The competing allegations are detailed here. The short version: Kerik, a former NYPD Commissioner turned federal felon, is suing his former criminal attorney and close friend, Joe Tacopina, claiming Tacopina was informing on him to federal prosecutors, using information he gained as Bernie's friend and counsel. Tacopina is counter-claiming for defamation and charging that reporters from the Daily News conspired with Kerik to smear Tacopina. These are ugly and serious charges all the way around. All signs are pointing towards bare knuckle brawling with lots of scorched earth.
So, the updates. First, the New Jersey federal court where Bernie filed his suit denied Tacopina's motion to dismiss, which he surely expected, but granted his motion for a change of venue. The case has been transferred to the SDNY and is now before Judge John Koeltl. Tacopina's deadline to answer the complaint or move again for dismissal is May 16, 2014.
Second, Tacopina has added Judd Burstein to his defense team. In his April 10, 2014, letter to the Court, Burstein advised that he would be moving to dismiss the complaint and for sanctions against Kerik and/or his counsel, presumably if the complaint was not withdrawn before the motion to dismiss was filed. Burstein's appearance should dispel any doubt that Tacopina intends to vigorously fight this suit.
Time to break out the popcorn and settle in for some entertaining litigation.
take the pop corn and stick it where the sun doesn't shine....Mr. Kerik wants and must be allowed the records since his 1 Amendment Rights are being violated by this phony defamation lawsuit, of which, Tacopina was forced to drop the Daily News because it is frivilous and any sanctions should be made against this retaliation lasuit
ReplyDeleteThe records you're talking about comprise the discovery the government turned over in the criminal case under a confidentiality order (and which Judge Preska just ruled compels Bernie to return them). Kerik can certainly subpoena those records from the government and slug it out w/the Justice Department before Judge Koeltl. Personally, I hope they're turned over. But I'm holding onto the popcorn.
ReplyDeleteThe discovery Bernie seeks is the discovery that proves the alleged investigation number 1 (into Tacopina/Fischetti fee splitting ) led to information (wire taps) contrary to Bernie Kerik. Bernie is mad, understandably so, by allegedging that the lawyer he is suing kept feeding information to a government investigation that Bernie was not told up front - he states his info was privleged - thus, the government is a party (so far unnnamed) to this litigation and should NOT have the right to hide under privledge when Bernie says his privledge communications was violated. In other words, you can't hide records to evade a judicial prosecution or investigation just b/c impropriety may be found - that is a no-no and may imply a cover-up - I am not saying that the case, but that is the implication from Bernie - He may be right. We don't know yet but he seems to have information. This is why we are supposed to have a "neutral" Judge. This is why the Judge needs to ASK questions, not copy and past the letter from the government who obviously might not want their work questioned - I believe as you also assert , Bernie must file for a subpoena and make them argue it out as this is a matter of the law and public interest as he also has a right to defend himself from the "defamation" with the truth, or else, the scales of justice are not fair to Bernie and this lawyer gain an unfair legal advantage - we all agree - release the records !!
DeleteI have no idea where you get your info, but, if true, those tapes would be fascinating. I'm thinking it's like the scorpion and the frog parable. Bernie gets tapes that burn Tacopina and airs them out. Fun stuff. But then, Bernie ends up looking like crap as well. So why do it? Maybe it's his nature.
ReplyDeleteKerik's lawyer said today he's planning on subpoenaing the file, so here's hoping that the Court agrees that Bernie's need for the materials trumps any of the gov't's privilege arguments.
