Herzfeld & Rubin has reached a settlement with a client’s son whom the firm sued last year for defamation and cybersquatting. In the June 2012 lawsuit, Herzfeld & Rubin claimed Joel Leyden had "illegally appropriated" the law firm’s name by registering domain names nearly identical to its own and claimed Leyden had posted fictitious news articles on other sites with defamatory statements (NYLJ July 9, 2012). The dispute stemmed from Herzfeld’s representation of Leyden’s father, Bernard Leyden. The firm prepared a will for Bernard, a longtime client who died in 2009.
Settlement papers signed by both parties in Herzfeld & Rubin v. Leyden, 154004/2012, were filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on May 1. According to those papers, Leyden "concedes that the appropriation and registration" of domain names using the Herzfeld & Rubin name is unwarranted and improper, and he agrees to transfer to the law firm all of his right and interest in the domain names.
