Daily Record (Rochester, NY) articles from March 2007

Daily Record (Rochester, NY) archives from March 2007

Top lawyers at 60 major corporations seeking pay raise for federal judges.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Top lawyers at 60 major corporations recently urged congressional leaders to provide a "substantial increase to the salaries of federal judges." Selected text from their letter to a variety of entities, including...

Nixon Peabody presents inaugural Awarding and Celebrating Excellence Award to Kevin Wind.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Nixon Peabody LLP's Kevin Wind, an information technology trainer, was recognized this week with the law firm's first Awarding and Celebrating Excellence (ACE) Award. The ACE recognizes "individuals in Rochester...

New York State Court of Appeals lists filings for Jan. 26 through Feb. 1, 2007.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 1, 2007.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen The following cases were recently decided by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York: CRIMINAL LAW Child support -- Waiver of appeal of sentence The plaintiff pleaded guilty to a one-count...

New York State Bar Association seeks nominations for Community Service Award.
March 1, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The New York State Bar Association is seeking nominees for its 2007 Root/Stimson Award, presented annually to a lawyer who has demonstrated a significant, positive impact in the community, state or nation,...

Chief judges throughout the country believe raising judicial pay should be top priority.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck Raising judicial pay seems to be the mantra of chief judges throughout the country of late, and both U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and New York State Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye made it the top priority...

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York: HP's motion for preliminary injunction denied.
March 2, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen A state court action brought by Rochester-based Dartnell Enterprises, Inc. against Compaq and Hewlett Packard (HP) is not precluded by a district court's prior decision affirming an arbitration award, the U.S. District...

Monroe County Bar Association forming judicial selection opinion.
March 5, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck It came as a surprise to many within the legal community last week when the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in the case of Lopez Torres v. New York State Board of Elections. The justices announced their...

Volunteer Legal Services Project receives N.Y. State Bar Foundation grant.
March 5, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Volunteer Legal Services Project last week received a grant from the New York State Bar Foundation, which awarded a total of $226,550 statewide to 26 nonprofit and other law-related programs. VLSP was the only...

Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys seeks nominations for Family Friendly Award.
March 5, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys, in conjunction with the Monroe County Bar Association, is accepting nominations for the biannual Family Friendly Employer Award. To nominate a legal...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 5, 2007.
March 5, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen The plaintiff, Leonard Peltier, was convicted of murdering two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement (AIM). According to court documents,...

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York: Speak-English-only rule focus of EEOC suit.
March 6, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen A lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging a company terminated a worker because he was Cuban and could not speak fluent English can move forward, the U.S. District Court for the...

New books at the Appellate Division Law Library.
March 6, 2007... The National Conference on the Employment of Lawyers With Disabilities, Washington, D.C.: American Bar Association, c. 2006 KF 299 D57 A23 2006. A Lawyer's Guide to Networking by Susan R. Sneider, presented by the American Bar Association Young...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 6, 2007.
March 6, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen The following case was recently decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: CRIMINAL LAW Defendants' sentences reasonable -- 'U.S. v. Crosby' -- 'U.S. v. Booker' In November 2001, defendants Art...

Wait-and-see advised on workers' comp reforms in N.Y.
March 7, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck One of the chief complaints from business leaders, and many others whom Gov. Eliot Spitzer met on the campaign trail, concerned the need for a reformed workers' compensation system. Late last month, the governor and...

Plaintiff seeks severance disability benefits under ERISA in federal court in N.Y.
March 8, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen In R. Priest v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., the plaintiff alleged he was wrongly terminated and denied severance benefits. In a Feb. 5 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York dismissed...

Legal groups call for indigent defense reforms in N.Y.
March 8, 2007... Byline: Daily Record A leading group of New York State attorneys gathered Tuesday in support of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye's call for a state takeover and overhaul of public defense services. The gathering came on the 40th anniversary of...

University of Rochester mock trial team heading to nationals.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck In its eight-year history, the Mock Trial Organization at the University of Rochester has never advanced so far in competition. Last month a seven-member team (the school has two) placed second in the Finger Lakes...

University at Buffalo Law School's lecture on habeas corpus March 21.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record U.S. District Court, District of Columbia Judge James Robertson will deliver the University at Buffalo Law School's annual Mitchell Lecture at 11 a.m. on March 21 in Lippes Concert Hall, Slee Hall, UB North (Amherst)...

N.Y. State Court of Appeals lists more February filings.
March 9, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on...

