Mike Vilensky

New York

Reporter at Bloomberg Law

Articles

Weinstein called ‘pig’ at #MeToo-focused voir dire

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

Prospective juror #9 had second thoughts. Attorneys had finished questioning the panel of potential Harvey Weinstein jurors Wednesday when the Upper East Side banker asked to return to the courtroom alone and offer additional information. “I want to express my discomfort,” he said. “When defense counsel asked my reaction to the defendant’s name, the first word that came into my head was pig. That’s my general impression.”Weinstein, seated feet away, looked sullen. The banker was excused.
It’s Adams v. Adams over immigration at Rikers

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

New York City Mayor Eric Adams moved earlier this month to let ICE open an office at the city’s Rikers Island jail. Now New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (D)—an Eric Adams rival in the 2025 mayor’s race— wants to stop him, my colleague Beth Wang reports. The Eric Adams administration issued the order letting federal immigration authorities onto Rikers as part of a quid pro quo with the Trump administration, the City Council claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday.
Alvin Bragg Set to Try Weinstein Again in Changed #MeToo Climate

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has secured convictions against high-profile defendants like Donald Trump, Jonathan Majors, and Cuba Gooding Jr. But on Tuesday his office will tee off again against one who got away: Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie producer whose sexual assault conviction was overturned in New York last year. All sides of the case agree this won’t look like 2020, when Weinstein was tried in New York in a landmark moment for the #MeToo movement.
Exclusive: Bragg preps for Weinstein retrial

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

Harvey Weinstein will head back to the familiar territory of Manhattan criminal court Tuesday, but the landscape around him has changed. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is trying the former movie producer for sex crimes again after the state’s top court overturned Weinstein’s prior conviction. The 2024 decision means the jury this time will only hear assault allegations from women who are part of the charges against Weinstein.
Divided attorneys descend on budget battle

1 week ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

They’re lobbying legislators, stalking the the Capitol, and hopping on podcasts. DAs and defense attorneys—deadlocked over Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to amend the state’s discovery law—are telling political allies to hold the line as negotiations head into overtime. The budget was due April 1 but lawmakers passed a fourth extension Thursday allowing more time to negotiate with Hochul. The Democratic governor has pushed the discovery law with the state’s $252 billion spending plan.
Kaplan, Trump pugilism continues over MTA

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

President Trump and Roberta Kaplan are going for round three. The New York attorney appearedbefore a Manhattan federal judge Wednesday in a suit seeking to stop Trump’s effort to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program. “Congestion pricing is in effect, we believe its working,” Kaplan told Southern District of New York Judge Lewis J. Liman. “We don’t intend to turn it off until there’s an order from your honor that we need to do so.”Kaplan’s a familiar Trump foe. She represented writer E.
Attorney fee cap plan draws complaints

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

Lawyers representing state officials accused of wrongdoing could see their fees fall under a bill being considered—but facing resistance—in Albany. In the nation’s largest legal market—and a state with no shortage of government actors finding themselves in court—the proposal isn’t an easy sell. “We have been getting concerned feedback that it may have unintended consequences,” Sen. Liz Krueger (D), the Manhattan lawmaker who announced the bill this month, told me by phone on Tuesday.
AI avatar panned by court offers pro se future

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky |Sei Chong

A pro se litigant reprimanded by New York judges for deploying a video avatar to make his argument for him has highlighted confusion over rules around AI in court. “It’s probably never happened before, so there’s not a rule that says you can’t do it,” said Sam Harden, senior innovation manager at Pro Bono Net, a New York-based nonprofit that provides technology to legal aid groups.
What lawyers should watch in Hochul's budget

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky

Attorneys are top of mind in a state spending plan lawmakers hope to finalize this week. As Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and the Legislature hash out a budget bigger than Denmark’s, they’ve hit an impasse over — of all things — setting pre-trial criminal discovery rules.
Hochul's Plan to Ease Discovery Rules Delays NY Budget Talks

2 weeks ago | news.bloomberglaw.com | Mike Vilensky |Zach Williams

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s effort to get New York’s $252 billion budget sewn up has been thwarted by pushback to her plan for changing pretrial discovery rules, highlighting a clash among New York Democrats on how to handle criminal justice issues. The Democratic governor’s push to loosen rules on the evidence prosecutors must share with criminal defendants before trial is backed by New York’s law-enforcement groups but contested by the state’s criminal defense bar.