Category: News

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Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrated at Abrams, Fensterman’s Office

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The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association (BWBA) celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month at the law firm Abrams, Fensterman’s principal office in Lake Succes. The celebration recognized the contributions of Hispanic professionals to the legal field. 

Justice Hector D. LaSalle, who immigrated to the United States from Cuba, presided as the main speaker. He discussed his journey as a judge and his challenges along the way and talked about the value of diversity in the judiciary. Prominent figures such as Abrams Fensterman’s Managing Partner Howard Fensterman supported these initiatives, highlighting their ongoing efforts to promote diversity within the legal community. 

This article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle provides background on Justice LaSalle’s career, noting that he began as an assistant district attorney in Suffolk County before moving on to roles in private practice and the New York Attorney General’s Office. 

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Jordan Fensterman Receives Distinguished Award “Most Influential Individuals” Award

Joradn Fensterman shown on the cover of Long Island Press magazine

Jordan Fensterman, a partner and Director of the OPMC/OPD defense practice at Abrams Fensterman, LLP, and son of Howard Fensterman, has been named to the 2024 Long Island Press Power List!

This distinction, presented by Schneps Media, celebrates the most influential individuals in the Long Island region. The honorees are recognized for their extraordinary commitment and influence within the community. This event, provided by Long Island Press, highlights their achievements and encourages networking among these distinguished leaders, which helps to facilitate efforts to make a positive difference in their Long Island Communities. For more details, visit the Long Island Press Power List.

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Have We Forgotten Our American Hostages?

By Jordan Fensterman

Below is a summary of an Op-Ed written by Howard Fensterman published in the Long Island Press.

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced news cycle, certain stories capture public attention instantly, while others fade into the background, overshadowed by more sensational headlines. Issues like celebrity scandals and political skirmishes dominate our media, leaving critical matters, such as the plight of American hostages abroad, severely underreported. This lack of coverage reflects a troubling trend where the suffering of our citizens is sidelined, leaving families in anguish and diminishing the urgency of government action.

Main Article

Despite the gravity of their situations, American hostages held overseas receive scant attention from both the media and the government. This apathy towards our fellow citizens in dire circumstances is a moral failing and a strategic misstep. It undermines our national ethos and weakens our stance on protecting American lives.

Howard’s recent Op-Ed brings this issue into sharp focus, highlighting the stories of those Americans who have been forgotten. These hostages, often held in dangerous and inhumane conditions, are deprived of their fundamental rights. At the same time, their families endure endless torment, grappling with uncertainty and fear for their loved ones’ safety.

The media’s neglect of these stories contributes to a cycle of indifference. When the plight of hostages does not make headlines, it diminishes public pressure on the government to act. Consequently, policy responses remain tepid, and diplomatic efforts lack the vigor needed to secure the release of our citizens.

It is imperative that we, as a society, demand more from both our media and our government. The media must prioritize these human stories, bringing them to the forefront of public consciousness. Likewise, our government needs to adopt a more proactive and transparent approach to handling hostage situations, ensuring that every American held captive abroad is not just another statistic but a person whose life and freedom are worth fighting for.

Howard’s insights call for a renewed commitment to those suffering in silence. By shedding light on their plight, we can galvanize action, advocate for stronger policies, and ultimately, bring our hostages home.

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Immigration is a Federal Responsibility

President Biden Must Address the City’s Migrant Issue

Howard Fensterman recently published an op-ed in LongIslandPress.com emphasizing that local officials, especially those in New York City are acquiring the brunt of the federal government’s failure to address the issue of migrants being transported to the city.

Mr. Fensterman highlighted that the current immigration problem is a federal responsibility, but the New York City metropolitan area has shouldered the human and financial costs due to the federal government’s inaction. 

In his op-ed, he stated, “But as we have painfully learned in the last  two years, New York City and the region  have been forced to bear the human and  financial costs of the federal government’s  failure to act”

Mayor Adams is Taking Action on the Issue

New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces significant fiscal challenges and blames President Biden for not defraying the costs, leading to potential obstacles for the President’s re-election and the city’s fiscal stability. 

The mayor’s attempts to address the migrant issue include lawsuits against companies transporting migrants, particularly those chartered by Texas governor Gregg Abbott, but the federal government has not provided financial assistance and these bus companies have now begun dropping migrants across New Jersey, where local authorities put them on trans-Hudson commuter trains to the city. 

Although Mayor Adams has managed to lower the anticipated cost of caring for migrants, Governor Hochul’s additional billion-dollar allocation to her proposed budget has been a crucial lifeline. Despite these efforts, the federal government’s checkbook remains closed.

Political Implications

Fensterman pointed out that due to concerns over migrants and criminal justice reforms, the 2022 Congressional elections swung to the Republicans winning in New York. 