N.Y. State Court of Appeals: Lawsuit over DOCS collect call telephone system.
March 12, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen To speak to a family member or friend, an inmate at a New York state correctional facility must make a collect call. For each call, the state Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) receives a commission from...

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York: Contaminated land focus of CERCLA action.
March 13, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen Who is responsible for paying for the clean-up costs of a contaminated piece of property on Trolley Drive in the Town of Gates? In addition to suing previous tenants of the property, the plaintiff filed suit against...

ABA president says U.S. Department of Justice's policy conflicts with presumption of innocence.
March 13, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The U.S. Department of Justice's policy of pressuring corporate targets of federal criminal investigations to take punitive action against employees who assert their legal rights "is inconsistent with the...

New Commercial Division opens in the Fifth Judicial District in Onondaga County.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Chief Administrative Judge Jonathan Lippman announced the opening of a new Commercial Division part in Onondaga County. The new court part is the first trial court dedicated exclusively to business litigation to...

Policy brief focuses on violent crime in Buffalo.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Buffalo has fewer police officers per capita than many other cities in New York and nearby states, a condition reinforced by a 13 percent drop in officers per capita between 2000 and 2005, according to the most...

N.Y. Court of Appeals lists latest filings.
March 14, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on...

'The Daily Record' adds new reporter.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Daily Record welcomes Danielle Derringer as its newest writer/reporter. Derringer graduated from Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, Ill.) in December 2006 with a BA in journalism. While at school, Derringer...

Federal court caseloads remain high.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Within an historical context, caseloads in the federal courts remain at high levels, according to statistics released by the Administrative Office. Filings of appeals were at an all-time high in 2005, having...

Rochester atty. Sharon P. Stiller to receive Stoneman Award.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Rochester attorney Sharon P. Stiller, a partner at Boylan, Brown, Code, Vigdor & Wilson, LLP, will be honored along with two other attorneys with the Kate Stoneman Award on March 22 at Albany Law School. Stiller...

NY Senate budget increases school aid by $514M.
March 15, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The New York State Senate on Tuesday approved its 2007-2008 budget plan for education, adding $358 million in school aid, which generates more than $514 million on a school year basis. The budget represents the...

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Amendments to SORA apply to plaintiffs.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen Since New York's 1995 passage of the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), the law has been amended several times to increase the length of time in which sex offenders must register with authorities, and to broaden the...

Judicial Conference of the United States votes to ask Congress to create more federal judgeships.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Judicial Conference of the United States earlier this week voted to ask Congress to create 67 new federal judgeships -- 15 for the courts of appeals and 52 for the district courts. Recommended judgeships...

Gates Foundation donates $1.75M to ABA charity fund.
March 16, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The American Bar Association's charity fund has received a $1.75 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to help underwrite a project to advance the rule of law in the United States and abroad....

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit:.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Dolan Media Newswires A supervisor's numerous comments about a plaintiff's age were not stray remarks sufficient to defeat an employer's motion for summary judgment on a claim based on the Age Discrimination in Employment Act...

U.S. Supreme Court to consider questions with potential to reshape intellectual property law.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Ross Daly The U.S. Supreme Court has increased the number of patent cases it's hearing, considering questions with the potential to reshape intellectual property law. A case yet to be decided is the most closely watched of all....

MEETINGS & MORE.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff March 22 Lessons from the Field Business owners can build entrepreneurial skills at Eyes Wide Open... for Business -- Lessons from the Field, set for 11:30 a.m. at Business Development Solutions offices, 189 N....

1,300 more jobs for Rochester in six years.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Carestream Health Inc., the stand-alone company that will result from the sale of Eastman Kodak's health group, expects to create 500 jobs at its Rochester headquarters and boost its workforce to 1,300 employees...

Commentary: Preparation key to making interview less anxious.
March 19, 2007... Byline: Tessa Nelson Tell me about yourself. The interviewer wants to know more about what you do and what type of person you are. This is a great way for you to tell more about what you have done at your previous job or your goals for...

Former assistants weigh in on U.S. Dept. of Justice controversy.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck Almost daily, new issues surrounding the sudden terminations of eight U.S. attorneys crop up: Last week, Congressmen on both sides of the aisle called for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales' resignation. Also last...

Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys seeks judicial candidates.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys soon will evaluate candidates for Rochester City Court, Monroe County Family Court and New York State Supreme Court. This year, GRAWA, the Monroe County Bar...

Greater Rochester home sales up compared to 2006.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Danielle Derringer Year-to-date existing single-family home sales are up 11.7 percent compared to 2006, and down by 11.1 percent compared to last month. According to the Greater Rochester Association of Realtors, the average sale...

