An in depth ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s — who will assist him decide judicial nominees — is a “particular” adviser for a Manhattan legislation agency accused of being concerned in a large insurance coverage fraud scheme, The Submit has realized.
Ali Najmi — an election legal professional whom Hizzoner had known as his “brother” and who was a key a part of the Democratic socialist’s rise to energy — joined the non-public harm agency Liakas Legislation, PC on the eve of the November election.
Specialists mentioned Najmi’s position as “particular counsel” alone raises moral questions — declaring the association seems much like that of corrupt former state Meeting speaker Sheldon Silver, who was “of consul” to a significant private harm agency and picked up thousands and thousands regardless of by no means performing authorized work.
Liakas Legislation now additionally faces a federal swimsuit accusing it of working as a “fraudulent enterprise that targets immigrants and people of restricted means” by “sham lawsuits and inflated medical payments.”
“The very last thing they New Yorkers want is a Shelly Silver half two,” mentioned Tom Stebbins, head of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.
“The potential conflicts of curiosity listed below are innumerable.”
Among the many doable conflicts of curiosity are {that a} high Metropolis Corridor aide moonlighting as “Particular Counsel” to a legislation agency may probably attempt to affect the mayor’s place on an array of points affecting the follow’s backside line, insiders mentioned.
The title is roughly the identical because the “Of Counsel” position held by Silver, who had a decades-long relationship to high asbestos agency Weitz & Luxembourg, and different attorneys who function advisers or consultants to legislation companies.
Silver used his highly effective position to not solely push insurance policies that aided the authorized follow — like blocking tort reform — but in addition to steer the agency’s circumstances towards pleasant judges who owed their careers to the consummate backroom gladhander.
Najmi additionally now has a direct hand in screening judicial nominees, since Mamdani appointed him in January because the chairman of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, which is tasked with naming legal professionals to the bench in household and civil courts, in addition to naming interim appointees for felony courts.
Silver appointed his agency’s companion to an identical committee in 2008.
“[Sheldon] was ‘of counsel’ for years and by no means labored a case,” one supply mentioned — including that the concept a plaintiff’s legal professional would assist display screen judicial nominees was “nuts.”
For Silver, the title meant raking in over $3 million in referral charges whereas he served as one of the highly effective gamers in Albany for years.
Najmi joined Liakas as “Particular Counsel” in October 2025, in line with his Linkedin profile, simply earlier than Mamdani was elected mayor.
“Each morning once I stroll into Liakas Legislation, I’m reminded why I selected this work,” Najmi mentioned in an ad-like video on his Instagram account exhibiting him high-fiving folks.
He additionally maintains his personal non-public agency the place he focuses on felony protection, civil rights and election legislation.
Najmi, who repped Mamdani’s prior Meeting campaigns, rose to energy within the Queens Democratic electoral machine during the last decade. He repped greater than a dozen campaigns in the course of the June main final 12 months.
Certainly one of Mamdani’s first foray into politics was engaged on Namji’s failed run for a Queens Metropolis Council seat greater than a decade in the past, and the 2 have remained shut since, insiders mentioned.
Metropolis Corridor didn’t instantly return a request for remark Wednesday.
The lawsuit towards Liakas, filed final week in Brooklyn federal court docket by the Larger New York Mutual Insurance coverage Firm, claims the agency recruited plaintiffs — usually particularly weak undocumented migrants — to faux accidents and accidents, after which used “falsified medical documentation to inflate claims.”
The lawsuit comprises a number of examples of shoppers claiming debilitating accidents, however then showing in images at bars or taking part in sports activities.
One Liakas shopper testified at trial that “he was disabled to the purpose he was unable to placed on underwear with out help,” the swimsuit claims.
However two pictures within the submitting declare to indicate the shopper at a bar celebrating a soccer match two months after the alleged 2020 accident — and one other along with his soccer group only a month after his testimony.
Final 12 months, Liakas filed roughly 20 lawsuits towards New York Metropolis — and the agency has over 50 lively circumstances earlier than the town, in line with court docket information.
Court docket watchers mentioned that instantly raises eyebrows — particularly since Najmi’s new position in Metropolis Corridor will maintain sway over judicial nominees.
“How may his affiliation with a plaintiff’s agency, and the cash that he’s getting from a plaintiff’s agency, not tilt his perspective in direction of the plaintiff?” Stebbins mentioned.
In an announcement, Najmi advised The Submit that “I’m not related to the frivolous litigation assault towards the agency which began lengthy earlier than I joined.”
Hank Sheinkopf, spokesperson for Liakas, mentioned the swimsuit was “baseless” and that “the case [will] collapse as soon as judicial scrutiny is utilized.”
Final month, the federal authorities filed a false claims lawsuit towards Liakas, stating that the agency unlawfully took $1.09 million in PPP loans — and was now chargeable for damages of $3.29 million.
New Yorkers spent $96 billion in extreme litigation final 12 months, in line with a tort reform group which labeled the state court docket system the second-worst “Judicial Hellhole” within the nation.
“We have now a large ‘fraudemic’ that’s taking place on our streets and in our development websites,” Stebbins mentioned.
“And the very last thing we’d like is to have the politicians probably benefiting from it.”
