In the bitter breakup between the equity partners of Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ordered Paul Napoli to reimburse the partnership $415,000 that was used without a receiver's authorization and ordered all property to be returned immediately to the firm's New York City office.

“This is and it remains a disaster,” Bransten said in court Thursday. “It remains a disaster because there are too many people depending on the quality of the work that Napoli Bern and all its various partnerships do. … Clients depend on the attorneys, not the other way around.”

Justice BranstenNYLJ/Rick Kopstein