At the same time, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking at what one person close to the investigation said were "firm-wide practices" at Albany's Girvin & Ferlazzo law firm, where Harris, and another lawyer stripped of pension credits, M. Cornelia Cahill, worked.
So far, 11 lawyers have lost full or partial pension credits with the State and Local Retirement System for being listed as employees of school districts, BOCES, or other government entities when they should have been deemed independent contractors. Another lawyer has been suspended.
As the list grows, however, some targets are starting to fight back, saying they plan to appeal the loss of pension credits.
In addition, at least two lawyers have rejected deals offered in lieu of civil suits from Cuomo.
"He won't take it," Kevin Keating said of his client William Cullen, a solo practitioner on Long Island who faces loss of pension credits for his school board work.
People familiar with the matter said Cuomo offered Cullen and several other lawyers the chance to settle for a $50,000 fine and an agreement not to work for public employers for a decade.
But Keating said Cullen believes he had the right to a pension.
"He was entitled under several legal theories," said Keating, explaining his client's appointment as a school district lawyer could be construed as granting him access to the pension system.
He said he knew at least one other attorney who had turned down Cuomo's offer.
The pension crackdown is running along two tracks: with DiNapoli taking away the credits and Cuomo investigating and seeking fines in cases where he believes participants may have tried to defraud the pension system.
Last month, four lawyers at Girvin & Ferlazzo -- James Girvin, Kathy Ann Wolverton, Kristine Lanchantin and Jeffrey Honeywell -- were removed from the state retirement system by DiNapoli while another -- Salvatore Ferlazzo -- lost credits he had through BOCES but kept them from other state employment.
Cuomo continues to investigate lawyers at the firm. Much of the probe is focusing on the alleged practice in which associates, or junior lawyers, performed the bulk of some routine BOCES tasks, even though the partners did the billing and accrued pension credits for the time involved.
A firm spokesman declined to comment Wednesday, but Harris's lawyer, Michael Koenig, said his client worked just one year for BOCES and no longer works at Girvin & Ferlazzo.
Harris was appointed to the PSC by former Gov. George Pataki in 2006. She is a sister of Pataki chief counsel, Mike Finnegan.
Nor is Harris the only person in the pension affair with at least some connection to politics.
One lawyer under investigation is Carol Hoffman, a partner in the Long Island's Jaspan Schlesinger Hoffman law firm.
Two state lawmakers are connected to the firm.
State Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington and Assemblyman Marc Alessi, D-Shoreham are both "of counsel" there. While details vary, that status means a lawyer typically isn't a partner or even employee of the firm, but may share office space or get benefits such as malpractice insurance. In some instances, "of counsel" lawyers may get a cut of business they bring to a given firm.
Alessi couldn't be reached.
Johnson stressed that he focuses on commercial and bankruptcy law and is "walled off" from any school-related or municipal work at the firm.
State Sen. Neil Breslin, D-Delmar, had earlier been of counsel at Girvin & Ferlazzo but said he left the firm about a year ago, well before the pension issue erupted.
Breslin is now of counsel at the Hiscock & Barclay firm where Cahill is a partner.
Cahill, who has also worked as bond counsel for Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority and the city's IDA, didn't return a call seeking comment, nor did her lawyer, Daniel French, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District.
Cahill is married to Richard Sise, presiding judge at the state Court of Claims.
DiNapoli on Wednesday also said he had revoked retirement credits from Niagara Falls lawyer Maria Massaro, who he said was wrongly listed as an employee for the city schools. Also losing credits was Long Island lawyer Nathan Swergold, who was wrongly listed as a Hempstead sewer district employee.
Salvatore Evola, a district accountant, had credits rescinded, which generally means he has other intact pension credits. Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.
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