That said, this migrant situation has political, fiscal, and human costs, impacting Democrats, New York taxpayers, and migrants. 

Amidst this complex scenario, the call for real solutions echoes loudly. Tom Suozzi, seeking to return to Congress representing Long Island, proposes a sensible compromise. His approach involves closing the routes used by migrants to illegally enter the country while simultaneously creating a pathway to citizenship for those adhering to established rules and already residing in the United States. This approach aims to address the root causes of illegal migration while providing a fair and just solution for those seeking a better life.

Congressional leaders are being urged to collaborate with President Biden instead of exploiting the crisis for political gain. This call to action emphasizes the importance of a unified effort in tackling the migrant crisis, shifting the focus from political posturing to pragmatic solutions that balance security concerns with compassion.

Conclusion

A poignant reminder surfaces – beyond Indigenous people present before the arrival of Europeans, we are all immigrants or their descendants. Fensterman points out that there are parallels between racist rhetoric targeting recent immigrants and the dangerous rhetoric preceding the Nazi takeover in 1930s Germany, emphasizing the need for a humane and compassionate approach to the crisis.

With that said, the migrant crisis underscores the federal government’s responsibility, but its failure to act places a disproportionate burden on localities like New York City. Mayor Adams’ struggles, combined with the political ramifications and human costs, highlight the urgency for comprehensive and compassionate solutions, such as Suozzi’s proposed compromise, to address the complexities of immigration.

 

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Ruldorf Guiliani Sued for Sexual Misconduct

Photo of a legal gavel, group of files on judge table covered with dust -

New York’s former mayor and Donald Trump’s attorney, when Trump was in office, is not without problems, and one that is currently haunting him is the accusation that he sexually assaulted a woman. Noelle Dunphy claims that when she worked as Giuliani’s business development director and public relations consultant from 2019 to 2021, he made numerous inappropriate sexual advances at her.

Dunphy’s Statements

In court documents, Dunphy claims to have served as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his tenure as Donald Trump’s lawyer. She alleges in a 70-page legal complaint that Giuliani coerced her into sexual activities and that he owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages. 

While a Giuliani spokesperson denied the allegations, Dunphy, in her lawsuit, portrays the former New York City mayor as a womanizer, asserting that satisfying his sexual demands became a requirement for her employment. 

Seeking at least $10 million in damages, Dunphy also claims to have audio recordings capturing Giuliani making sexual comments and engaging in inappropriate behavior. The lawsuit further alleges that Giuliani failed to fulfill a promised $1 million per year consulting payment, citing delays related to his divorce settlement. 

According to Dunphy, Giuliani made unwelcome sexual advances from the outset, including demanding intimate acts and requesting her to work in revealing attire during video meetings. 

Despite Giuliani’s divorce settlement in 2019, Dunphy contends she received only $12,000 in cash payments for living expenses, leaving a balance of $1,988,000 unpaid. Additionally, she accuses the mayor of reneging on a commitment to represent her for free in a legal dispute involving claims of domestic violence.

Noelle Dunphy Engages Abrams Fensterman for Rudy Giuliani Sexual Harassment Case

Abrams Fensterman, LLP has been retained by Noelle Dunphy as her legal representative. Dunphy is being represented by distinguished litigator Justin T. Kelton, Sharon P. Stiller (Director of the Employment Law Practice), and Amanda P. Small.

Attorney Kelton expressed the firm’s commitment, stating, “We are proud to stand with Noelle Dunphy in seeking accountability from one of the most powerful and well-connected men in the country. Ms. Dunphy charges that Mr. Giuliani grossly abused his power as both her boss and lawyer to take advantage of her in truly egregious ways. Abrams Fensterman is committed to deploying its extensive experience in complex litigation to bring this case to a fair and just resolution.”

Bankruptcy and Defamation

Mr. Kelton provided insights on Giuliani’s recent bankruptcy filing in a statement to Business Insider. Shortly before filing for bankruptcy, Giuliani faced a court ruling holding him accountable for defamation, resulting in a $148 million judgment due to the dissemination of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

According to Business Insider, Giuliani also has outstanding debts, including $700,000 to the IRS, over $265,000 to New York tax authorities, and potential liabilities to several others who have filed lawsuits against him, including Hunter Biden, Noelle Dunphy, and Daniel Gill.

In the Business Insider article, Attorney Kelton emphasized, “Whatever the state of Mr. Giuliani’s finances, and whatever other circumstances he may face, we will never be deterred from our pursuit of justice and accountability.”

Justin T. Kelton holds the position of Partner at Abrams Fensterman, LLP, where he serves as Co-Chair of the Litigation Department. Renowned as a trial lawyer, Kelton represents clients in various high-stakes business disputes, investigations, and governmental enforcement actions across federal and state courts as well as administrative bodies. 