I believe it is the NY Daily News, Gangland Magazine, and others who assert, this A-rod lawyer slept with a client's wife and referred to the poor ex-client of Tacopona as a "cuckold...." I find that rather disgusting and maybe the first dept. should actually conduct an investigation instead of allowing lawyers who are accused of wrongdoings to hire ex-Departmental Disciplinary Committee ("DDC") employees or insiders represent them when they come under investigation by their peers- as a lawyer in good standing, as you are, you think that is fair that accused lawyers be permitted to hire ex-DDC Chairman, Committee members, etc.....or do you feel a 10 year ban should be imposed to avoid conflicts of interests in this regard....? Just seems like these celb lawyers don't have any rules at all to follow
ReplyDeleteHey gents, nice back and forth but I think the real interesting story is whether a Mr. Tacopina who seems all over these scandals was in fact having an affair with Tacopina's client's "wife." How did he pull that Harry Houdini act of...? That is the type of sin you can get your ass kicked for....at least in my old neigborhood....Lets get a report from the NY Post or News to front page this and send a copy to the cuckold chef for a comment....Now that poor client got the shit end of the deal...How did he find out? Did he contact the police? The Ethics Committee? Maybe Bernie can upgade his lawsuit to a class action to include all of the victims, with the "cuckold" chef a lead Plaintiff and just keep the stories comming....they must be more...Boing ! I know of another lawyer who is into that swinging lifestyle....maybe a knew name for him, "Joey the Bull Tacopina," a bull in bed with another man's wife, a bull crapper as a lawyer.....Geex how embarassing....has this lawyer have no shame...? Wow, that is a good story though
ReplyDeleteWOW - What a story - I see the A-ROD lawyer is now trying to send his ex-client Kerik BACK to prison after filing a multi-million "defamation" lawsuit. The NY Post says, the A-ROD lawyer is "siccing" the FEDS onto Kerik to send him BACK to prison for perjury. According to the N.Y Daily News, when contacted, "Judd" Burdstein or is it Bird-brain is qouted as saying:
ReplyDelete"I know that lawyers in a civil litigation often try to convince prosecutors to pursue criminal cases against an opposing party and the purpose of this letter is to do just that..."
WOW, now that is one convoluted legal statement. Mike, any thoughts.....?
Well, it's the forest - trees thing. Your pro-Bernie agenda is causing you to throw mud at any and everything tied to Tacopina, including insulting his attorney (who's really a very good lawyer). By the way, you should send me some sort of support for the sexual misconduct claims. Otherwise I'm deleting them.
ReplyDeleteAs for calling in the prosecutors: if Tacopina has evidence that Kerik's pleadings contain deliberately false statements, then /his attorney are protected. But as a strategy, well, people might disagree over that one.
This is what it comes down to: did Tacopina violate Kerik's confidences? That's the question. The rest is just theatre. Of course, the theatre's the fun part, but there you go.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your reply. I wish to clarify some info you made in your post and reply to your question. I am in no way a partisian to Bernie Kerik person. I have never met with Mr. Kerik nor do I know him personally...I believe he has issues that he paid a big price for and that ruined his life. He admitted to mistakes. I believe, however, he has a right for Freedom of Speech and to litigate a case without threats. I have seen to admittance of any mistakes or errors by teh A-rod lawyers. To my knowledge, I believe licensed lawyers hold a very special and privileged status within our society and within our court systems because the Court gives them extra authority in their other role as Officers of the Courts , they are, in a sense, the Court's ambassadors. They gain this special power from their pledge to uphold the N.Y. Rules of Professional Conduct that all lawyers, including you, take an aoth to abide by. If lawyers belief and do things to act as if they are above the rules, it causes a breakdown in the public's trust of the age old tradition of sharing highly personal information and which can lower the high standards expected of the profession. In New York, sexual relations between clients are particularly a touchy subject. I am not an expert on the subject but iin the opinions of others, whether or not the law extends to client's wives or chidren, for prejudical reasons, sexual conduct is big NO-NO. Arguably, if such acts are committed it can lead to a number of other ethical violations that must be avoided so the client is not prejudiced. Here is a summary of the New York Rules:
New York regulates attorney-client sexual relations under the heading of Misconduct. Unlike the above jurisdictions, New York was the first state to regulate sexual relations of attorneys and clients in domestic matters. n44 Disciplinary Rule 1-102(7) provides that a lawyer or law firm [*142] shall not "in domestic relations matters, begin a sexual relationship with a client during the course of the lawyer's representation of the client." n45 Although strictly speaking attorney-client sexual relations in non-domestic matters are not prohibited, New York case law suggests that sexual relations in non-domestic relations cases may violate the code of conduct. n46 [*143] New York observes, as is the case in most attorney-client sexual relations, that most attorney-client sexual relations are initiated during domestic matters where a client is most vulnerable. New York's response to this problem was a per se rule against any sexual relations between client and attorney in matrimonial matters. Although other jurisdictions have drafted rules broader in scope, they emphasized that the sexual relationship must have an exploitative nature to be prohibited. Unlike those jurisdictions, but like Iowa and Minnesota, New York has a blanket prohibition on attorney-client sexual relations in domestic matters.
