Newsbriefs

Appellate Division, Second Department Justice Robert A. Spolzino (See Profile), citing the fact that state judges have not received a raise in more than a decade, will rejoin the law firm he left when he became a Supreme Court justice in 2001. At the end of September, Justice Spolzino, who has been on the Second Department since 2004, again will become a partner at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, a 750-lawyer firm, where he will litigate and expand the firm’s commercial and appellate practices. In a statement issued yesterday, Justice Spolzino said he would never have left a “job I love so much if it were not for the judicial salary situation in New York.” Eight years ago, Justice Spolzino recalled, he and his family realized that joining the bench would entail a financial sacrifice, but with no raise since then “I can no longer ask them to do that.” At the Appellate Division, Justice Spolzino earns $144,000. At Wilson Elser, where he will work in the White Plains office, he said, “I will be paid an amount appropriate for someone with 25 years of legal experience.” — Daniel Wise

Bank to Pay $33 Million In Merrill Bonuses Case

Bank of America yesterday agreed to pay $33 million for charges allegedly misleading investors about billions in bonuses it agreed to pay Merrill Lynch & Co. executives when it was on the verge of acquiring Merrill for $50 billion in a 2008 merger. The payment settles a civil suit filed in the Southern District by the Securities & Exchange Commission. The SEC charged that proxy materials sent to Bank of America shareholders on the proposed acquisition stated that Merrill Lynch had agreed not to pay performance bonuses and other compensation to executives prior to the closing of the merger when, in fact, Bank of America had already contractually authorized Merrill Lynch to pay up to $5.8 billion. Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, released a statement saying, “Companies must give shareholders all material information about corporate transactions they are asked to approve. Failing to disclose that a struggling company will pay out billions of dollars of performance bonuses obviously violates that duty and warrants the significant financial penalty imposed by today’s settlement.” Bank of America agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the allegations. “Bank of America believes that the settlement…represents a constructive conclusion to this issue,” company spokesman Scott Silvestri said in an e-mailed statement. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who referred the case to the SEC in April, said his investigation is continuing. The SEC said its probe also is ongoing. Lewis J. Liman of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton represented Bank of America. David Rosenfeld, associate regional director for the New York regional office, was lead counsel for the SEC. — Mark Hamblett, Associated Press

Law Establishes Protocols For Relocating Courts