You know what they say about getting your name in the press -- it's all good.

So by that measure I suppose this is a positive development:

In March, a federal jury in Richmond, Virginia convicted Okun of wire fraud, money laundering, smuggling, perjury and conspiracy, following a three-week trial.

Earlier this month, a federal judge sentenced the Miami businessman to 100 years in prison and to forfeit $40 million.

According to the filing, some of Okun's former lawyers have also agreed to make payments to the tax firm's estate to resolve possible claims.

Kluger, Peretz, Kaplan & Berlin PL will pay roughly $10.7 million, while Michael Rosen will pay $925,000, the filing shows.

Money shmoney, that's ok -- but no one touches the paintings!

BTW, check out the snazzy new KPKB website redesign.

Oy this Alan Kluger, what a goyisher-cupp:

"This incident further reinforces our suspicion of the deceptive practices and lengths the defendants will go to misrepresent themselves. It's not enough that they've tried to steal our signature dishes, but now they appear to be trying to update their menu with new ideas from our kitchen,'' says Alan Kluger, attorney for Mr. Chow.

Question -- does the litigation privilege extend all the way to Lesley's Scene In the Tropics column?

We've previously covered the Mr. Chow lawsuit, and not just because it involves two of our favorite things -- Alan Kluger and Steely Dan.

But let's take a peek at what's happening in the actual case, now pending before Judge Hoeveler.

Hey, what do you know -- Richman Greer's Lyle Shapiro has filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint!

And though it too reads somewhat like a press release, there are also some facts included. And some of them even involved research:

Here, Plaintiffs have allegedly used its “Mr. Chow” mark for its Chinese restaurant since 1974. (Compl. ¶ 29.) However, throughout that same period of time, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued two hundred and fifty (250) trademarks that utilize the mark “CHOW” in commerce. Of those 250 trademarks, fifty three (53) were approved for use on “Restaurant Services” – many of which were issued for Chinese food restaurants – and an additional sixty one (61) marks were issued for food related products and services, including three (3) trademark registrations for “CHEF CHOW’S” for use on “oriental cooking.”

There are also some snazzy graphics and even a reference to good old Judge Learned Hand -- an entertaining mix of old and new school, IMHO.

And I'm sure Alan's ready soundbite to the press today has nothing at all to do with this statement in the brief:

Indeed, the timing of the filing of Plaintiffs’ lawsuit in Miami and the related press coverage encouraged by Plaintiffs is suspect as it coincides with the imminent grand opening of Mr. Chow’s new restaurant on Miami Beach.

Say it ain't so, Alan!

Lyle even rebuts the "spying" allegation at the end of the brief, fairly convincingly I might add.

(You can see the surveillance photos on Lesley's blog).

Barbara, if you're reading this, please please please schedule a hearing on this one!

So, anybody watch Senator Lindsey Graham yesterday afternoon -- what a d*%k.

Just in terms of cross-examination technique, what did you all think?

Graham's a pretty talented trial lawyer, yet here he is pulling out one of the lamest tricks in the book -- pretending to "forget" where he put the "wise Latina" quote so that he could ask Judge Sotomayor -- twice -- to repeat it from memory!

Then he's all over the map, moving from abortion to the death penalty in a seemingly random way. And some of the questions were exceedingly condescending, or just plain juvenile.

Was this some kind of Matlock/Columbo country lawyer thing, or is he that bad and disorganized a cross-examiner?

Well, I knew my interests in Steely Dan and Alan Kluger would someday converge, and sure enough, that day has come:

The lawsuit is anything but dry reading, depicting Michael Chow as a visionary who brought a designer restaurant serving "the complex and varied cuisine of China" to the West (served on fine china at steep prices) and Philippe Chow as "a lowest-level kitchen assistant."

"We tried to make it so that it was easy to read and quite frankly, so that a judge reading it would be interested in seeing the real human loss to Michael Chow," says Alan Kluger, Michael Chow's lawyer. (Kluger says they are seeking damages that could reach eight figures.)

The suit tells the story of Michael Chow and his "lifetime body of work," with references to his bringing the "ancient art of hand-pulled noodle-making to his restaurants" ("demonstrated in the 'Kung Fu Panda' movie DVD") and his 30th-anniversary party where "it is unlikely that such a famous and diverse group of people has ever been brought together before, or since, to commemorate such an event."

It claims that he's an innovator as the first to serve Chinese meals in courses, has been heralded as a cultural icon alongside McDonald's founder Ray Kroc and is "the one and only Mr. Chow."

I agree with Alan -- federal judges can be like Labrador Retriever puppies, lovable but easily distracted and prone to urinating from over-excitement when their masters come home.

