Daily Record (Rochester, NY) articles from February 2003

Daily Record (Rochester, NY) archives from February 2003

Insurer not responsible for clean-up costs.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen In a case where the plaintiff sought indemnification for costs associated with the clean-up of hazardous materials, is the plaintiff's insurer entitled to summary judgment, based on its assertion that an exclusion...

New chief atty. for Grievance Committee for NY State Supreme Court Appellate Division.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff David L. Edmunds, Jr. has been appointed to the position of chief attorney for the Grievance Committee for the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, Fourth Department effective February 18, 2003. He...

American Corp. Council Assn. chapter holds annual meeting.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Luckily the skies were bright and roads were dry for members of the Central and Western New York Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association (ACCA) to get together for their annual meeting in Rochester last...

Gleason Works gets license fees in patent settlement.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In Friday's edition of The Daily Record, several motions pertaining to a patent infringement case were discussed in a write up regarding the U.S. District Court for the District of Western New York's November...

Women's Bar Assn. Calendar.
February 3, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Western New York Chapter of the Women's Bar Association of the State of New York notes the following events in their calendar: February 4, 2003 Co Networking dinner at 6:30 p.m. at The CafE[umlaut] in the...

Authors of new book give strategies for improving business growth.
February 4, 2003... Byline: N.Y. Daily Record Staff Will an offsite retreat clarify strategies and tactics that will take your business to new successes this year? Are there old habits that need to be abandoned to help ensure future growth? According to...

AG proposes reforms of state corporate accountability laws.
February 4, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has proposed a series of reforms to strengthen New York's corporate accountability laws. The proposals are designed to close the type of loopholes that have...

New book discusses advantages of offsite retreats for businesses.
February 4, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Will an offsite retreat clarify strategies and tactics that will take your business to new successes this year? Are there old habits that need to be abandoned to help ensure future growth? According to...

Plea stands, court rejects claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
February 4, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Was the petitioner denied due process after the state trial court failed to appoint new counsel and hold a hearing on his motion to withdraw his guilty plea? Did he receive ineffective assistance of counsel when his...

NY State Bar Assn. names Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year.
February 4, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff When asked about Rochester attorney Elizabeth A. Wolford, Rochester City Court Judge Ann E. Pfeiffer said, "She graduated from law school and hit the ground running with enthusiasm, intelligence and dedication to...

Kindergarten graduation at core of lawsuit.
February 4, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Should the plaintiffs' motion to dismiss without prejudice be granted? Will defendant be unduly prejudiced by a Rule 41(a)(2) dismissal after conclusion of discovery in this case? U.S. District Court Judge William M....

Civil claims for false arrest rejected.
February 5, 2003... Byline: Deborah Fauver After all charges for robbery, grand larceny and assault were resolved in plaintiff's favor, should he be able to survive summary judgment on his civil claims for false arrest, malicious prosecution, false...

Intellectual property topic of e-Business Assn. meeting.
February 5, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones What is "intellectual property" and is it necessary to spend resources to protect it? These were among the questions that drew business owners and professionals to an e-Business Association (eBA) breakfast meeting last...

More discovery needed to review expert's statements.
February 5, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Should the petition for a writ of habeas corpus be granted on the grounds that his due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment were violated because the prosecution knew or should have known that its expert...

Judge Affronti begins Supreme Court re-election campaign.
February 5, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff New York State Supreme Court Judge Francis A. Affronti has announced his candidacy for re-election to the bench. He is seeking a second 14-year term. His first campaign fundraiser, an attorney luncheon...

Computer hacker convicted of spying on judge.
February 5, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff It only took a jury two hours to agree on convicting a Pittsburgh man on three counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer. Evidence showed that Brian T. Ferguson, 43, gained access to the America...

Magistrate denies defendant's motion to add 3rd-parties.
February 6, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen Should the court grant the defendant's motion for leave to amend to add third-parties even though the defendant failed to file its motion by the scheduling deadline set by the court? In addressing this issue in...

Statements to ambulance personnel are admissible.
February 6, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Should the statements the defendant made to ambulance personnel after he invoked his right to counsel be suppressed? Should a blood test the defendant took be suppressed because it was taken over two hours after his...

U.S. District Court judges host 'town meeting'.
February 6, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Following a continuing legal education program on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and recent amendments to the local rules, several of the judges from the U.S. District Court for the Western District assembled to...

NY State Bar Assn. president strives to strengthen reputation of attorneys.
February 6, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In a letter to members of the New York State Bar Association, current President Lorraine Power Tharp reaffirmed her commitment to highlight the efforts of attorneys and their contributions to society. "The...

