Suit in Judge Limbo

By Alex Ginsberg
New York Post
June 19, 2006

It's a case that might go somewhere - if the parties could find a judge to take it.

A bitter dispute over $20 million between two estranged buddies has languished in Brooklyn Supreme Court for nearly six years, while five judges have recused themselves from hearing the case.

The nasty legal war between real-estate dealer Ted Singer, and his one-time lender Martin Riskin, both 77, has inched along since July
RAVI BATRA - Bench Connections      2000, crossing the desks of five different jurists: Muriel Hubsher, Ira Harkavy, Sylvia Hinds-Radix, Mark Partnow and Francois Rivera.

Each has bowed out for different reasons, slowing the wheels of justice to the point where Singer, who claims to have spent nearly half a million in legal fees, believes he'll die of old age before trial.

"Marty Riskin wants to wait until I'm dead!" he told The Post. "This is America. I'm an American citizen. How am I going to have a fair trial?"

Riskin denies he owes Singer a cent and accuses his former pal of filing suit after suit so as to win by sheer harassment.

"He doesn't want a trial," said Riskin's lawyer, Ravi Batra. "The man is a legal terrorist."

The friendship between the two adversaries dates back to the mid-1950s, when the wealthy Riskin helped Singer make his first real-estate purchases by lending him quick money at high interest.

But in 1999, things soured. Singer claims he let Riskin and another man, Maurice Guild, now deceased, hang on to all his profits as collateral for future loans. When he tried to cash out, the men told him they didn't have his money, he alleges. Singer says it's Riskin's politically connected lawyer who's holding up the legal process.

The lawyer, Batra, a one-time law partner of disgraced Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Clarence Norman, sat on the county committee that vets the party's judicial candidates.

Which means any judge hearing the case is likely to owe a favor to Batra, Singer has suggested.

The most recent judge to bow out, Rivera, said as much just before recusing himself earlier this month.

"Before we get started, I have to let you know that Mr. Batra and I have a history where he helped get me on the bench," Rivera said. "He was a supporter, and I am immensely grateful even now."

Batra, who opposed recusal, said Singer doesn't want a trial but is using the recusals as a delay tactic to squeeze a surrender out of his old friend.

"This case is 'Alice in Wonderland' coupled with 'Groundhog Day,' " he told one judge.

[Index to Articles]