New Bankruptcy Judge Appointment in New York's Southern District

03/09/10

New Bankruptcy Judge Appointment in New York's Southern District

The state of New York has appointed Shelley Chapman as its latest bankruptcy judge in New York's southern district. Chapman's appointment as bankruptcy judge officially began March 5, according to her former firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where she was previously a partner.

Stuart Hirshfield, a New York-based bankruptcy partner for Mintz Levin said that a new judge ''is always an important event and it doesn't happen that often.'' He also said that ''Shelley is a very experienced bankruptcy practitioner and it's always good when you have a new judge who is very familiar with the process and an excellent practitioner of the law.''

Chapman began at Willkie as a partner back in 2001, where she worked on major business reorganizations and restructurings.

A bankruptcy judge has a 14-year term, and according to Hirshfield, is typically reappointed.

Davenport Lyons Facing Claims of Harassment and Bullying
Davenport Lyons, who once represented Atari in various file-sharing suits, is currently under investigation for harassment and bullying.

Which?, a consumer group, has been after the group since 2008, when they began mailing accusations to citizens regarding illegal file-sharing. The letters the firm sent out asked for payment of £300, and stated if this was not followed, the accused would be taken to court.

According to Which? ''Davenport Lyons was making incorrect assertions about the nature of copyright infringement and ignoring evidence presented in defense. It added that the letters incorrectly claimed their recipients were legally responsible for ensuring their internet connections were properly secured.''

The head of legal affairs at Which?, Deborah Prince believes they are making some head way: ''We're pleased to see some action at last from the SRA and hop the tide is finally turning in favor of consumers. We now want to see some decisive action to stop these bully-boy tactics.

Job Loss In Legal Sector Keep Declining
Lawyers around the country have something to be happy about this year. According to the Am Law Daily, the legal sector only reported 100 jobs lost in February.

That marks the second month in a row of decline in legal job losses. The decline was a sharp one at that.

In contrast to the 100 jobs lost in February, 1,100 jobs in the legal sector were lost in January. In December, it was nearly double that, with 2,100 jobs lost, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Lawyers can breathe a sigh of relief for now.