NY State Conference of Bar Leaders names 2002 Awards of Merit recipients.
February 7, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The New York State Conference of Bar Leaders has named the recipients of its 2002 Awards of Merit for local bar associations and honored the recipients at the New York State Bar Association's 126th Annual...

NY Court of Appeals lists filings for Dec. 27- Jan. 2.
February 7, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week and filed with the New York State Court of Appeals. Some of these filed appeals may never...

West teams with NY State Reporter's office to enhance collection of NY case law.
February 7, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff West, a Thomson business, has teamed with the New York State Reporter's office to create a comprehensive and authoritative collection of New York case law and expert analysis, available only on Westlaw. West...

Were insurer's, insured's communications protected opinion or actionable defamation?
February 7, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Does a Western New York optometrist have sufficient grounds to sue an insurance company for defamation? Were the various communications by the insurer about the insured "protected opinion" or actionable defamation? ...

Requested bank documents not deemed attorney work product.
February 7, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Should a law firm be compelled to turn over bank records for certain accounts belonging to its clients as part of a criminal investigation? In, In Re: Grand Jury Subpoenas Dated March 19, 2002 and August 2, 2002...

Supervising judges named for family, criminal court.
February 7, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Judge Richard C. Kloch, Sr. has been named supervising judge of Criminal Courts and Judge Michael F. Griffith has been appointed supervising judge of Family Courts in the Eighth Judicial District. New York...

Recalcitrant worker issue to be resolved at trial.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller What was the true cause of the plaintiff's accident, his negligence or the negligence of his employer? Is a utility company liable for the accident because the plaintiff, a nonemployee of the utility, was working on one...

Foundation of the Monroe County Bar tallies Holiday Appeal.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Foundation of the Monroe County Bar collected more than $7,500 in contributions in this year's Holiday Appeal. With 60 individuals and organizations participating, this surpassed the previous year's...

Police actions deemed objectively reasonable.
February 10, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Asserting violations of his due process rights and deprivation of property, does the plaintiff have a valid claim against police officers in the Town of Seneca? Are the defendants entitled to summary judgment on a...

Resignations, disciplinary actions in Fourth Department.
February 11, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Appellate Division, Fourth Department handled the following resignations and disciplinary actions in its latest round of decisions. Matter Of Judi Emi Morris, An Attorney, Resignor. -- Voluntary...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 11, 2003.
February 11, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In criminal law decisions of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, the court addressed sentencing issues and removal of a seated juror. In an unusual proceeding -- a writ of prohibition commenced in the...

Motion to set aside default entry granted.
February 11, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen In a case where the plaintiff alleged that the defendants violated state and federal anti-discrimination laws, should the court grant the plaintiff's cross-motion to set aside the clerk's entry of default even though...

Trucking company's hiring policy doesn't violate ADA.
February 11, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Did the defendant, a motor carrier company, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act when it failed to employ over-the-road truck drivers who used prescription medications with side effects that could impair the...

Rules governing conduct of nonjudicial court employees modified.
February 11, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Part One of Two. New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye has repealed, effective immediately, Part 6 and sections 25.37, 25.38, 25.39 and 24.40 of the Rules of the Chief Judge, and adopted, effective...

Rochester Chapter of the Assn. of Legal Administrators donates books, cash.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Hats off to members of the Rochester Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators who participated in the 2002 Community Challenge, collecting books and donations for the Early Learning Center at Wilson...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 12, 2003.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Among the criminal cases most recently decided by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, the court considered a defendant's claim that he was coerced to plead guilty, and reviewed a conviction for depraved...

Injured insulation installer accepts $2M settlement.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff A former Western New York insulation installer accepted an insurance settlement totaling $2,016,201.00 for injuries sustained as a result of his fall from a temporary staircase installed during a new home...

Where terrorism alleged, harsh sentencing guidelines are valid.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Does the terrorism guideline, [section] 3A1.4 of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines double count by increasing both the offense level and the criminal history category for a felony involving an act of terrorism? This...

Rules governing conduct of nonjudicial court employees modified Part 2.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye has repealed, effective immediately, Part 6 and sections 25.37, 25.38, 25.39 and 24.40 of the Rules of the Chief Judge, and adopted, effective immediately, a new Part 50...

Debtor failed to avoid the smaller of two mortgages.
February 12, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Did the debtor establish grounds for avoiding the smaller of two mortgages under Bankruptcy Code [section] 1322(b)(2)? Was the subsequently recorded mortgage void for lack of sufficient value in the residence to cover...

Injunction against destruction of electronic data granted.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In Dodge Warren & Peters v. Riley, a case regarding pre-trial discovery of electronic evidence, the California Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of a preliminary injunction granted by the trial court, in regard...

New case mgmt., electronic case filing system coming soon to bankruptcy court.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones The staff of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York is up to their eyeballs in a project that will ultimately make them more efficient and increase customer service. The project involves...

