Through the "Advisory Council", Hiscock & Barclay's attorneys are advising the very judges that they appear and do business in front of, secret membership "Inns of Court" where they appoint judges as officers and wine and dine them while litigating - and winning, of course - cases in front of them.
Hiscock & Barclay also had on its payroll New York Senator Breslin, brother of the Supervising Judge of criminal courts in the 3rd Judicial District, the Albany judge Thomas A. Breslin.
New York Senator Neil Breslin, while working as a private attorney for Hiscock & Barclay (who now continues to work for the newly merged mammoth Barclay Damon), and while Hiscock & Barclay's partner John Casey was planted in the attorney disciplinary committee weeding out his firm's competitors and hiring or being hired by high-ranking well-connected attorneys turned in for investigation, has sponsored a self-serving bill that helped strengthen attorney monopoly for legal representation in New York, elevating unauthorized practice of law from misdemeanor to a felony - while failing to define what the heck the practice of law actually is, thus violating the ancient principle of even Roman law "no punishment without the law" (and the due process notice requirement of the U.S. Constitution, 14th Amendment).
I wrote that Hiscock & Barclay has planted its partner John Casey (who now left Barclay Damon for his new stint Casey Cabaniss) into the New York 3rd Department Commission for Professional discipline for attorneys where the partner rescued three attorneys referred for investigation and prosecution:
- M. Cornelia Cahill, wife of Chief Judge of New York Court of Claims Richard Sise, daughter-in-law of Judge Robert Sise whose Court of Claims position on the bench her husband inherited, and sister-in-law to judge Joseph Sise who also became a judge, of Montgomery County Supreme Court (his father was a judge of the Montgomery County Children's Court) - John Casey, as partner in Hiscock & Barclay, hired her instead of disbarring her, as a member of Attorney disciplinary committee of the 3rd Department, for stealing over $300,000 (at least) from public schools in benefits by claiming that she was an employee of the school system, while she was a member of a law firm representing the school system as a contractor;
- Robert Harlem, former Otsego County Supreme Court judge, and former Chief Administrative Judge of the 6th Judicial District; and his son attorney Richard Harlem - who were referred to be disbarred by Assistant New York State Attorney General Mary Walsh for practicing law on the bench (judge Harlem), concealing it from the court, and as to Richard Harlem, aiding and abetting his father in practicing law on the bench, defrauding the court and defrauding a multi-million dollar estate of a lonely woman that Judge Harlem befriended while on the bench; instead of prosecuting and disbarring these attorneys, Hiscock & Barclay undertook their representation against another complainant about them Frederick J. Neroni, and brought disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Neroni and his wife and attorney, opposing Hiscock & Barclay in proceedings representing the Harlems (subjects of disciplinary investigation by Hiscock's partner Casey), which resulted in taking law licenses of both "offending complainants" hurting Hiscock's high-standing clients.
Now, while researching the history of corruption in New York government, I came across one more dynasty - of the founder of Hiscock & Barclay, who was actually also a judge:
Frank H. Hiscock, "coincidentally" from Onondaga County where Hiscock & Barclay was originally founded and where it flourishes, corrupting federal judges such as several judges and magistrates of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York - where many of the NDNY law clerks end up working for Hiscock & Barclay (now Barclay Damon).
And, Frank H. Hiscock himself was the son of a New York State Senator and a nephew of a U.S. Senator - who raised him after his father, the New York State Senator, was murdered by his friend General George W. Cole, for screwing General Cole's wife while General Cole was away in the Civil War and being seriously wounded, which later led to General Cole's demise (General Cole was then acquitted for "momentary insanity"). I guess, "noble" behavior runs in the blood of that family for 2 centuries and controlled the way their law firm operated, and, after the split into two (Barclay Damon and Casey Cabaniss), continues to operate, "bigger than ever".
Onondaga County is now, by the way, the seat of the corrupt female-hater corrupt Chief Administrative Judge for the 5th Administrative District Judge James Tormey (subject of two lawsuits, by a court employee, for trying to engage her in a political espionage against a fellow judge and for viciously retaliating against her when she refused, settled for $600,000, and by a female court interpreter who Tormey persecuted for the sake of his law school roommate Onondaga County DA William Fitzpatrick) - is now the "purchasing agent" of Otsego County, where the County Attorney is Ellen Coccoma, the wife of the Chief Administrative Judge of Upstate New York Michael Coccoma (while continuing to practice as a private attorney on taxpayer dime and refusing to provide her timesheets for the time she is spending on such private practice while she is supposed to work for the County, as a full-time paid officer).
DA William Fitzpatrick was the one who took off the bench judge Bryan Hedges - after Judge Hedges refused to cave in to extortion attempts orchestrated by William Fitzpatrick who wanted part of the settlement money with the alleged victim, Fitzpatrick reported Hedges to the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct, and the Commission, that usually shreds all complaints without investigation, obliged, and took the judge off the bench - that is all part of public filings with the New York State Commission for Judicial Conduct.