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New York Law Firms Address Antisemitism on College Campuses

Hands holding Palestine vs Israel flags

Antisemitism is on the rise and is reaching epidemic proportions. We have seen it in the streets of our cities and on college campuses which is no doubt, unsettling. 

Abrams Fensterman, LLP along with the nine other law firms are unyielding regarding the rise of antisemitism on many American college campuses and have taken action in the hope that they can help diminish this outpouring of hate among our universities.

The Letter

After the tragic events of October 7, 2023, the firm, along with nine other law firms, wrote a letter to the Law School Deans which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of 176 members and 18 fee-paid law schools across the United States. They expressed how deeply concerned they are and have called for immediate action to safeguard all students and uphold the principles of justice and equality.

The letter was sent on November 8, 2023, and a summary along with the quoted text below: 

“We represent some of the largest law firms on Long Island, and stand with many other law firms and businesses in expressing our extreme disappointment in the lack of condemnation by many law school deans and other administrators of anti-Semitic conduct by students and faculty members since the premeditated, barbaric rape and slaughter by Hamas on October 7, 2023 of some 1,400 Israelis, the vast majority of whom were civilian women, babies and children.”

Obligatory

The letter continued to advise the AALS that it is their principal obligation to protect all students on campus and to demonstrate their profound objection to any hateful rhetoric that originates on their campus grounds. Additionally, they have informed the association that it is their responsibility to provide a safe environment for everyone concerned.

Free Speech Has Its Limits 

Additionally, the firms have expressed their awareness of the expression of free speech but the incidents observed go beyond the acceptance of First Amendment protocols.

“As lawyers, we assure you that we are fully conversant with and supportive of the critical freedoms of expression that are protected by the First Amendment and myriad state constitutions. However, we have witnessed during the past several weeks a disturbing increase in virulent anti-Israel, anti-Jewish speech on university campuses that goes well beyond the bounds of protected expression and, instead, seeks to incite listeners and readers to imminent violence and other unlawful acts against members of the Jewish community and others who support Israel. Indeed, such rhetoric has too often been accompanied by actual acts of mob intimidation that have placed Jewish students and other supporters of Israel in fear of imminent physical bodily harm. In every sense, such “speech” constitutes “true threats,” under controlling Supreme Court jurisprudence. Even if it did not, it is certainly unacceptable in an educational or professional environment.”

Citing AALS’s Responsibility 

The law firms concluded by advising AALS that they routinely recruit students from their member schools but will sincerely reconsider hiring these students if action is not taken against these hateful protests and demonstrations on their college campuses.

The letter was signed by the following law firms. 

Abrams Fensterman, LLP
Harris Beach PLLC
L’Abbate, Balkan, Colavita & Contini, L.L.P.
Lewis Johs Avallone Aviles, LLP
Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP
Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP
Rivkin Radler LLP
Ruskin Moscou Faltischek P.C.
Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein, LLC
Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP

 

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EMPLOYEE ‘WHISTLEBLOWER’ PROTECTIONS EXPANDED

Effective today, protections for New York employees who become “whistleblowers” have changed significantly. This expanded regulation extends to additional inclusions via Labor Law 740.

Employers must post this new regulation with the update from Labor Law 740.

The previous regulation included personnel who are affected by this policy, but now the regulation covers former personnel, consultants, and contractors as well.

Before it was amended,, the law only protected personnel who reported violations that posed a “substantial and specific danger to public health or safety”. Now, employees just need to feel that there is a “reasonable belief” of an employer violation occurring.

Specifically, the law changes the statute of limitation to 2 years and modifies the penalties that employee whistleblowers can obtain from the employers.

Under the old law, employees who were wrongfully terminated were able to be awarded reinstatement to their position from their employers, as well as back wages, and any attorneys’ fees.

Now, whistleblower employees can be entitled to all of the previous reconciliations plus punitive damages, and front pay. Additionally, the employer in question could be liable for penalties up to $10,000.

 

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Ransomware: What to Do When Your Healthcare Systems are Hijacked


Young Male Doctor Sharing Data Is Exposed To Network Vulnerabili
Why Use Electronic Health Records?

Initiated during the Obama era, electronic health records (EHR) were a milestone in the healthcare industry. No more were paper records containing patient information allowed, with some very exceptions, however, but when it comes to public access via any medium, strict security methods were put into place. This was done in order to keep patients’ information as secure as possible.

What is the Downside of EHR?

For one thing, since the data is kept on networked computers, hacking and ransomware attacks have been commonplace. 

Ransomware are apps that find their way into a computer system and disable access to the data. The information on the computer will remain inaccessible until the owner pays them, usually in bitcoins. Once payment is made, they will release computer access back to the owner, but not always do they honor their promise.