Fellow to focus on legal needs of Rochester's deaf population.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Spencer Phillips, a third year law student at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, has been selected as the first Hanna S. Cohn Equal Justice Fellow. Phillips will begin work at the Public...

Court dismisses ADA claims against Kaleida Health.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen Is the defendant healthcare provider immune from plaintiff's claims of constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. [section] 1983 and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? In Carlos Bayon v. Kaleida...

Two Monroe County Assistant DAs called to active duty.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller As prosecutors in the Monroe County District Attorney's office, Ray Ruhlmann and Matt Nafus have built reputations as excellent trial attorneys. However, this isn't the only thing the two men have in common. Both...

Campaign For Justice 2002 fundraising update.
February 13, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Volunteer Legal Services Project, Inc. has confidence that it will meet its very ambitious fundraising goal this year. Steve Brown, the campaign coordinator, said, "As of today, the campaign is tantalizingly...

Survey rates Websites of nation's 250 largest law firms.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Piper Rudnick joined Faegre & Benson and Morrison & Foerster, scoring top honors in the 2003 website ratings and review of the 250 largest law firms in the U.S. The independent survey was conducted by...

Commentary: 'Black marker redaction' inconsistent with electronic records.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) asserts that "black marker redaction is inappropriate in an age of electronic record keeping," in its amicus curiae brief filed in Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 14, 2003.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In recent Appellate Division, Fourth Department decisions, the issues included the legal sufficiency of evidence of a defendant's involvement in an Onondaga County homicide, and a "challenge for cause" of a...

Police officer's employment discrimination claims rejected.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Deborah Fauver Does a string of anti-Native American comments from a police department supervisor, and from co-officers, coming on the heels of an Easter Mass in a police department roll call room, give plaintiff, a Native...

Irondequoit resident wins Ultimate Volvo Giveaway.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff "I've been contributing to the pot for years, so I was thrilled to learn that my name was drawn," was the reaction Irondequoit resident Alan Ozminkowski had upon hearing his name was drawn as the winner of a...

Judge's inattention to ethical standards results in censure.
February 14, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has censured an Elmira City Court judge after it determined that the judge acted as an attorney in four cases using court facilities and personnel. The Commission...

Home sales start 2003 off on high note.
February 18, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Sales of existing single family homes are off to a good start in 2003. According to the Genesee Region Real Estate Information Service, the information division of the Realtors association, January sales of existing...

Change in defendant's offender status granted.
February 18, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Should the Board of Examiner's request for an upward departure of the defendant's Level 2 Offender to a Level 3, under the Sex Offender Registration Act, be granted? In the People v. Anthony Barnwell the Board of...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 18, 2003.
February 18, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In an appeal from a felony DWI conviction, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department held that no "six-month rule" exists to bar the introduction of breath test results. Another decision filed by the court on...

White House Correspondent speaks at Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon.
February 18, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen "Thank You, Mr. President," - In her many years as a White House Correspondent, Helen Thomas has established a tradition of saying those words at the close of every presidential press conference since 1961. On...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 19, 2003.
February 19, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Weapons Possession -- Lesser Included Offense In determining whether to charge a jury on a lesser included offense, the standard is whether there is a reasonable view of the trial evidence to support a...

Disaster mgmt. is topic of Monroe County Bar Assn. luncheon.
February 19, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Be prepared. The boy scout/girl scout motto may seem trite in day-to-day conversation, but Bill Kedley, director of administration at Harris Beach LLP, can't emphasize enough the significance of being prepared for a...

Employees' challenge to union went too far.
February 19, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Where 13 RTWA union members actively supported a different union and urged colleagues to change unions, were their activities protected by free speech or properly disciplined by expulsion from their union? "This case...

Suit targets illegal pricing scheme for cancer drugs.
February 19, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The New York State Attorney General's office has accused three of the nation's leading pharmaceutical manufacturers -- GlaxoSmithKline, Pharmacia and Aventis -- of each conducting elaborate illegal schemes to...

Court of Appeals tackles cigarette makers' marketing practices.
February 19, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Do certain cigarette manufacturer promotions violate the Cigarette Marketing Standards Act? Should the Department of Taxation and Finance be allowed to take enforcement measures against companies found in violation of...

NY State sentencing procedure reviewed in non-capital murder case.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Does CPL 400.27 deprive the defendant, who was convicted of a non-capital first degree murder charge, of his state and federal rights to due process? In People &c. v. Kristian Hansen, the defendant challenges New...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 20, 2003.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In civil decisions by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, the issues concerned the propriety of awarding attorney fees in an adverse possession lawsuit and in a suit for grandparent visitation. In a...

