Harlem Lawyer Who Objected 600 Times Has Nothing To Say

May 16, 2017

A city lawyer couldn’t keep quiet during a routine deposition — during which she objected more than 600 times – but she was virtually speechless Tuesday morning when The Post asked about her bizarre legal antics.

Amatullah Booth, a senior assistant corporation counsel for the city’s Law Department, dodged a reporter’s questions about the nonstop objections that landed her in trouble with the court.

“Can you refer all your comments and inquiries to Nick Paolucci?” Booth said, referring to the Law Department spokesman, as she climbed into a black car that was waiting outside her Harlem apartment.

Booth was hit with court-ordered sanctions Friday for raising the hundreds of objections in 2016 during an eight-hour deposition of an NYPD cop she was defending in a wrongful arrest lawsuit.

A Brooklyn federal court judge ordered the city to pay attorneys’ fees and costs of the deposition – which could total more than $10,000.

The judge also accused Booth –who objected to nearly every question — of feeding answers to the witness, Police Officer John Essig.

“Frequently counsel’s objections included extraneous comments, such as that questions called for speculation, were vague, leading or had been asked and answered; at times, her comments seemed to be suggesting answers to the witness,” Judge Cheryl Pollak wrote in her decision to issue the legal penalty.

Plaintiff Hector Cordero sued Essig, the city and others after he arrested outside a Brooklyn bodega in 2014 on drug-dealing charges that were ultimately dropped.

The case is currently in the pre-trial stages, with Booth serving as the lead lawyer for the defendants.

She’s staying on the case post-sanctions but will be overseen by a supervisor.

“Whenever the court brings such a matter to our attention, enhanced supervision is provided,” a Law Department spokesman said Tuesday.

The judge also granted Cordero’s lawyer, Gabriel Harvis, another chance to depose Essig before the case heads to trial.


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