10月9日——华尔街知名律师事务所Milbank已接手至少第三起为个人伤害律师辩护的诉讼案件，以应对敲诈勒索指控。此举进一步拓展了该事务所在这一细分领域的业务，而近期正有一波诉讼指控原告律师存在欺诈性诉讼行为。
Oct 9 - Prominent Wall Street law firm Milbank has taken on at least its third case defending personal injury lawyers against racketeering claims, expanding a niche practice for the firm amid a wave of cases accusing plaintiffs' attorneys of fraudulent litigation.
其最新客户是位于曼哈顿的小型律师事务所Asher & Associates。本周，纽约市对该所提起诉讼，指控其通过虚假声称受伤与城市道路事故有关，为当事人提交了伪造的伤害索赔。
Its latest client is Asher & Associates, a small Manhattan law firm that was sued by New York City this week for allegedly lodging bogus injury claims by people who falsely attributed their injuries to accidents on the city's roadways.
Milbank的Matthew Laroche是代表该律师事务所被告的前曼哈顿联邦检察官。他在接受路透社采访时表示，Asher事务所在代理受伤纽约人方面“取得了巨大成功”，尤其是在纽约市未能维护道路和人行道时。
Milbank's Matthew Laroche, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor representing the law firm defendants, said in a statement to Reuters that the Asher firm has been "tremendously successful in representing injured New Yorkers," including when New York City fails to maintain its roads and sidewalks.
他将纽约市的诉讼称为“明显试图通过将普通的、存在争议的个人伤害诉讼重新定性为敲诈勒索，并严重歪曲事实，来压制此类工作”。包括Uber Technologies和Federal Express Corporation在内的多家公司，已在美国联邦法院接连提起多起诉讼，援引民事RICO条款起诉原告律师。根据亲企业法律倡导组织美国侵权改革协会周二发布的一份报告，自2024年以来，此类案件已接近300起。
He called the city's lawsuit, which alleges violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a "clear attempt to chill that work by recasting ordinary, contested personal injury litigation as racketeering, and by grossly mischaracterizing the facts." Companies including Uber Technologies and Federal Express Corporation have filed a string of lawsuits invoking civil RICO provisions against plaintiffs' lawyers in US federal courts. Nearly 300 such cases have been filed since 2024, according to a report released Tuesday by the American Tort Reform Association, a pro-business legal advocacy group.
Laroche和Milbank正在至少两起案件中为被告提供代理服务，其中包括福特汽车公司（Ford Motor Company）对位于洛杉矶的Knight Law Group提起的诉讼，指控该法律事务所在多年的过度收费计划中欺诈了这家汽车制造商。Knight事务所以及否认相关指控，并说服法官驳回了此案，而福特目前正试图在美国第九巡回上诉法院重启该案件。
Laroche and Milbank are representing defendants in at least two of the cases, including a lawsuit by Ford Motor Company against Los Angeles-based Knight Law Group for allegedly defrauding the automaker in a years-long overbilling scheme. The Knight firm denies the claims and persuaded a judge to dismiss the case, which Ford is now seeking to revive at the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals The firm is also representing Edwardsville, Illinois-based Gori Law Firm and its attorneys in a RICO suit brought by plastic pipe maker JM Eagle That case, which is pending in Illinois federal court, alleges the Gori firm used a "bounty system" to reward attorneys who coached witnesses into providing testimony stating they were exposed to products made by certain defendants.
该事务所还正在伊利诺伊州爱德华兹维尔的Gori律师事务所及其律师在RICO诉讼中提供代理服务，该诉讼由塑料管道制造商JM Eagle提起。此案正在伊利诺伊州联邦法院审理中，指控Gori事务所采用“赏金制度”，奖励那些教唆证人作证称其接触了某些被告所生产产品的律师。该事务所已否认存在不当行为。
The firm has denied wrongdoing.
在最新的一起案件中，纽约市提到了Asher事务所提出的15起人身伤害诉讼，称这些诉讼是所谓欺诈性索赔“冰山一角”。
In the latest case, New York City cited 15 injury lawsuits brought by the Asher firm, calling them "the tip of the proverbial iceberg" of allegedly fraudulent claims.
该诉讼称，Asher事务所与为其提供客户的“中间人”以及未具名的诉讼资金提供者合作，通过虚假的人身伤害索赔计划欺诈市政府。
The lawsuit said the Asher firm works with "runners" who supply it with clients and with unnamed litigation funders in a scheme to defraud the city with false personal injury claims.
Laroche表示，市政府的指控毫无根据，其目的是“阻止受伤的新 Yorkers及其律师为严重且致残的伤害寻求正义”。
Laroche said the city's allegations are baseless and meant to "discourage injured New Yorkers and their lawyers from seeking justice for serious and debilitating injuries."