רעקארד באריכט זאליס לויער חובות לאו-סוט

Trials & Tribulations: Law firm sues to collect Satmar bill November 30, 2007 There are more jokes, put-downs and one-liners about lawyers than there are lawyers, but let's all admit something: Everyone wants to get paid for the work that they do, and no one likes to get stiffed. Lawyers are just like anyone else. If you cut a lawyer, does he not bleed? And if you stiff him, does he not sue? The Newburgh law firm of Rider, Weiner & Frankel got tired of being bled, figuratively if not literally, for legal fees that it contends are owed by a faction of Satmar Hasidim based at Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar in Brooklyn. The case was a long-running dispute between the Brooklyn faction and the faction based in the Orange County Village of Kiryas Joel. The two sides wound up in court over an election for control of the board of the synagogue, which is a political powerhouse because of its ability to get out thousands of votes. Rider, Weiner contends that the Brooklyn faction paid only $50,000 of an $87,888 legal bill, so earlier this month, the firm sued in state Supreme Court to recover the money. It seems unlikely that the clients can claim that they have a beef about the firm's performance, since Rider, Weiner & Frankel won their case at the trial-court level in Goshen, and that victory held up on appeal recently in New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals. The firm's lawsuit says that Congregation Yetev Lev of Brooklyn and its officers have failed to pay up, "despite repeated requests on the telephone and in writing." The suit also notes that the synagogue's officers say they don't have the money to pay the bills. The synagogue still had phone service yesterday, but no one answered.