Joel Stashenko

June 13, 2016 | New York Law Journal

The First Amendment rights of a Christian evangelist were violated by police enforcement of a 40-foot buffer zone around entrances to the site of an annual gay pride festival in Syracuse, a federal judge ruled.

By Joel Stashenko

8 minute read

June 13, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A Brooklyn judge said he was convinced it would have been out of character for 80-year-old Mary Mitchell to willingly display such generosity, but she was subject to doing what those around her told her.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

June 13, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Yates County Court Judge W. Patrick Falvey said it was clear from medical records that Donna McKay voluntarily checked herself into a hospital while suffering from an anxiety attack, circumstances that do not constitute a "commitment."

By Joel Stashenko

4 minute read

June 10, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A Rochester City Court judge should be censured for trying to intercede with a state Supreme Court justice who was hearing a suit the city judge filed against an auto insurer, the state Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Thursday.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

June 10, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A divided Court of Appeals has rejected a broadening of the common-interest exception to attorney-client privilege, ruling that it may not be invoked to protect from discovery documents that have been shared with third parties unless the materials are related to pending or anticipated litigation.

By Joel Stashenko

15 minute read

June 09, 2016 | New York Law Journal

District attorneys made an 11th-hour appeal to state legislators Wednesday to oppose the creation of a commission to investigate complaints about overzealous or unethical prosecutors and recommend sanctions, including possible removal from office.

By Joel Stashenko

4 minute read

June 09, 2016 | New York Law Journal

The plaintiffs in 'Prometheus Realty v. New York City Water Board' contend that the board overstepped its authority in approving a credit for owners of 1-, 2- and 3-family dwellings, and that apartment, condo and co-op buildings pay a disproportionate amount of the cost of supplying water services in the city.

By Joel Stashenko

4 minute read

June 08, 2016 | New York Law Journal

After his client had been convicted twice of murdering his estranged wife and a third trial ended with a deadlocked jury, a desperate defense attorney, Bruce Barket, adopted a winning strategy: he would leave his client's fate in the hands of a judge he had studied carefully.

By Joel Stashenko

18 minute read

June 08, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A trial judge's failure to dispose of a note from deliberating jurors in a "meaningful" way before accepting the jury's verdict is not a proceedings error requiring automatic reversal, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

By Joel Stashenko

6 minute read

June 08, 2016 | New York Law Journal

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment Tuesday of six new judges, most of whom are attorneys in the Office of Court Administration or staff attorneys in state courts.

By Joel Stashenko

3 minute read