Nevertheless, despite clear evidence that William Fitzpatrick participated in a criminal extortion scheme, he was chosen by Governor Andrew Cuomo for the "Moreland Commission" for Public Ethics, of all things (since disbanded by Cuomo because it started to investigate Cuomo), and was chosen to "serve" as the President of National District Attorney's Association.
And, by the way, Onondaga County was one of the counties subject of a settlement in federal court for failure to provide constitutionally required indigent criminal defense -
while having enough time and money for discriminatory prosecutions of a female court interpreter, and
while having enough time and money for the recent criminal criminal prosecution by Fitzpatrick against the city authorities of the city of Syracuse, NY for their failed lawsuit against Syracuse Assistant Corporation counsel Joseph Barry, brother-in-law of longtime Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey, retired in 2015, and, apparently brother-in-law of former New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division 4th Judicial Department judge Eugene Fahey elevated by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (son of Governor Mario Cuomo) to New York State Court of Appeals in the same 2015.
Judge Joseph Fahey was called "out of retirement" to be the City of Syracuse's top lawyer - and now gets to draw both his pension and his salary, a scheme recently criticized and subject to litigation in the New York State Court of Appeals, in front of Joseph Fahey's brother, NYS Court of Appeals Judge Eugene Fahey. You understand where that litigation is heading, right?
While failing to provide constitutionally required indigent defense, and while hereditary Governor Andrew Cuomo recently vetoed a bipartisan bill that would shift the burden of funding of such indigent defense from homeowners only (County taxes) to all state taxpayers (state taxes) "for lack of funds", the town of Syracuse, Onondaga County hired an attorney to represent it and its officials (including a brother-in-law of two judges) at the stage of the criminal INVESTIGATION, at the following rates:
Please, note that a criminal defendant in New York is not even constitutionally required an attorney at the stage of investigation - only at the stage of prosecution.
Since the criminal investigation was actually DROPPED against the city and its officials as a result of successful efforts of attorney Barry Berke of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, who worked at $850 an hour and charged the city (and its taxpayers) $510,691 for representation at the stage of a criminal INVESTIGATION - not prosecution - it is clear how important it is to have a qualified attorney to undertake criminal defense at the time of investigation, so that prosecution might not even commence.
But, apparently, that is possible only for blue-blood public officials, out of taxpayer pockets, and not for taxpayers themselves.
As a comparison, the median income of a resident of the city of Syracuse, NY is $19,283, as compared to the medium income of $28,555 per person per year in the United States.
A Syracuse resident's and taxpayer's ANNUAL salary of $19,283, the entire income the residents have to cover all necessary expenses (taxes, housing, utility bills in the freezing New York winters, transportation, clothes, food, medication, childcare etc.) - is enough only to cover a whopping 22 hours and 42 minutes of the time of attorney Barry Berke.
Yet, the same taxpayer who cannot afford his own criminal defense, and for whom the County cannot provide an adequate constitutionally required criminal defense, was forced to finance the rich City officials' criminal defense before a criminal case even commenced, at $850 an hour, to rescue from criminal investigation the brother-in-law of two judges, Joseph Fahey, and the recently elevated to the New York State Court of Appeals Eugene Fahey, instead of putting those public officials in a position to either hire an attorney at their own expense, or apply for indigent defense (that they know is inadequate in their County), or go without - as everybody else in Syracuse does.
So, as you understand, ladies and gentlemen, we have a very interesting "rule of law" system in New York. It can be formulated this way:
1) there is hereditary nobility in New York State, children of judges, state and U.S. Senators and Governors, who themselves become judges, New York and U.S. Senators, Governors, prosecutors, judges, or hire Senators, judges, after retirement, or their relatives, friends and former law clerks - and for them, the rule is that everything they want is the law;
2) there are the mere mortals who should finance this "my wish is my law" system, while it bleeds the budget to the point of not being able to provide the elementary access to court and rule of law required by the U.S. Constitution; and
3) application of laws, and State and Federal Constitution to those mere mortals is discretionary.
So, it is a hereditary-discretionary rule of law in New York. Did you know that?
As to the in-fighting against Fitzpatrick in Syracuse goes, it will be interesting to see the result, because, very possibly, by going against the brother in law of two judges, one retired and now hired by the City of Syracuse for his influence and to allow him to double-dip (with no protests raging in the streets and now lawsuits filed, as they were against the Trump administration, for nepotism and conflict of interest), and the other - a judge of New York State Court of Appeals - Fitzpatrick had possibly bitten more than he can chew.
Fitzpatrick is the favorite of the Chief Administrative Judge of the 5th Judicial District James Tormey.
Joseph Barry who Fitzpatrick dared to pursue with a now-dropped criminal investigation, is a brother-in-law of two judges, one of them currently on the top state court.
The in-fighting perpetuating the hereditary-discretionary rule of law in New York continues.
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