You got to keep it fresh, or they will go back to gnawing on that old, comfortable social security disability appeal.

Hi kids, it's a dreary Tuesday and, for me, especially dreary due to the unexpected loss of Fred Travalena.

First Ed, then Farrah, then the Queen of Pop, and now this:

Fred Travalena, the master impressionist and singer whose broad repertoire of voices ranged from Jack Nicholson to Sammy Davis Jr. to Bugs Bunny, has died. He was 66.

Travalena, who began being treated for an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2002 and saw the disease return last July after going into remission in 2003, died Sunday at his home in Encino, according to his publicist, Roger Neal. Travalena also was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 but had been in complete remission since then.

Dubbed "The Man of a Thousand Faces" and "Mr. Everybody," Travalena emerged on the national stage as an impressionist in the early 1970s.

Over the next three decades, he was a headliner in Las Vegas, Reno and Atlantic City, performed in concerts around the country, appeared on "The Tonight Show" and other talk shows and starred in his own specials, such as "The Many Faces of Fred Travalena" and "Comedy in the Oval Office."

Now I'm officially sad, in a Nixon, Jimmy Stewart, Sammy Davis, Jimmy Carter, Clint Eastwood, Henry Kissinger, Bugs Bunny kind of way.

You young folks may not recall this, but in the old days entertainers used to play showrooms -- just like they have in your mythical, long-gone version of Las Vegas -- right here in South Florida.

The Deauville, the Konover, the Fontainebleau, the Eden Roc, all the big shots played the main room, the lounges, even the Chinese restaurants, and opened for the bigger big-shots, and it was a whole Larry King "loan me $50 dollars, see you at Wolfie's" kind of vibe.

Fred was here, funny as hail (well, it seemed funny at the time, was it the booze?) -- anyways, RIP.

Meanwhile, here's an inspiring success story about a Kluger refugee who has landed on her feet:

Apart from the crowded commute into Miami, Eleni Zarbalas Pantaridis was happy practicing law at Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin. She specialized in mergers and acquisitions and also did some real estate work for the midsized firm. But in February, after nearly two years on the job, she was laid off, and by the end of March the firm itself was gone, too.

Pantaridis, 38, with three young children, found herself unemployed at one of the worst times ever for attorneys. Legal recruiters told her the job market was “flooded with unemployed lawyers.” The 40 lawyers who lost their jobs at Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin were just part of a statewide trend. Big firms such as Holland & Knight, Hogan & Hartson and Shutts & Bowen also have laid off attorneys. Across the nation, some 800 lawyers and legal staff were laid off in a single day — Feb. 12 — just one week after Pantaridis lost her job.

But Pantaridis didn't just lay around, she found new work:

Pantaridis, who mainly works from home now, has opened a “virtual law office” in Boca Raton, where a receptionist answers the phone and where she can arrange to meet clients if necessary. She also works 20 hours a week for a Palm Beach County firm that specializes in bankruptcy law. Meanwhile, she’s networking in hopes of building her practice and has had success so far in attracting new clients. Within two months of going it alone, she was already matching the salary she earned at Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin. “This has been a good thing,” she says. “I don’t see myself going to a firm again.

What did your Mom tell you about silver linings? Yes, Virginia, there really is life after Alan Kluger.

Blogging may be light as I have further Important Legal Stuff to accomplish this week (alright, I'm leaving town early for the 4th), but trusty big-shot-in-his-own-right Guest Blogger has agreed to lift the blog firmly out of the 70s and somewhat into the present.

Carry on, my wayward ones.

Ever get an earworm?

I've been endlessly replaying "Dogs" in my head all morning and can't seem to shake it. Must be the mood I'm in today.

Speaking of old men, I understand a bunch of us geezers (plus Adam Rabin) will be sharing war stories about our many trial victories at the Hyatt on Friday.

Strike that -- we will be using illustrative examples to highlight and explain certain important complex commercial litigation techniques.

Look for me, I'll be the older Jewish guy bragging about how I brilliantly outsmarted, outfoxed, and outclassed my opponent. Should be pretty easy to find.

Completely unrelated, but I see that Alan Kluger has finally abandoned that meshuga Teflon class action he's been litigating for the last four years.

You may recall Alan touted these cases as part of his effort to reshape his firm into a "national trial firm."

Sorry Alan, I wish I had a different song in my head, but be thankful it's "Dogs" and not something like the Meow Mix jingle or "Oops I Did It Again."

You know, some idiot bloggers have suggested that certain recent Supreme Court cases have forced litigants to include a lot of extra verbiage in complaints nowadays, most of it entirely irrelevant and unrelated to the actual legal claims for relief.

