Lansner Kubitschek Schaffer & Zuccardy

LKSZ Files Cornejo Cert. Petition

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:32:11 -0400

Lansner Kubitschek Schaffer & Zuccardy has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States in Cofnejo v. Bell, to obtain reversal of the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granting absolute immunity to attorneys for the NYC Administration for Children's Services. ACS filed a child abuse case against Ms. Cornejo in Queens County Family Court. Within two weeks, the ACS caseworkers had determined that Ms. Cornejo was not responsible for her child's death, and instructed their attorneys to withdraw the case against her and have the other child returned to her. The ACS attorneys ignored their clients' instructions and provided misleading information to the Family Court Judge. After ACS staff determined that the child had died of natural causes, the caseworkers again instructed their attorneys to withdraw the case, this time against both parents. Again, the attorneys disobeyed their clients' instructions and continued the case.

Read the petition.

Kubitschek Quoted in Newspaper Stories on Abuse Registries

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:59:14 -0400

Carolyn was quoted in the April 25, 2010, Washington Post and CBSNEWS website and the April 22, 2010, Norwalk [Connecticut] News, in a story about "Flaws Found in State Child-Abuse Registries." by David Crary, an AP National Writer. "Nobody wants to be seen as soft on child abuse -- and that's gotten us where we are," said Carolyn Kubitschek, a New York attorney who has waged several court battles over the registries. "In the state of New York, it is still almost impossible to get off the list."

* * * *

"Anybody can call a child abuse hotline and report abuse -- anybody, including your ex-spouse who hates you, your landlord who's trying to evict you," Kubitschek said.

By law, she said, child protection services must investigate each call -- and their subsequent reports can lead to a person's placement on an abuse registry before they are notified or allowed to defend themselves.

http://www.thehour.com/story/485344

Carolyn Kubitschek Moderates NYCLA CLE on new Federal Rules

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:42:20 -0400

On March 9, 2010, Carolyn Kubitschek moderated and spoke at a New York County Lawyers' Association Continuing Legal Education program on "New Developments in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence - 2009-2010 Update." The three-hour program SDNY Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis, James Mirro from the NYC Corporation Counsel's office, Melinda Rodon, and Evan Mandel. The program focused on new rules on Expert Disclosure, Attorney Work Product, and the calculation of time limits.

Jill Zuccardy to Speak at NCJFCJ Conference in Chicago

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:10:14 -0400

Jill Zuccardy will be a faculty member at the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges' training program for judges, "Continuing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases," in Chicago this June.

Defendant Doc Goes South

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:43:54 -0500

Dr. Deborah Esernio-Jenssen, the head of the Child Protective team at LIJ's Schneider Children's Hospital, has resigned her position. She is leaving the hospital – and New York – to take a position in Gainesville, Florida. Dr. Esernio-Jenssen is a defendant in three federal lawsuits in New York charging that she misdiagnoses child abuse, accuses parents incorrectly, and causes ACS and other child protective services agencies to remove children unnecessarily. One ACS supervisor testified in the federal lawsuit that she would not bring her own child to Schneider Children’s Hospital for fear of being wrongfully accused of child abuse. New York Family Court judges have begun rejecting her diagnoses and finding her to be unreliable. . The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuits are being represented by Lansner Kubitschek Schaffer & Zuccardy.

Carolyn Kubitschek Speaks at Oberlin College Career Conference

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:38:26 -0500

Carolyn will be speaking at an Alumni-Led Career Workshop at Oberlin College on March 5, on

"So You Want to be a Lawyer."

Carolyn will speak about attending law school and what it means to be a lawyer in the venues in which one can use training in the law: non-profit legal advocacy groups, such as the ACLU and legal services for the poor; law firms; federal, state, and local government, and as law professors, to name but a few.

Carolyn Kubitschek Photo in the New York Law Journal

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:41:58 -0500

The New York Law Journal for March 1, 2010, featured a photograph of Carolyn with Chief Judge Raymond Dearie of the United States Eastern District of New York at a reception for pro bono attorneys.

David Lansner Gives Presentation at State Bar Annual Meeting

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:22:15 -0500

David Lansner spoke about Civil Rights claims and Administrative Proceedings for victims of the Child Welfare System a the 2010 Annual Meeting of the New York State Bar Association, on January 27, 2010, at the Hilton New York. The program, "Beyond the Family Court: Appeals and Collateral Review," including David’s discussing of 1983 damage actions for cases of illegal removals by child protective workers and for children who were abused in foster care.

Jill Zuccardy Prevents Teenager from having to visit DV Perpetrator

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:49:05 -0500

In a case handled by LKSZ pro bono through Sanctuary for Families, Jill Zuccardy defeated an appeal by a domestic violence perpetrator. The Second Department confirmed that a teenage girl should not be forced to visit with her parent where " The evidence established that the child's fear of the father was valid, as it was based upon the father's abusive and criminal behavior. The father had committed family offenses, emotionally and sexually abused the mother, abducted the child's older siblings, and intentionally exposed the child to graphic, sexually-explicit materials. The order precluding all contact was consistent with the child's wishes, the testimony and report of the court-appointed forensic psychologist, and the father's denial of responsibility for the emotional and psychological injury his behavior had caused."

Matter of Samuel S. v. Dayawathie R.

63 A.D.3d 746, 880 N.Y.S.2d 685 (2d Dept. 2009)

Barbara Schaffer Wins Million Dollar Verdict for DV Victim

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:56:53 -0500

In a recent matrimonial action, the firm secured a personal injury judgment of $1 million for the wife who was a victim of domestic violence. In M.E. v. C.N., partner Barbara Schaffer successfully argued not only that our client should be divorced on grounds of cruelty and obtain 100 percent distribution of the marital residence due to her husband's serious domestic violence against her, but that she should also receive compensatory and punitive damages. The Court agreed and awarded her the residence and $18,150 in lost wages; $400,000 in pain and suffering; and, $500,000 in punitive damages.