EHR systems are no exception to these malicious crimes and since healthcare systems are just as vulnerable, it is highly recommended that appropriate strategies are put into place in order to prevent these cyber-attacks from raising havoc on your computer systems, subsequently causing much disarray within your business.

HIPPA Security Rule


When a healthcare provider is hacked by ransomware or other malicious software, it means that someone was able to gain access to your EHR information and that is a severe PHI violation. This is why it is important for covered entities to get familiar with the HIPAA Security Rules. 
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that the presence of ransomware is a “security incident” under HIPAA and this can trigger a response, resulting in reporting procedures to be initiated by HIPAA.

HIPPA Breach

Doctor with Stethoscope on a laptop
It is also important to become familiar with the HIPAA Breach Rules which requires HIPAA-covered entities to notify patients and other affected parties if a breach of unsecured protected health information has occurred. As stated in abramslaw.com, “HHS guidance also states that any electronic protected health information (“ePHI”) that is encrypted by ransomware is presumed a “breach,” triggering a covered entity’s breach notification obligations.”

HIPAA’s section 164.402 defines a breach of PHI data as “The acquisition, access, use, or disclosure of protected health information in a manner not permitted which compromises the security or privacy of the protected health information.”. The HIPAA Survival Guide can provide you with all the additional information you need to know regarding unauthorized access to a computer or computer system containing PHI data.

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US Supreme Court: Technology vs. Privacy Laws

Law Balance plates
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

Technology and Privacy Laws

As technology progresses, new legal dilemmas materialize. Arguments are continuing regarding social media posts, and what is legal and what is not, or more precisely, where is the line drawn where someone can be held liable for controversial postings, or what one may deem controversial?

With that said, electronic devices are no exception to the quandary of legalities. Such is the case of law enforcement accessing information from suspected criminals’ cell phones.

There is an FBI–Apple encryption dispute that concerns the extent ro which courts in the United States can compel manufacturers to assist in unlocking cell phones whose data are cryptographically protected (encrypted).

Privacy vs. National Security

Photo of a cellphone
Photo by Magnus Mueller from Pexels

On December 2, 2015, there was a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing.

The FBI obtained the cell phone used by the terrorists but was unable to decrypt it. After an unsuccessful attempt by the NSA to crack it, the FBI did find a way (some experts say it was a firm from Israel) to break the encryption code.

Does Law Enforcement Have the Legal Right to Pursue a Case If It Involves Privacy Access via Electronic Devices?

The Fourth Amendment States:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Noting this amendment, we can take a look at the legalities regarding a criminal act and law enforcement’s actions to bring the criminal to justice.

Timothy Carpenter was found guilty of a string of robberies in Ohio and Michigan and was sentenced to 116 years in prison. Part of the prosecution’s evidence was the FBI’s collection of  127 days of location data from his cell phone that revealed Carpenter to be in the same areas where and when the robberies occurred. 

Carpenter’s Sentence and the Supreme Court’s Decision

Room with books
Photo by Gabriel Ghnassia on Unsplash

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor questioned the government’s lawyers about law enforcement’s right to access cell phone data without a search warrant:

I know people who take phones into public restrooms. They take them with them everywhere. It’s an appendage now for some people. If it’s not okay to put a beeper into someone’s bedroom, why is it okay to use the signals that phone is using from that person’s bedroom, made accessible to law enforcement without probable cause?

The result was that the  Supreme Court held, in a 5–4 decision that the government violated the Fourth Amendment by accessing records of an individual’s physical location from cellphones without a search warrant.

Regardless, Carpenter was still convicted and the government secured the 116-year prison sentence against him even though cell location information that the FBI accessed was said to be unlawfully obtained.

So Carpenter did go to prison, but he will be known more for initiating a legal battle when law enforcement can execute search warrants to access one’s private technical devices.

Conclusion

Many feel that the laws regarding government access to an individual’s private technology devices are out of date and need to be modified.

 

 

 

 

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Abrams Fensterman Ranked #1 Health Care Law Firm on Long Island

The Long Island Business News ranked Abrams Fensterman #1 in its February 25 publication. The Fensterman law firm was voted #1 out of 35 other Long Island firms regarding healthcare law services.

Howard Fensterman, the firm’s Managing Partner, has said: “Since Abrams Fensterman’s formation 11 years ago, we have continuously focused our attention on identifying highly accomplished health care attorneys in the community and encouraging them to join with us in building a leading health care law firm-not just on Long Island, but throughout New York State. The recent survey results published by the Long Island Business News are [a] testament to those tireless efforts. We are tremendously proud and flattered that so many clients in the health care field have come to rely upon our law firm for their legal needs and in doing so, enabled us to grow at such a rapid pace. ”

Abrams Fensterman was also featured in the annual “Health Resource Guide”  published in the Long Island Business News on March 24, 2011.