Friedman Kaplan is proud to announce that Mala Ahuja Harker has joined our partnership. Her practice will focus on the representation of individuals and corporations in the financial services, healthcare, and other industries in connection with white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, securities, employment, and complex commercial litigation matters. More

The Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey has announced that Friedman Kaplan partner Ricardo Solano, Jr. has been selected to serve the Association’s Treasurer. Mr. Solano will be sworn in at the 41st Annual William J. Brennan, Jr. Award Reception on June 15, 2017 at Mayfair Farms in West Orange, NJ. More

New York Judiciary Law § 487 is a familiar adjunct to suits alleging negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and/or breach of an engagement agreement against lawyers and law firms. After reciting those claims in the complaint, plaintiff will plead that counsel was “guilty of deceit or collusion” or “consent[ed] to deceit or collusion,” in either case “with intent to deceive the court or any party,” and based thereon will assert a violation of § 487(1). More

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, 1st Judicial Department has affirmed a decision by The Hon. Eileen Bransten of the New York Supreme Court granting a motion to dismiss claims of legal malpractice and claims under Judicial Law Section 487 made against Friedman Kaplan’s clients, an AM Law 100 law firm and an individual partner of that firm. The claims were brought by a former client of the firm’s in connection with patent litigation in which our clients had represented the plaintiff.  More

The New York Civil Practice Law and Rules provide an accelerated procedure to enforce "instruments for the payment of money only" and out-of-state judgments, offering plaintiffs the opportunity to save time and money. Under CPLR 3213, plaintiffs can begin an action by filing a summary judgment motion instead of a complaint, and, if successful, can obtain a judgment while avoiding any discovery, often the most expensive phase of litigation. More

The Hedge Fund Law Report has published an article by Friedman Kaplan litigation partners Anne Beaumont and Lance Gotko discussing the Obama Administration's call to action for state legislators to significantly curtail employers' ability to use and enforce non-compete provisions. The measure follows efforts already made by some states to attempt to restrain non-competes. More

The Hedge Fund Law Report has published an article by Friedman Kaplan litigation partners Anne Beaumont and Lance Gotko discussing the recent SEC settlement with BlueLinx Holdings Inc. relating to provisions the company had included in severance agreements. Those provisions restricted former employees’ abilities to disclose the company’s confidential information and to receive rewards as SEC whistleblowers. The settlement builds upon the principles articulated in the SEC's April 2015 settlement with KBR, Inc. The BlueLinx and KBR consent orders together underscore the SEC’s view that any provisions that might stifle an employee’s communications with the SEC – either explicitly (as in KBR) or implicitly (as in BlueLinx) – are prohibited, regardless of the employer’s intent, its efforts (or lack thereof) to enforce them or their actual chilling effect. These developments have implications not just for the hedge fund industry: they potentially affect any firm that is subject to SEC oversight. More

In the four decades since the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) was enacted, the private right of action it created has been more regularly used as a type of federal common law fraud claim than as originally intended – a tool to provide relief to legitimate businesses whose industries had been infiltrated by organized crime. In recent years, this trend has continued into the world of health care as more and more plaintiffs are using civil RICO to pursue racketeering allegations with varying degrees of success. More