Human Rights Expert Documenting New Kind of War Crime in Oct. 7 Attacks on Israel
On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. The brutality of these crimes – including rape, murder, maiming, and kidnapping – has international human rights experts considering a new category of war crime: kinocide,…
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New York State Bar Association’s 2024 Government Relations Legislative Update
The New York State Bar Association’s Government Relations 2024 NYS legislative session update highlights NYSBA policy that was passed by the legislature, including limiting the recordkeeping and reporting duties of public notaries. We summarize other Association legislative success in New…
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From Pints to Putts, the chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section Charts his own Course
Jacob Petterchak, the new chair of NYSBA’s Young Lawyers Section, started attending state bar events shortly after law school out of a sense of obligation but quickly realized how valuable the programs were. And he enjoyed them too. “I volunteered…
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More LGBTQ+ Youth Are in Foster Care and They Need Support
More than one-third of the children in the New York City foster care system are LGBTQ+, according to the city’s Administration for Children’s Services. At an informational session presented by the New York State Bar Association, panelists discussed the challenges…
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Writing for the Journal: Q&A With Lauren Sharkey
Lauren Sharkey is a partner at Cioffi, Slezak & Wildgrube, a women-owned and -operated law firm in Schenectady, N.Y. She serves on the New York State Bar Association’s Executive Committee and is a past chair of the Young Lawyers Section.…
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Ethics Opinion 1267: Paying for a recommendation or referral
TOPIC: Paying for a recommendation or referral. DIGEST: A website that promises to connect potential clients with attorneys whom the website claims have excellent qualifications and are carefully vetted, constitutes an “advertisement” on behalf of the lawyers available through the…
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Ethics Opinion 1266: Disclosing confidential information to government agency that is funding a client’s representation
TOPIC: Disclosing confidential information to government agency that is funding a client’s representation. DIGEST: An attorney may not report a client’s confidential information to a government agency that funds the representation of the client without the client’s informed consent. RULES:…
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President’s Message: Building Value for Our Members
The main goal of my presidency is to meaningfully reduce impediments to the efficient practice of law for our members. I know that may sound ambitious, and perhaps even somewhat ambiguous, and that the implantation of this goal will likely…
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New Membership Committee Co-Chair Helen Naves Wants To Build Connections
Helen Naves, the recently-installed co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Membership Committee, wants to bring the far-flung lawyers of the association closer together in her new role. An international banking lawyer with a practice in São Paulo, Brazil,…
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Steamboat Willie Enters Public Domain
The Copyright Act ensures that its protections extend to creative works even after the death of the author. However, no copyright can last forever, and, as of Jan. 1, 2024, an iconic American cartoon has now entered the public domain:…
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