Western New York Lawyers in the News: March 20, 2007.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff * Kevin Gallivan has joined and Micheal D. Burneal has been promoted at Five Star Bank. Gallivan joins as the commercial relationship manager and vice president. He will be responsible for an energized and...

Inaugural Greater Rochester Home Show features more than 300 home improvement experts.
March 20, 2007... Byline: Danielle Derringer The Greater Rochester Home Show premiered Friday at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center, featuring more than 300 home improvement experts who took questions from the public regarding anything home-related....

Marketing in N.Y. means serving clients well.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck Recent changes to attorney advertising rules in New York have affected the ways in which many law firms spread the word about their business. Marketing a firm, however, involves more than simply advertising, some local...

Commentary: Facing up to the potential for embezzlement.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll I am a firm believer that running a law firm in a businesslike way improves the professionalism of legal practice. A profitable law practice is much more likely to avoid ethical problems regarding client funds....

Detained immigrants lack access to legal information.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The American Bar Association recently told Congress it is "deeply concerned about the state of immigration detention in the U.S." The organization outlined problems facing those detained by Immigration and...

NY Court of Appeals lists filings for March 2 through 8, 2007.
March 21, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on...

Mortgage delinquency problems continue in Rochester.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Danielle Derringer Mortgage delinquencies are on the rise in Monroe County, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage delinquencies climbed to a three-and-a-half year high in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the...

New York State Court of Appeals: Breach of warranty verdict upheld for GE refrigerator.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen In a case in which a plaintiff claimed a manufacturing defect in his three-week-old General Electric (GE) refrigerator caused a kitchen fire, the New York State Court of Appeals upheld the jury's verdict supporting his...

New poll reveals half of employees work for abusive boss.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The grade school bully may have grown up to become the office oppressor, according to a new nationwide poll by the Employment Law Alliance (ELA) released yesterday, which found that nearly 45 percent of American...

New York Court of Appeals lists filings for March 2 through 8, 2007.
March 22, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on...

Court of Appeals lists more March filings.
March 22, 2007... A list of appeals with short title, jurisdictional predicate, subject matter and key issues is prepared each week. Some of these filed appeals may never reach decision on the merits because of dismissal on motion, sua sponte, or for time...

There's more than just one partnership track.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck Most law firms differ in the ways partners are chosen: Some require a set time of service before partnership is considered while others use a less staid process. The partnership track within several local firms polled...

U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit: Age discrimination suit against Eckerd moves forward.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen A plaintiff's lawsuit alleging the drug store retailer Eckerd discriminated against him when it hired two younger candidates for pharmaceutical positions can move forward, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second...

Monroe County Surrogate's Court honors decedent's 'donative intent'.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Bruce Freeman Monroe County Surrogate's Court Judge Edmund A. Calvaruso was asked to decide how best to carry out the wishes of Jean Frankenstein, who directed that 40 percent of her residuary estate be distributed to Genesee...

Rochester nurse pleads guilty to Medicaid fraud.
March 23, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Adrian Clements, 39, a licensed practical nurse, recently pleaded guilty to receiving more than $70,000 in Medicaid funds for private nursing services that she never provided. According to the New York State...

Sources say Rochester housing trends are positive.
March 26, 2007... Byline: Danielle Derringer Rochester housing trends show positive predictions for the market this year. Thanks to stable interest rates, an increase in sales is projected throughout the Rochester area by late spring 2007. With warmer...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 26, 2007.
March 26, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff Recent Appellate Division, Fourth Department decisions addressed whether evidence of a burglary at an Erie County trial was legally sufficient and, in a Sex Offender Registration Act proceeding, whether a Level...

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York: FBI agent required to testify.
March 27, 2007... Byline: Helen Nguyen In a case in which an FBI agent obtained sealed files about the plaintiff from state and local police agencies, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York determined law enforcement and deliberative...

N.Y. State Bar supports increase in judicial retirement age.
March 27, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A special task force of the New York State Bar Association recently issued a report calling for increasing the mandatory retirement age for state judges to 76. Today, judges of the state's Court of Appeals and...

Rochester Court Watch: March 27, 2007.
March 27, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff In Appellate Division, Fourth Department family law decisions, the Appellate Division ruled on a Qualified Domestic Relations Order and addressed issues of interstate custody as well as grandparent custody and...

U.S. Court of Appeals for Second Circuit: Bankruptcy order on uncontested claim is final judgment.
March 27, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A bankruptcy order allowing an uncontested proof of claim constitutes a final judgment on the merits giving rise to res judicata, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in EDP Medical Computer...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 28, 2007.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff In Appellate Division, Fourth Department criminal decisions, among the issues addressed were lesser included offenses, Youthful Offender status and whether the defense of entrapment applied to a charge of...

