The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) website says it all- they have one goal: "To defend and promote the principles of freedom and justice." Established in 1977, WLF brings lawsuits, files amicus briefs, and intervenes in court cases.
Mr. Popeo, referring to the Milberg Weiss "professional plaintiffs" scandal, is quoted in this past Sunday's New York Times Op-Ed by the WLF (In All Fairness: Class Action Crimes) as saying, "News of notorious class action lawyer Bill Lerach's decision to plead guilty to conspiracy is a watershed moment for those concerned with our dysfunctional civil justice system."
He also goes on to report about a federal judge in Kentucky who ordered three lawyers jailed pending their trial. The federal judge- fuming- said, "Not only these three gentlemen are on trial, the whole legal profession is on trial."
The Empire State's watershed moment, and the full realization that New York lawyers cannot be trusted to regulate themselves was fully exposed with the revelation of a full blown cover-up within the Disciplinary Committee at the Appellate Division, First Department, which oversees the conduct of attorneys in Manhattan and The Bronx. (The underlying issue involved an alleged sex scandal which included state-owned office furniture being used for more than banging out paperwork.)
Since the cover-up was made public, troubling reports of selective attorney disciplinary enforcement have surfaced from every corner of New York State. Inside sources reveal that Chief Administrative Judge Ann T. Pfau has been reviewing various plans to overhaul the entire attorney disciplinary system.
(The report on the cover-up scandal, and as posted on this forum on June 28, 2007, follows below)
Boy, do we need Daniel Popeo and The Washington Legal Foundation in New York. Please visit The Washington Legal Foundation website, and express to them our desperate need for their help in New York. Please e-mail them today!!
The Following Story was posted Thursday, June 28, 2007
(Note: as of September 27th, there were 155 comments to that story)
Sex Scandal at the Attorney Committee on Character & Fitness
The lid is off the cover-up of the recent sex scandal rocking the Committee on Character & Fitness at The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department on Madison Avenue.
The committee is charged with insuring that attorney applicants meet high ethical standards. While applicants usually come from the list of those who recently passed the bar exam others, including out-of-state attorneys, also need to get approval from the Character & Fitness Committee before they can practice law within the First Judicial Department, which encompasses the Bronx and Manhattan. But all applications are fully reviewed, the committee says. And it is required that all applicants appear at the committee's Madison Avenue offices for an in-person interview.
It seems, though, that one Committee employee has been working extra long hours conducting his own self-styled review of character & fitness, and this much to the displeasure of at least one cleaning woman who happened upon the intense desk-top, naked-truth, proceedings.
"The rumors had been around for a while," says a Madison Avenue employee who asked that he not be identified. "But bringing all sorts of women and hookers to the Offices of the Committee on Character & Fitness after hours is just plain stupid; night shift security once counted 3 different women in one week."
But once the cleaning lady complaint was made, the cover-up came faster than you can say "get-up-on-my-desk-so-I-can-test-your-upstanding-character-and-fitness."
According to sources, Sarah Josephine Hamilton, herself an attorney and who heads the Character & Fitness Committee, quickly tried to quash the whole story with her boss, Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Chief Clerk of the Appellate Division, First Department. But then complaints were made to the First Department Attorney Disciplinary Committee at 61 Broadway. "And that's when the real cover-up machine went to work," says the Madison Avenue employee. "Tom Cahill and Sherri Cohen threatened everyone to keep the lid on it."
It has been reported that Thomas Cahill, long-time Chief Counsel of the Disciplinary Committee, and his assistant Sherri Cohen are to be replaced soon amidst the call to clean up the widespread improper political interference with attorney discipline investigations.
Governor Spitzer recently named the Hon. Jonathan Lippman as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department; David Spokony was quickly named Chief Court Clerk, replacing Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, who has moved to a position in the federal court system.
Sex Scandal at the Attorney Committee on Character & Fitness
The lid is off the cover-up of the recent sex scandal rocking the Committee on Character & Fitness at The New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department on Madison Avenue.
The committee is charged with insuring that attorney applicants meet high ethical standards. While applicants usually come from the list of those who recently passed the bar exam others, including out-of-state attorneys, also need to get approval from the Character & Fitness Committee before they can practice law within the First Judicial Department, which encompasses the Bronx and Manhattan. But all applications are fully reviewed, the committee says. And it is required that all applicants appear at the committee's Madison Avenue offices for an in-person interview.
It seems, though, that one Committee employee has been working extra long hours conducting his own self-styled review of character & fitness, and this much to the displeasure of at least one cleaning woman who happened upon the intense desk-top, naked-truth, proceedings.
"The rumors had been around for a while," says a Madison Avenue employee who asked that he not be identified. "But bringing all sorts of women and hookers to the Offices of the Committee on Character & Fitness after hours is just plain stupid; night shift security once counted 3 different women in one week."
But once the cleaning lady complaint was made, the cover-up came faster than you can say "get-up-on-my-desk-so-I-can-test-your-upstanding-character-and-fitness."
According to sources, Sarah Josephine Hamilton, herself an attorney and who heads the Character & Fitness Committee, quickly tried to quash the whole story with her boss, Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, Chief Clerk of the Appellate Division, First Department. But then complaints were made to the First Department Attorney Disciplinary Committee at 61 Broadway. "And that's when the real cover-up machine went to work," says the Madison Avenue employee. "Tom Cahill and Sherri Cohen threatened everyone to keep the lid on it."
It has been reported that Thomas Cahill, long-time Chief Counsel of the Disciplinary Committee, and his assistant Sherri Cohen are to be replaced soon amidst the call to clean up the widespread improper political interference with attorney discipline investigations.
Governor Spitzer recently named the Hon. Jonathan Lippman as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department; David Spokony was quickly named Chief Court Clerk, replacing Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe, who has moved to a position in the federal court system.
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7 comments:
This sounds real good
I never heard of the Washing Legal Foundation, and checked out their website. wow. Maybe they can help us here in NY with the out of control abuse of the legal system.
I know the WLF-- they are a powerhouse of good people. However, New York really needs a federal monitor to oversee any correction to the rampant corruption within and about the lucrative court business. The situation is very grave. The feds put a monitor in place in Chicago and in parts of California for the very reason NY is in such a mess. Bring in the Feds !!
Everything I've read about the Washington Legal Foundation is good. What would they suggest for this cesspool called New York?
Would like to see these people come to New York. People don't have any idea how bad it is to work in these places.
I know exactly how it was to be employed by OCA....a 30 yr life sentence with sexual abuse, hostile environment, emotional abuse etc.....esp if you are female or minority and non-political. It was absolute torture and i am from upstate ny! The only employees exempt from torture, which by the way was designated by the court system, were white males, political or not, court reporters, and judges secretaries...the entire 30 yrs of my sentence!
have looked at their website it's great how come I don't hear more about them?
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