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Defendants in Judges' Pay Suit File Notices to Appeal

All three remaining defendants in a lawsuit ordering that the state's 1,300 judges receive a cost-of-living raise have filed notices of appeal as of yesterday. The state Assembly and Senate filed appeals yesterday from the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmance in Larabee v. Governor, 4761, of an order requiring the government's other two branches to set judicial salaries at a level reflecting the rise in the cost of living since judges' pay was last increased in 1999. The state filed a notice of appeal last Thursday. The three notices stay the order of Manhattan Justice Edward H. Lehner (See Profile), who had directed the other two branches to remedy the salary deficit within 90 days. Last Tuesday, the Court of Appeals issued an order that it would hear as a matter of right the appeal of three Brooklyn and Long Island judges whose pay raise suit, Maron v. Silver, 58 AD 3d 102, was dismissed by the Third Department in November. Bernard Nussbaum, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and the lead lawyer for a suit brought by the court system, Chief Judge v. Governor, 400763/08, said the court system will shortly file a notice to take an appeal directly to the Court of Appeals, and ask that all three appeals be consolidated. In the court system's lawsuit, Justice Lehner issued a ruling mirroring his ruling in Larabee, acase brought by four judges with the support of their judicial associations. - Daniel Wise

Madoff Investor Moves to Dismiss Damages Suit

Hedge fund operator J. Ezra Merkin has moved to dismiss a damage suit brought by the state attorney general to recover an alleged $2.4 billion that was lost when he turned over his clients' money to Bernard L. Madoff to handle without telling the investors. In the motion to dismiss, Mr. Merkin challenged the suit's assumption that he did not provide adequate disclosure that he was funneling the money to Mr. Madoff. The offering documents for the Ascot, Ariel and Gabriel funds, according to the motion, all advised investors the money could be invested with outside managers without their "notice" or "consent." Moreover, the motion contended that all of Mr. Merkin's clients were "sophisticated" investors who had placed at least $5 million in his funds. In light of those disclosures, Mr. Merkin's motion contended, the state's complaint failed to "adequately allege" he had made any false statement, a key element of all six causes of action raised by the attorney general. Mr. Madoff, who has pleaded guilty to a massive Ponzi scheme, was sentenced last week to 150 years in prison (NYLJ, June 30). According to the attorney general, Mr. Merkin earned $470 million in fees for managing the three funds invested with Mr. Madoff (NYLJ, April 7). - Daniel Wise

Judge Finds Jail Recordings Violate Federal Law

A federal judge has thrown out recordings of jailhouse conversations between a drug dealer and his attorneys, Robert Simels and Arienne Irving, who have been charged with conspiring with their client to "neutralize" potential witnesses against him. Eastern District Judge John Gleeson ruled that the government's post-recording minimizations of the conversations at Manhattan's Metropolitan Corrections Center violated the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Street Act. "In short, the statute requires the monitoring agents to conduct the surveillance in such a way as to minimize the interception of nonpertinent conversations. The agents here failed to conduct the surveillance accordingly," the judge wrote. "The order improperly authorized post-interception minimization, and the government improperly used that technique in this case." The trial is scheduled to begin July 27. United States v. Simels, 08-CR-640, will be published tomorrow. - Mark Fass

Terror Defendant Interrupts Competency Hearing

A Pakistani neuroscientist awaiting trial for attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan repeatedly interrupted a hearing on her competency before Southern District Judge Richard M. Berman yesterday. Aafia Siddiqui, 37, insisted more than once that she "did not shoot anyone." She said, "I am not against America. America as a nation has been framed to look bad." Ms. Siddiqui interrupted testimony with her rambles several times as mental health professionals provided diametrically opposed opinions on her ability to understand what would happen during her trial and her ability to cooperate with her defense. While defense psychologist Thomas Kucharski said Ms. Siddiqui is "a person with a delusional disorder," University of North Carolina psychiatrist Sally Johnson, testifying for the prosecution, said she believes Ms. Siddiqui is competent, is faking mental illness and that many of her views stem from her "personal belief system and her ideology." Ms. Siddiqui has expressed her belief in evaluations that she was being poisoned in the prison system and that the judge was part of a conspiracy to have her killed. She was arrested in Afghanistan in 2008 after allegedly being found in possession of notes that refer to a "mass casualty attack" in the United States. While she was in custody, and was about to be questioned, Ms. Siddiqui allegedly grabbed a rifle and fired at least two shots at U.S. personnel. Dawn Cardi represents Ms. Siddiqui. Prosecutors David Raskin and Christopher La Vigne represent the government. After hearing from the experts yesterday, Judge Berman took the matter under advisement. - Mark Hamblett

Personal Notes on Lawyers

• Lisa Laukitis has joined Jones Day as a partner in the business restructuring and reorganization practice. She was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis.

• Andrew D. Kaizer has joined Michelman & Robinson as a partner and co-chair of the firm's commercial and business litigation department. He was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery.

• Thomas G. Maira has joined Reed Smith as counsel in the private equity practice. He was estate counsel for the Americas for Babcock & Brown, a global investment bank.

• Alexander M. Popovich has joined Herrick, Feinstein as counsel in the tax and personal planning group. He was with Hodgson Russ.

• Nixon Peabody has announced that real estate and community development partner Denise D. Pursley has been named managing partner of the Long Island office. She succeeds Michael J. Taubin, who advised clients on health services and health care transactional matters.

• Adam J. Gottlieb, a member of the trusts and estates department at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, has been elected president of the Accountant/Attorney Networking Group.