11/14/2011
One of New York’s largest law firms was put in a bad light when it was revealed that its employees openly ridiculed the victims of the housing crisis during the Halloween party that the firm hosted.
The law firm of Steven J. Baum, which is located near Buffalo, is referred to in the industry as a “foreclosure mill.” This means that the firm is acting on behalf of large banks and mortgage servicers who wanted to foreclose on and evict homeowners.
New York Times reporter Joe Nocera received a series of photos from a former employee of the law firm which revealed the contempt that Baum’s employees hold towards the unfortunate homeowners they helped to make homeless during the law firm’s 2010 Halloween party.
The former employee said that she wanted people to know the appalling lack of compassion of the Baum firm toward the homeowners. She said, “There is this really cavalier attitude. It doesn’t matter that people are going to lose their homes.” The former employee also said that the focus of the firm is always to foreclose.
In the photos, the firm’s employees can be seen wearing ragged clothes with filthy faces, clutching liquor bottles and cardboard signs that make fun of the efforts of foreclosure victims to save their homes.
Another photo reveals a cardboard coffin inside the office with the picture of Susan Chana Lask taped to the front, and written next to it the words “Rest in Peace, Crazy Susie.” Lask is a lawyer who posted a video on YouTube denouncing the foreclosure practices of the firm.
The law firm is currently being investigated by the State of New York and until recently, was also a target of an investigation by the Department of Justice.
