Talk:Howe and Hummel

Category
Could someone please provide an explanation for why this article is in Category:American criminals? That category is for individuals, not companies (or in this case law firms). Howe and Hummel, as far as I can tell, are now the only firm included in the category. Furthermore, the article does not state that Howe and Hummel were ever convicted of a crime. Nor does it state that they were ever arrested, charged, or investigated. I have read the NYT obituaries for Howe and Hummel and they were not labelled as "criminals" by the NYTimes. In fact, Mr. Howe was called "the last in a long line of distinguished criminal lawyers". I am concerned about the possible misuse of certain categories here. Unless they were convicted of crimes, rather than defenders of criminals, I do not believe this law firm should be included in the category. -- JJay 11:29, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

Criminals?
Happy to do so - Howe and Hummel were - in general opinion of the time, certainly, and in Hummel's case, legally - crooks as much as simply lawyers. The pair conspired to pervert the course of justice in numerous murder trials, and Hummel blackmailed many of the leading men in the city on behalf of his clients. Sources include the Rovere biography noted in the article, Luc Sante's book Low Life, and Morton's Gangland: The Lawyers, the Rovere work being based on lawyers' lore and interviews with men in the legal profession who were H&H's contemporaries, and latter two being referenced works drawn in part from contemporary newspapers, books and pamphlets. Hummel was also the subject of an article by Arthur Train, late of the New York DA's office, discussed here. Hummel's conviction, which led him being disbarred and sentenced to serve several years in jail on Blackwell's Island, was for suborning perjury. I need to expand the article and mention this in more detail - it was a complicated case. Mikedash 12:01, 9 May 2006 (UTC)