Legal links of interest for the week ending November 22

Steven Getman, attorney, reports on some news stories about lawyers and the law in the past week:

Attorney general cracks down on fake online reviews: The agency announced that it had reached a $350,000 settlement with 19 companies for posting bogus online reviews to consumer review sites like Yelp, Citysearch and Google Local.

Democrats vote to curb filibusters on nominees: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the move a “raw power play” – and said the whole issue was meant to “distract people from ObamaCare.”

Judges must warn about deportation, New York Appeals Court rules: In a 5-to-2 decision, the Court of Appeals overturned its 1995 ruling that deportation is a “collateral consequence” of a guilty plea, and so judges need not warn foreign defendants it might happen.

Justice Alito rips NY federal judge for requiring race- and sex-based law firm staffing: The issue was the practice of U.S. District Judge Harold Baer requiring that class action counsel ensure that attorney staffing of the case reflect the racial and gender of the class.

NY court rejects 'too intoxicated' murder defense: New York’s Court of Appeals upheld the murder convictions Thursday of three drivers who caused deadly crashes, rejecting arguments they were too intoxicated to know the threat they posed.

NY debt collector settles claims of bad business: Authorities said he tried to collect on payday loans, which are illegal in New York state. Those short-term loans are typically advances on a paycheck with exorbitant interest rates.

NY registry to have multiple pictures of sex offenders: The state’s Sex Offender Registry will now display multiple images of convicted sex offenders to help make them more recognizable to the public and law enforcement.

Senate, Assembly to jointly file against Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission: lawyers representing the legislators will argue that the subpoenas are overreaching, violate the constitutional separation-of-powers edict and seek protected client information, sources said.

For more on each of these stories, click on the links above.