AG: Great Neck business owner, 4 others bilked NY benefit programs of $15M newsday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Rivera
ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - The New York Office of Victim Services didn’t exceed its authority by limiting the fees lawyers representing crime victims could charge, the state’s highest court ruled, in a decision a dissenting judge said will make it harder for claimants to receive benefits.
New York law authorized OVS to pay “reasonable” fees, up to a total of $1,000, to lawyers representing claimants to the victim-restitution fund. In 2016, OVS amended its regulations, limiting fees to the administrative and judicial review phases of a claim and deleting a prior statement that claimants have the right to legal representation at every stage.