

May 02, 2012 | New York Law Journal

Bronx Supreme Court Justice Douglas McKeon declined to dismiss the case stemming from an alleged sexual assault by Dominique Strauss-Kahn while he was the head of the International Monetary Fund.

By Christine Simmons

5 minute read

June 04, 2012 | New York Law Journal

This year's rankings document the calm before the storm that broke in New York's legal industry with the collapse of Dewey & LeBoeuf. Collectively, the total number of full-time equivalent attorneys in the city's biggest practices dropped slightly in 2011, reflecting the continued impact of a recession that has left in its wake insufficient demand to fuel additional hiring at every firm.

By Christine Simmons

7 minute read

May 01, 2013 | Law.com

In addition to the new reporting requirement, the voluntary pro bono goal for lawyers in the state was increased to 50 hours a year from 20. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman denied that the changes are a prelude to the imposition of mandatory pro bono, which some bar groups and individual lawyers have opposed for years.

By Joel Stashenko and Christine Simmons

6 minute read

June 18, 2012 | Law.com

Legal observers contacted after the verdict against Rajat Gupta on June 15 were particularly impressed that the conviction achieved by the Southern District U.S. Attorney's office was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.

By Tom Hays and Christine Simmons

9 minute read

August 23, 2012 | Law.com

Employment attorney Matthew Blit has filed a defamation suit against an adversary who claimed in open court that Blit files frivolous suits against high-profile figures to extract money from them in a "shakedown." The adversary, Richard Savitt, made those claims during a May court hearing on a motion to dismiss involving his client's own libel suit against Blit, of Levine & Blit.

By Christine Simmons

5 minute read

November 09, 2012 | New York Law Journal

In narrowing the scope of cases to which the proposals would apply - to those with $50 million or more in assets and $50 million or more in liabilities as opposed to cases with a combined $50 million in assets and liabilities - the agency was responding to intense criticism from firms calling "burdensome" and "ethically unacceptable" the agency's new recommendations for attorneys' fee applications.

By Christine Simmons

6 minute read