As to your other question, where this information came from, I wish to advise you it has been widely reported on the website, GANGLAND NEWS.COM on June 17, 2011.
Here is a link to the article - - - http://www.scribd.com/doc/58123077/Tacopina-Bedded-My-Wife-Gang-Land-The-Column
I believe Jerry Capeci, a former NY Daily News reporter is very well-respected source and has the back -up evidence to support his claims. It also cites the Kerik issues. I have not mentioned any names because I also wish to protect the privacy of the victim here. This is merely my opinion and those of others over this publisged news story. If the story is accurate, what are your opinions on such behavior. Thanks for reporting - - I have the pop corn bag, do want some? LOL
Well, I don't know if any lawyer is working under a greater moral obligation to uphold the law than a major city police commissioner. So you'll forgive me if I read your posts as reflecting a certain bias.
DeleteAs for other allegations of bad acts by Tacopina, I'm not interested. It's the facts of this case that have piqued my curiosity.
Parenthetically, Capeci is a reputable guy, but he's not saying there were sexual shenanigans. He's just reporting somebody else's claim, which, by the way, Capeci says was withdrawn once Tacopina refunded the client's fee. I have no dog in the fight or any desire to throw mud; I'm just interested in seeing how the litigation plays out.
My favorite drink there was the cucumber water. Most cucumber water tastes like water with the tiniest morsel of cucumber taste, but not this water.
ReplyDeleteI respect the fact you run the web site with open opinions and let people expres their views - some have panned out very accurate so far.....This A-Rod lawyer just refuses to tell the whole truth....he appears to be threatening lawsuits against everyone who opposes his manner of thinking....I am suprised he hasn't threatened your web site yet.......I have reason to believe he may be hiding secrets and if I was a betting man.....I would not count the Commish out on this one.....he is in great shape and it seems he can still deliver that high leg karate kick to knock that wryly smile right off the A-rod lawyer's crooked mouth....looks the pressure is getting to the A-Rod lawyer and his crater skins is coming undone and those skin tight suits are looking ever so tighter ....ding.........ding....ding.......first 2 rounds to the bald Mr. Clean look alike - the corrupt NYC Commish - Hey Bernie, you got busted for 1 losely nany illegal alien but now Obama is busing them in by the tens of thousands ....maybe you can reapply for the Homeland Security Commish now, what a difference a day or in your case a criminal sentence makes.......lol
ReplyDeleteDing....Ding.....Ding....in the right Corner, weighing in at a fleety 190 lbs and standing 5' 11, without 1 hair on his head, yes, the "Commish," alias Mr. Clean, looking to clean his opponent's clock, the Puncher of Paterson, is Bernie Kerik....yehhhh....booooo - -
ReplyDeleteIn the Left Corner, weighing in at 202 lbs and standing 6' , with black, grease curled hair, possibly hair plus, wearing a Ginny Tee from Brooklyn NY is the Italian madmax, the Devil's Adocate, a media-whore who relishes on suing his own clients, and even have sexual relations w/their wives, he mean, bad and never had, it's Joey "the bull-craper" Wackoweina
Boys this is a 10 round fight - any knockouts will only be accepted if you are arrested by the DDC or the Feds, Otherwise, this fight is to the death.....Ding Ding