I don't know about you, but now that Alan Kluger is off the Mr. Chow case, celebrity lawyer Bert Fields has really amped it up with a Second Amended Complaint that reads like a screenplay for the soon-to-be-major-motion-picture about the Life and Times of Michael Chow.

Here's a taste of the pleading:

From Exile comes Reinvention, Revolution and Innovation

20. Michael Chow, the real Mr. Chow, was born in Shanghai, China. His father was a renowned grand master of the Beijing opera and is regarded as a “national treasure,” a rare and highly respected honor in The Peoples Republic of China. In a bipartisan bill introduced into the United States Senate in 2005 by then-Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman and Republican Senator Lamar Alexander for the purpose of educating American youth about the rich culture of China, Mr. Chow’s father was recognized as one of the eight most influential people in the history of China.

21. As a result of his father’s influence, young Mr. Chow was immersed in China’s venerable and refined arts. The legacy bestowed by his father’s position and artistic accomplishments ultimately inspired the work of Mr. Chow in the West.

22. Mr. Chow was first introduced to Western culture at the tender age of 13, when he was sent to London to further his education. In London, he studied arts and architecture. As an uprooted young man, he was isolated from his family and from the rich Chinese culture. In fact, from the very day he left Shanghai, Mr. Chow was never able to communicate with nor see his father again.

23. Being separated from his family and his heritage left Mr. Chow longing to bring the great culinary tradition of China to the West. Mr. Chow realized his dream in 1968, when he opened his first visionary and revolutionary designer restaurant, the eponymous MR CHOW. The mission of Mr. Chow – both the man and his restaurant – was then and remains today to promote an appreciation and understanding of the complex and varied cuisine of China through authentic interpretations, refinements, and reinventions of classic dishes.

24. Successfully accomplishing these goals, Mr. Chow has devoted his entire life to carefully constructing at his restaurant a universe of experiences for his clients, with each detail intended to bridge the gap between East and West through the medium of Chinese cuisine, creating a unique fine dining experience. Over time, and through painstaking effort, Mr. Chow has been able to convert a misunderstood and largely unfamiliar cuisine into an art form with a cult following by providing clients of the MR CHOW Restaurants with a dining experience that both enlightens and entertains.

Bert also does an extended riff on the ancient art of "hand-pulled noodle-making":

27. In addition to preparing authentic Chinese cuisine, Mr. Chow has always been keenly interested in educating and entertaining his clients, with a view towards honoring and sharing China’s cultural heritage. Among the many things Mr. Chow has done to accomplish this objective was to bring the ancient art of hand-pulled noodle-making to his restaurants, where he created and introduced a nightly noodle-making show in the dining room at his first restaurant some forty-one years ago which has continued ever since in each MR CHOW Restaurant. This show has been exhibited on national television and has even been demonstrated in the Kung Fu Panda movie DVD.

28. The ancient art of stretching hundreds of fine noodle strands from a mound of dough entirely by hand and without knives or other utensils, remained first in Asia and then in the kitchen, until Mr. Chow brought it to England and America and into the dining room in his nightly noodle show. The rapid, skillful transformation of dough into noodle strands from a trolley in the center of the dining room is one of Mr. Chow’s many signature innovations, and is inextricably associated with the MR CHOW Restaurants.

Ok fine, but Ramen noodles got me through college.

Seriously though, does Judge Hoeveler need to read all that?

Lamar Alexander, "tender age of 13," London, East meets West, Beijing Opera, trolleys, Kung Fu Panda -- oy!

Last I checked, it's still Chinese food.

(BTW, there's a great recent book on how Chinese food got so amazingly uniform and ubiquitous in American culture here.)

I'd never thought I'd say this, but we may need to bring back Alan.

DBR reports:

Patricia White, a visiting taxation professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and former law school dean at Arizona State University, has been chosen as the new dean at the University of Miami School of Law.

The position was offered after interviews with a search committee and UM president Donna Shalala.

Does anyone know her? Congrats!

In other news, I took the Beatles break up hard, don't even get me started on Shields and Yarnell, and now I see more going on at Kluger & Associates, or whatever it is now named:

Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin is set to become a 24-attorney litigation boutique of Kluger Kaplan as name partners Howard Berlin and Steven Peretz go their separate ways after 22 years.

Alan Kluger, a founder of Kluger Peretz, confirmed Peretz is taking members Michael Chesal and Leora Herrmann and launching their own intellectual property firm. Bankruptcy partner Howard Berlin has joined Berger Singerman’s Miami office along with former Kluger Peretz bankruptcy member Deborah Talenfeld.

Name partner Abbey Kaplan is remaining with the firm.

Kluger declined to say when the firm would officially change its name.