Harvard prof, former judge expounds, opines on liberty.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Sonya Garza In Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government, Harvard Law School Professor and former Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Charles Fried challenges our modern understanding of liberty and advances the idea...

O'Donnell named to N.Y.'s Division of Criminal Justice Services.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck Buffalo attorney Denise E. O'Donnell was recently confirmed as commissioner of New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services. She is a former federal prosecutor and former partner with Hodgson Russ LLP, where she...

New 'I Love NY' Web Site.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck The Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) recently launched a redesigned and streamlined I LOVE NY Web site that provides instant online reservation capabilities and other new features for tourists and residents alike....

N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation announces grants availability.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation recently announced the availability of $800,000 in 2007 state assistance funding through the Environmental Justice Community Impact Research Grant program....

VOA in Rochester asking for clothing and household donations.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck Volunteers of America (VOA) is experiencing a shortage of clothing and household donations and the agency is appealing to the community for support. Those starting spring cleaning routines can call the agency at (585)...

New 'I Love NY' Web site.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck The Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) recently launched a redesigned and streamlined I LOVE NY Web site that provides instant online reservation capabilities and other new features for tourists and residents alike....

A look at Rochester-based Nothnagle Realtors Co.'s President and CEO Armand D'Alfonso.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Danielle Derringer Nothnagle Realtors Co. President and CEO Armand D'Alfonso was introduced to the real estate industry at a young age. "A very intense Monopoly game that I was playing in my grandmother's garage when I was about 10...

Collecting the money clients owe you.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll As a new fiscal year begins for many firms, the issue of collecting the money clients owe is certainly worth discussing. If a client pays each bill every month like clockwork, your relationship is working, but if a...

Cost-conscious federal courts trim needs, request funding.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff The federal courts recently asked Congress for enough funding to cover basic operating costs for fiscal 2008, while assuring legislators that steps are being taken to contain costs and enhance productivity,...

NEWS BRIEFS.
March 28, 2007... Byline: Tara Buck O'Donnell Named To Post Buffalo attorney Denise E. O'Donnell was recently confirmed as commissioner of New York State's Division of Criminal Justice Services. She is a former federal prosecutor and former partner with...

Judicial selection in N.Y. process sparks ongoing debate.
March 29, 2007... Byline: Tara E. Buck They didn't agree on much, but panelists at Tuesday's Monroe County Bar Association forum on judicial selection did agree the issue is ripe for further debate. New York State Bar Association President Mark H. Alcott...

Is the client always right? Not necessarily, it seems.
March 29, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll I came across a post from an attorney's blog relating his experience when he asked a legal ethics panel if a lawyer could withdraw a client's claim upon the lawyer's conclusion the claim was without merit. The panel's...

More competition now for summer associate hiring.
March 29, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff All of the markers that measure the strength of hiring new lawyers, such as recruiting for summer programs and summer program outcomes, have remained robust and steady through the past several years. The National...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 29, 2007.
March 29, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff In recent Appellate Division, Fourth Department decisions, civil issues addressed included termination of employment from the New York State Police, the standard for granting a motion to vacate, whether an order...

Commentary: Marketing the firm or the attorneys? Finding the common thread ...
March 30, 2007... Byline: Les Altenberg Any law firm with at least a handful of attorneys and more than one area of emphasis inevitably is faced with a critical business development question: Do we market the firm in general or do we promote the successes...

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Prisoner can bring Section 1983 suit over DNA testing.
March 30, 2007... A plaintiff convicted of attempted murder could sue under Section 1983 to obtain DNA testing that might exonerate him, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in McKithen v. Brown (March 13). At trial in state court (New York...

American Bar Association report outlines trends in criminal justice.
March 30, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff A new report from the American Bar Association Section of Criminal Justice pulls data from throughout the country together to reveal trends in the system: How are women's roles in violent crime changing? What...

Rochester Legal Briefs: March 30, 2007.
March 30, 2007... Byline: Daily Record Staff In Appellate Division, Fourth Department decisions, among the issues addressed were the effect of a federal statute on a lawsuit for injuries arising from a rental car accident. An Erie County legal malpractice...

How to ... Choose a commercial real estate broker.
March 30, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee If you're looking to buy, lease or sell commercial property, the first and perhaps most important step is to choose an excellent commercial real estate broker. Commercial real estate transactions not only...