NY Court of Appeals lists January 3-9 filings.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week and filed with the New York State Court of Appeals. Some of these filed appeals may never...

Debtors accused of failing to disclose all assets.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Did the debtors intentionally omit certain debts and assets from their section 341 schedule when filing for Chapter 7? Did such omissions indicate fraudulent intent within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. [section] 742, so...

Buffalo atty. featured speaker for federal judge training.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Carol E. Heckman, a partner in the Buffalo office of Harter, Secrest & Emery LLP, will speak at multiple training programs for federal judges this year. As a member of the U.S. Magistrate Judge Education...

Walk for Wellness raises money for kids with cancer.
February 20, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Athena Middle School students involved in a production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat entertained the crowd gathered for the fourth annual Walk for Wellness, a fundraiser by Gilda's Club of...

Atty. can appear 'pro hac vice' for pretrial discovery.
February 21, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Can an attorney appearing pro hac vice ("for this occasion") participate in pretrial discovery? In Warren Keegan Associates Inc. v. Pierce, New York State Supreme Court Westchester County, relied on the Appellate...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 21, 2003.
February 21, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff In personal injury decisions by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, the issues raised included the liability of a dog owner, and the amount of proof necessary in a wrongful death case. PERSONAL INJURY...

Reasonable validity established in unfair trade claim.
February 21, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff At the conclusion of the preliminary phase of an International Trade Commission (ITC) investigation into the effects of Japanese imports on high voltage ceramic station post insulators, the Ad Hoc Coalition for...

No-contact, non-compete agreement at issue.
February 21, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Should the court dismiss Ikon's complaint against a competitor and former employee for tortious interference with business relations? Were the defendants' actions in violation of a non-compete agreement? Did the...

Child support adjustment reviewed by NY State Court of Appeals.
February 21, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller In a child support case, can a party request a modification in the child support order in excess of the cost of living adjustment through section 413-a of the Family Court Act? This was the central issue before New...

Certain photographs improperly seized by police.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller Should certain evidence be suppressed on the grounds that it was unlawfully obtained by the police? Was the identification procedure used by police unduly suggestive? These were the issues before Monroe County Court...

NY defends U of Michigan's affirmative action policy.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff New York State has joined 21 other states in filing a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the University of Michigan's right to create a diverse educational environment at its undergraduate and law schools...

Rochester Legal Briefs February 24, 2003.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The February 7, 2003 decisions by the Appellate Division, Fourth Department included a review of an Erie County case where the defendant was held competent to stand trial but appeared delusional at sentencing. ...

Preferential tax transfer not established.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Deborah Fauver Did the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York, Chief Judge John C. Ninfo, II, err in granting summary judgment for the trustee on claims that the debtor payroll services company made...

Facts show insured's 11 month delay in notice was reasonable.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones Did the insureds have a reasonable, good faith basis to believe that there would not be a claim against them from plaintiff's injury on their premises? Should they be excused from the requirement of immediately...

NY State Court of Appeals lists filings for Jan. 10-23.
February 24, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week and filed with the New York State Court of Appeals. Some of these filed appeals may never...

Appellate judge give extended opinion on issues raised in capital murder prosecution.
February 25, 2003... Byline: N.Y. Daily Record Staff In an extended opinion by Justice Robert G. Hurlbutt, the Appellate Division, Fourth Department addressed issues raised on a capital murder prosecution from Erie County Court. The defendant, Jonathan Parker,...

Better Business Bureau releases top complaints from 2002.
February 25, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff Scams were at the top of the complaint list compiled by the The Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Upstate NY. At 17 percent of the total complaints, scams were followed by 13 percent financial complaints and 9...

Law firm of Brown & Hutchinson will defend Honeywell in asbestos case.
February 25, 2003... Byline: Daily Record Staff The law firm of Brown & Hutchinson has been selected as the regional asbestos defense counsel for Honeywell International, taking over all New York asbestos claims against Honeywell. Asbestos claims brought...

With 30 years on the bench, Judge Green still going strong.
February 25, 2003... Byline: Nora Jones As a kid, Samuel L. Green read a lot about the FBI and was interested in becoming an agent. In that era, you had to either be a lawyer or a certified public accountant to become an agent. And such was the path that led a...

Motions reviewed in epileptic's ADA case.
February 25, 2003... Byline: Helen Nguyen In a case where the plaintiff has epilepsy and alleged that the defendant violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the New York Human Rights Law (NYHRL), should the court grant the...

Insurance company must cover 'intentional' fire.
February 25, 2003... Byline: Jill Miller When a person intentionally sets a vehicle on fire, which in turn, causes a nearby building to catch on fire, must the insurance policy on the vehicle pay on the policy? This was the central issue before the New...