NYSBA is reinventing itself as a bar association that serves all lawyers, whether they are around the corner or across the world. Throughout the association, there is a heightened emphasis on building a global community and expanding and improving digital tools so all NYSBA members are never more than a click away from their colleagues … Continued

The authors thank Poughkeepsie City Court Judge Frank M. Mora for his comments on Part III of this article and NYC Housing Judge Michael L. Weisberg for his comments on all three parts of this article. Judge Lebovits, Mr. Howard, and Judge Weisberg are co-authors of the State Bar’s forthcoming 12th edition of New York … Continued

Law firms hold great power over the fate and future of the legal profession. The decisions law firms make today will impact the profession tomorrow, especially for young lawyers. As the economy has risen, so too has the profitability of many law firms. All too often, however, an obsessive focus on short-term economic success has … Continued

No legislative session in recent memory produced as many significant changes in the criminal justice system as the session that ended in June. For the first time in a half century, New York has approved a set of sweeping reforms to the State’s criminal justice system that will limit the setting of monetary bail, expand … Continued

Editor’s Note: Earlier this year, NYSBA President Hank Greenberg announced the formation of the Task Force on Free Expression in the Digital Age, to look at the crisis currently facing local journalism and make recommendations for how to address it. Penny Muse Abernathy, Knight Chair in Journalism and Digital Media Economics at the University of … Continued

Under New York law, a property owner is under a duty to maintain the property in a reasonably safe condition.1 This includes the necessity of keeping the property free of slippery conditions or tripping hazards. Most attorneys practicing in the field of premises liability know these basic precepts. However, many attorneys are unaware of a strong … Continued

Wagner is a staff attorney at Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV), Kingston, NY. Prior to joining LSHV, Wagner was NYSBA’s director of Pro Bono Services. She lives in Albany. What do you find most rewarding about being an attorney? As a legal services immigration attorney for crime victims, I give people advice and … Continued

DEAR FORUM: My firm is advising a client on a large and sensitive commercial transaction. Early one day, at an hour when few people are in the office, I overheard a loud speaker-phone conversation between Portier (the partner in our firm who is leading this assignment) and Neuergedanke (a well know personality in the finance … Continued

Stephen King, the King of Horror1 and master of supernatural fiction, is one of the greatest and most prolific storytellers of our time. He’s written more than 60 novels, including Carrie, The Shining, Misery, and It, plus 200 short stories and several motion-picture screenplays. In 2000, after a near-death car accident, King finished On Writing: A … Continued

INTRODUCTION Anti-SLAPP laws provide procedural mechanisms that deter meritless suits filed to chill speech or petitioning activity – “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or “SLAPPs.”1 The classic narrative of a SLAPP is that a public figure or corporation files a frivolous lawsuit against a less powerful critic for expressing her opinion through journalism, political organizing, or … Continued