Laura Taylor Swain#Hoover v. Boncompagni

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Laura Taylor Swain

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| office = Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

| term_start = April 10, 2021

| term_end =

| predecessor = Colleen McMahon

| successor =

| office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

| term_start1 = July 11, 2000

| term_end1 =

| appointer1 = Bill Clinton

| predecessor1 = Thomas P. Griesa

| successor1 =

| pronunciation =

| birth_name = Laura Anne Taylor

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|11|21}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| citizenship =

| nationality =

| party =

| otherparty =

| height =

| spouse =

| partner =

| relations =

| children =

| parents =

| mother =

| father =

| relatives =

| residence =

| education = Radcliffe College (AB)
Harvard University (JD)

| footnotes =

}}

Laura Anne Taylor Swain{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZPLQiWklXIC&pg=PA261|page=261|title=Hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Sixth Congress, Second Session, on Confirmations of Appointees to the Federal Judiciary, May 25, June 15, July 12, and July 25, 2000|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=2001}} (born November 21, 1958){{Cite web |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-laura-taylor-swain |title=The Honorable Laura Taylor Swain's Biography |date=April 28, 2018 |website=The HistoryMakers |language=en |access-date=March 14, 2020}} is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was appointed to the Southern District of New York in 2000 by President Bill Clinton and has served as its chief judge since 2021.

Education and career

Swain was born on November 21, 1958, in Brooklyn. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts and from Harvard Law School in 1982 with a Juris Doctor.{{FJC Bio|nid=1391251|inline=yes}} From 1982 until 1983, Swain worked as a law clerk for Judge Constance Baker Motley of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. From 1983 until 1996, Swain worked in private legal practice in New York City, practicing as an associate, and then counsel, in the areas of ERISA, employee benefits, executive compensation and employment law for the firm Debevoise & Plimpton.[http://schumer.senate.gov/1-Senator%20Schumer%20Website%20Files/pressroom/press_releases/PR00183.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030925212140/http://schumer.senate.gov/1-Senator%20Schumer%20Website%20Files/pressroom/press_releases/PR00183.html|date=September 25, 2003}}

Swain also served as a member of the New York State Board of Law Examiners from 1986 to 1996. She chaired the advisory committee for the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure from 2007 to 2010.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

= Federal judicial service =

Swain was a United States bankruptcy judge for the Eastern District of New York from November 1, 1996, to July 11, 2000.[http://schumer.senate.gov/1-Senator%20Schumer%20Website%20Files/pressroom/press_releases/PR00183.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221155823/http://schumer.senate.gov/1-Senator%20Schumer%20Website%20Files/pressroom/press_releases/PR00183.html|date=December 21, 2014}} On April 25, 2000, President Clinton nominated Swain to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to the seat vacated by Judge Thomas P. Griesa. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 16, 2000, and received her commission on July 11, 2000. She became chief judge on April 10, 2021, after Colleen McMahon assumed senior status.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Stephen Rex |title=Manhattan Federal Court gets new chief judge amid coronavirus pandemic |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-sdny-chief-judge-pandemic-20210401-tiy5jxamnzeenbw5odtyvf2nj4-story.html |access-date=April 1, 2021 |website=nydailynews.com|date=April 2021 }}

= Puerto Rico debt crisis =

On May 5, 2017, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Judge Swain to oversee the debt restructuring case in the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis.{{cite news|last1=Goldstein|first1=Matthew|title=Judge in Puerto Rico's Debt Lawsuit Handled Major Financial Cases|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/business/dealbook/judge-puerto-rico-case.html|access-date=May 6, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=May 5, 2017}}

= Copyright and authorship cases =

Swain's tenure on the District Court bench has included some of the Southern District of New York's high-profile book authorship disputes. In particular, she presided over Lapine v. Seinfeld and Hoover v. Boncompangi. Both cases were widely covered by the press, and were rich fodder for New York's tabloid newspapers.{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2007/10/19/2007-10-19_jessica_seinfelds_recipes_stir_up_plagia.html|title=Jessica Seinfeld's recipes stir up plagiarism accusations|website=NY Daily News|access-date=December 21, 2014}}<{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/01/31/2009-01-31_sister_pact_book_flap_settled_between_na.html|title=Sister pact! Book flap settled|website=NY Daily News|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

= ''Lapine v. Seinfeld'' =

This action was filed by author Missy Chase Lapine against comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica Seinfeld, asserting that the couple used ideas for Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food from Lapine's book The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals.{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/01/08/food-fight-author-sues-seinfelds-over-childrens-cookbook/|title=Food Fight! Author Sues Seinfelds Over Children's Cookbook|author=Peter Lattman|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=January 8, 2008 |access-date=December 21, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/seinfeldcomplaint.pdf|title=Seinfeld Complaint|publisher=Online.wsj.com|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

The Seinfelds denied Lapine's claim. Lapine claimed she experienced substantial financial loss.{{cite web|url=http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/Lapine.pdf|title=Seinfeld v Lapine|publisher=Amlawdaily.typepad.com|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

As a result of comments made by Mr. Seinfeld about the authorship dispute on the Late Show with David Letterman, Lapine included a cause of action for defamation to her suit.

= ''Hoover v. Boncompagni'' =

This action was filed by Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover against her older sister Natasha Boncompagni. Hoover, a New York socialite, professional author, and wife of an heir to the Hoover cleaning founder, accused her sister of making unauthorized electronic copies of her book Hedge Fund Wives.{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/10/27/of-copyright-family-feuds-hedge-fund-wives-goes-to-court/|title=Of Copyright & Family Feuds: "Hedge Fund Wives" Goes to Court|author=Dan Slater|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 27, 2008 |access-date=December 21, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/hedgefundwives.pdf|title=Hedge Fund Wives Complaint|publisher=Online.wsj.com|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

The court granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the older sister from further distribution of the pre-publication manuscript.{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/10/29/in-boncompagni-copyright-suit-tatiana-gets-tro/|title=In Boncompagni Copyright Suit, Tatiana Gets TRO|author=Dan Slater|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=October 29, 2008 |access-date=December 21, 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/boncompagnitro.pdf|title=Boncompagnito Complaint|publisher=Online.wsj.com|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

The case reached closure in early 2009 when Swain entered a consent order stating, "The Defendant has announced to the Court that she is not a co-author of Hedge Fund Wives and has no authorship or co-authorship rights to the work. The Defendant agrees to release any registered or pending copyrights that she has relating to Hedge Fund Wives, and any domain names or other property relating to Hedge Fund Wives or the Plaintiff’s first novel, Gilding Lily."{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/01/30/a-sisterly-settlement-the-boncompagnis-bury-the-hatchet/|title=A Sisterly Settlement: The Boncompagnis Bury the Hatchet|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=January 30, 2009 |access-date=December 21, 2014 |last1=Jones |first1=Ashby }}{{cite web|url=https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/boncompagnisettlement.pdf|title=Boncompagnito Settlement|publisher=Online.wsj.com|access-date=December 21, 2014}}

= Defamation case =

On February 19, 2021, Swain dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Devin Nunes against CNN. Nunes sought $435 million in damages and claimed that on November 22, 2019, CNN published a false news article and engaged in a conspiracy theory to damage his reputation. Swain noted that under California law, a retraction must be demanded in writing within 20 days of publication, which Nunes failed to request.https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Judge-rejects-Rep-Devin-Nunes-defamation-suit-15965052.php SF Gate. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.