News In Brief

Chances appear to be fading for a negotiated settlement in a lawsuit by five county bar groups to prevent New York City from moving most of 44,000 conflict cases from court-appointed private lawyers to institutional providers such as the Legal Aid Society. Amid signs that three of the five bar groups may oppose the settlement in its present form, Manhattan Acting Supreme Court Justice Anil Singh on Friday gave the groups permission to amend their papers. He also set a new briefing schedule that delays submission of the case until Oct. 4 at the earliest. The city is unlikely to accept any settlement that is not embraced by all five of the bar group plaintiffs in New York County Lawyers’ Association v. Bloomberg, 107216/10, several sources said, because any group that is not on board could continue the litigation on its own.

While it was unclear what the bar associations wanted to add to their papers, a change to the law governing the appointment of private lawyers to represent poor criminal defendants under Article 18-B of the County Law enacted since the lawsuit was filed on June 2 may give the groups added legal firepower (NYLJ, Aug. 25).