Surrogate’s Court gears up for e-filing 
By Denise M. Champagne
POSTED: February 3, 2012
Tags: documents, e-filing, Judge A. Gail Prudenti, Surrogate's Court
Most documents in Monroe County Surrogate’s Court will have to be filed electronically beginning March 1.
The court, which has been participating in a voluntary e-filing program since August 2010, will become one of the few in the state where attorneys will be required to e-file all probate and administration proceedings and related miscellaneous proceedings. The [...]
State AG sues banks in foreclosure effort
By The Associated Press
POSTED: February 3, 2012
Tags: Attorney General, Banks, Eric Schneiderman, foreclosure, fraud, MERS
ALBANY — New York’s attorney general on Friday accused some of the nation’s largest banks of deceit and fraud in using an electronic mortgage registry that he said puts homeowners at a disadvantage in foreclosures.
Democrat Eric Schneiderman sued Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo over their use of the Mortgage Electronic Registration [...]
Justice Ginsburg visits mark Arab Spring uprisings
By The Associated Press
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: Arab Spring uprisings, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, travel, U.S. supreme court
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s midwinter break is often used by justices to fly off to sunny vacation spots or European capitals where they address an audience or two on someone else’s tab. But this year, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on a different sort of visit to two North African countries where popular [...]
Police evict Occupy Buffalo from downtown site
By The Associated Press
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: arrests, evicted, Occupy Buffalo
BUFFALO — Police have evicted the Occupy Buffalo encampment from its downtown location near city hall.
Buffalo media outlets report that police officers, including SWAT team members, moved in around 2 a.m. Thursday and arrested 10 demonstrators in Niagara Square. The city’s deadline for the protesters to accept a new agreement to remain there until early [...]
State and police ratify contract
By Daily Record Staff
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: New York PBA, New York State, police contract
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Manuel M. Vilar, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, have announced the ratification of a contract agreement between the state and the labor union representing New York State’s University Police, Park Police, EnCon Officers and Forest Rangers.
The union reports more than 95 percent of its members [...]
Erie County mock trial tournament starts
By Daily Record Staff
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: Erie County Bar Association, mock trial tournament
The first round of the Bar Association of Erie County’s 2012 High School Mock Trial Tournament starts today at the University at Buffalo School of Law in John Lord O’Brian Hall on the school’s Amherst campus.
Teams of students from 29 high schools in Erie and Niagara counties will argue a hypothetical case created by the [...]
NYSBA studies law firm ownership by nonlawyers
By Daily Record Staff
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: law firm ownership, nonlawyers, NYSBA, task force
New York State Bar Association President Vincent E. Doyle III has created a task force to study whether nonlawyers should be allowed to own equity interest in law firms.
The concept has been advanced for discussion by the Commission on Ethics 20/20 of the American Bar Association.
Testifying in New Orleans before the commission, Doyle (Connors & [...]
AG Holder, Republicans square off over documents
By The Associated Press
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: Attorney General, Eric Holder, House Committee, Operation Fast and Furious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Attorney General Eric Holder squared off Thursday with Republicans on a House committee who are demanding that the Justice Department turn over documents about its handling of congressional inquiries into a flawed gun-smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious.
At the start of a hearing, chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the House [...]
Report: NY prison costs are higher than budget
By Todd Etshman
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: Budget, Department of Corrections, prison costs
A study released by the Vera Institute of Justice last week found that New York is one of six states that spend considerably more on prisons than what its correctional budget reflects.
The report titled “The Price of Prisons” found New York state spent almost $812.5 million more on prison related costs in fiscal 2010 than [...]
Courts look to increase juror participation
By Denise M. Champagne
POSTED: February 2, 2012
Tags: jury duty, low response rates, Monroe County, Participation, Seventh District
An outreach plan is being implemented by courts in the Seventh Judicial District to increase participation in the jury system, particularly in Monroe County communities with lower response rates to juror questionnaires and summonses.
Meetings will be scheduled within the next six weeks with the county’s African-American community leaders and others to develop strategies for increasing [...]
Study: Judges tell jurors not to use social media
By Dolan Media Newswires
POSTED: February 1, 2012
Tags: instructions, judges, jurors, social media
Most federal judges tell jurors not to use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools to communicate information about the trials in which they are sitting, according to the results of a survey conducted by the Federal Judicial Center.
About 96 percent of federal judges surveyed said they have taken preventative measures to keep jurors from [...]
Pleas in federal sub-prime mortgage probe
By The Associated Press
POSTED: February 1, 2012
Tags: Credit Suisse, Guilty Pleas, sub-prime mortgage probe
NEW YORK — Two former Credit Suisse traders pleaded guilty to conspiracy and signed cooperation agreements Wednesday in a long-running probe of the federal sub-prime mortgage securities market that was expected to result in more arrests.
Salmaan Siddiqui, who worked for the company in Manhattan, and a former London-based managing director, David Higgs, entered pleas to [...]
