On October 7, 2016, Shapiro Arato filed its opening brief in the criminal appeal of former New York State Senator Dean Skelos, who was convicted of federal corruption charges. At trial, the government argued that Mr. Skelos pressured companies to employ or pay his son in exchange for “official action” in their favor. This “official … Read more
Partner Alexandra Shapiro was recently featured in the first part of a documentary series focused on third-party candidates in the 2016 presidential election. “Third Candidates” is a documentary produced by John Farrell and Jake Simms that examines why it is rare for a U.S. election to have more than two major candidates for president. The … Read more
Partner Cynthia S. Arato has been appointed to a three-year term as Chair of the Copyright & Literary Property Committee of the New York City Bar Association. The Copyright & Literary Property Committee addresses a wide variety of issues of concern to the copyright bar and to industries that are focused on content creation, distribution … Read more
On August 29, 2016, Southern District Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis awarded Shapiro Arato’s clients over $8,000 in attorney’s fees arising from plaintiff Dwayne Walker and his counsel’s refusal to produce discoverable text messages in connection with the plaintiff’s lawsuit regarding the Roc-A-Fella Records logo. Judge Ellis initially granted Shapiro Arato’s motion for sanctions on … Read more
Shapiro Arato partner Cynthia Arato and Erin Millender authored an article on trade secret law in the most recent issue of Inside, the quarterly Corporate Counsel Section newsletter of The New York State Bar Association. The article, “The Secret’s In the Sauce: The Defend Trade Secrets Act and the Ideal Recipe for Trade Secrets Litigation”, … Read more
On August 4, 2016, the Honorable Kimba M. Wood of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted our motion to continue bail for our client, former New York State Senator Dean Skelos, pending his appeal of his conviction on federal corruption charges. Judge Wood held that Senator Skelos’ appeal … Read more
On Wednesday, June 1st, Shapiro Arato partner Cynthia Arato appeared before the New York Court of Appeals to argue two questions certified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The firm represents Dr. Fred L. Pasternack, a pilot who brought suit against two drug testing companies who administered a drug test to … Read more
On December 23, 2015, Southern District Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis granted Shapiro Arato’s motion for sanctions against plaintiff Dwayne Walker and his counsel for refusing to produce discoverable text messages in connection with plaintiff’s lawsuit regarding the Roc-A-Fella Records logo. In its opinion and order, the Court explained that we had alleged that plaintiff … Read more
On November 8, 2015, Law360 announced the recipients of its 2015 MVP awards. Each year, the award is given to elite attorneys who have distinguished themselves through a record of success in major litigations and other high-stakes matters. Alexandra was chosen among more than 850 potential candidates as one of only 10 practitioners of appellate … Read more
On July 17, 2015, Shapiro Arato LLP obtained an award of attorneys’ fees for our client, Roc Nation, LLC, in a former sound engineer’s copyright lawsuit against Roc Nation and others. Judge Lorna G. Schofield of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York previously granted a motion to dismiss and … Read more