Legal Memorandum
updated: 9/25/00

Our firm represents a publisher. The publisher has entered into an agreement with "Rocky" who is a known mafia figurehead who has admitted he has been part of the "familia" and organized crime for over 20 years. Publisher has contracted with Rocky on the production of a book about "Rocky's life".

However, there is a N.Y. Law which provides -

"an entity contracting with a person "accused or convicted of a crime" for the production of a book or other work describing the crime must pay to respondent Crime Victims Board any moneys owed to that person under the contract; requires the Board to deposit such funds in an escrow account for payment to any victim who, within five years, obtains a civil judgment against the accused or convicted person and to the criminal's other creditors; and defines "person convicted of a crime" to include "any person who has voluntarily and intelligently admitted the commission of a crime for which such person is not prosecuted."

Review the case of Simon & Shuster v. Crime Victims Bd., and prepare a Legal Memorandum advising our client what kind of results they might obtain if our firm goes to court to file a Permanent Injunction against the enforcement of this law.

Use the format of the Legal Memorandum distributed in class.

You may post your Legal Memorandum here
Legal Memorandum