The changes take place in the wake of the departures of six transactional attorneys the DBR reported last week. Kluger said the firm is striving for a more narrow focus on litigation and bankruptcy litigation.

That's one way to do it. You know, you can get an even more narrow focus by simply having less attorneys working at the firm.

Just saying!

Alana Roberts reports:

At least six transactional attorneys have left Miami-based Kluger Peretz Kaplan & Berlin, and sources say two of the firm’s name partners may leave after a 22-year association as the firm reorganizes to focus on litigation.

Five transactional attorneys have left the firm, and one will leave the firm — known for its litigation and bankruptcy work — next week.

Meanwhile, sources say intellectual property co-chair Steven Peretz and bankruptcy co-chair Howard Berlin are planning to leave. Founding partner Alan Kluger declined to comment about their possible departures.

Calls to Peretz and Berlin were not returned.

I got a kick out of this comment:

“I’m building a national trial firm,” Kluger said.

Ok, but Alan, have you seen how national firms are performing nowadays?

I don't know, is my coverage of this Mr. Chow suit pending before Judge Hoeveler getting borderline chronic?

We saw what happened when I tried to delve into the hot monkey judicial love that is ERISA.

So let's get back to my mespucha Alan.

WHOA -- no more Alan:

Plaintiffs Michael Chow, known as “Mr. Chow,” together with the entities that operate the restaurants known as “MR. CHOW”, MR CHOW ENTERPRISES, LTD., MC MIAMI ENTERPRISES, LLC, TC VENTURES, INC., and MC TRIBECA, LLC (collectively, the “MR CHOW Restaurants”), by and through its undersigned counsel, hereby stipulate to the substitution of Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP in place of Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine, P.L. as lead counsel for Plaintiffs. They further agree that Alan Kluger, Esq., Terri T. Meyers, Esq., Lisa J. Jerles, Esq. and Kluger Kaplan Silverman Katzen & Levine, P.L. shall be relieved as counsel of record for Plaintiffs, and all future pleadings and notices shall be sent to Bertram Fields, Esq., Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, and other continuing counsel of record for Plaintiffs at the electronic and other addresses reflected in the record before the Court.

No offense to Bert (who recently gave a lecture at Harvard Law with Tom Cruise sitting in), but I've suddenly lost all interest in this case.

Hmm, I'm no amateur WWII scholar (ok, I am), but last I checked it's not that good an idea to open up a second front while merry olde England is still alive and somehow surviving -- you know, blood, toil, tears and sweat and all that.

Yet Alan Kluger's war against the allegedly fake Mr. Chow's continues (our prior coverage is here, here, and here) with a second front launched in LA by celebrity lawyer Bert Fields:

As with the Miami lawsuit, Michael Chow is seeking more than $10 million in damages, according to the Los Angeles filing.

"My friends and I have enjoyed dining at Mr. Chow’s for many years," says Fields, who has represented the likes of Tom Cruise and Joel Silver. "Many of us entertain there .... So I’m personally affronted when this former food chopper and his cynical backers try to make money by imitating everything Mr. Chow does."

Morfogen had called the Miami lawsuit meritless. A motion to dismiss was filed in Miami federal court in July.

Taking a look at the suit pending before Judge Hoeveler, it looks like the motion to dismiss is fully briefed and has been pending since August 26th, and there is a motion to strike certain exhibits from the motion to dismiss that is also pending as of September 8th.

Good luck getting to Moscow before the winter sets in!

An inquisitive reader asks, "what's up with the Mr. Chow lawsuit"?

My answer -- what am I, Action Line?

Still, my job here is to inform, so let's a peek...

What do you know, Mr. Chow (represented by Alan Kluger) has filed a response to the defendant's motion to dismiss, and it contains this blockbuster statement about current federal pleading standards:

Inexplicably, Defendants suggest that Plaintiffs should have attached their evidentiary proof in support of their claims to the complaint itself, as they pointedly emphasize that “Plaintiffs[] fail[] to attach any documents in support of its [sic] claims” to the Amended Complaint. See DE 16 p. 4 (emphasis in original). This suggestion flies in the face of the fundamental principle that the purpose of the complaint is simply to place Defendants on notice of the claims against them, not to prove up Plaintiffs’ case at the inception of the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 8 and related discussion below.

Alan, someone has not been reading my blog!

Notice pleading is so 2007.

BTW, congrats to Alan for making the 2009 Chambers USA top lawyers list (page 759), which even includes a mention of Kluger's "world-class collection of Latin American Art dating from 1945 to the present."

(I am not making that last part up.)

The motion to dismiss is now fully briefed and awaiting a ruling from Judge Hoeveler (in other words -- get to work, Barbara!)