A close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s \u2014 who will help him pick judicial nominees \u2014 is a \u201cspecial\u201d adviser for a Manhattan law firm accused of being involved in a massive insurance fraud scheme, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n
Ali Najmi \u2014 an election attorney whom Hizzoner had referred to as his \u201cbrother\u201d and who was a key part of the Democratic socialist\u2019s rise to power \u2014 joined the personal injury firm Liakas Law, PC on the eve of the November election.<\/p>\n
Experts said Najmi\u2019s role as \u201cspecial counsel\u201d alone raises ethical questions \u2014 pointing out the arrangement appears similar to that of corrupt former state Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver<\/a>, who was \u201cof consul\u201d to a major personal injury firm and collected millions despite never performing legal work.<\/p>\n Mamdani appointed Ali Najmi in January as the chairman of the Mayor\u2019s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n Liakas Law now also faces a federal suit accusing it of operating as a \u201cfraudulent enterprise that targets immigrants and individuals of limited means\u201d through \u201csham lawsuits and inflated medical bills.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing they New Yorkers need is a Shelly Silver part two,\u201d said Tom Stebbins, head of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n Experts said Najmi\u2019s arrangement could be similar to that of corrupt former state Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, who used his position to favor a law firm he was connected to. Erik Thomas\/NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cThe potential conflicts of interest here are innumerable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Among the possible conflicts of interest are that a top City Hall aide moonlighting as \u201cSpecial Counsel\u201d to a law firm could potentially try to influence the mayor\u2019s position on an array of issues affecting the practice\u2019s bottom line, insiders said.<\/p>\n The title is roughly the same as the \u201cOf Counsel\u201d role held by Silver, who had a decades-long relationship to top asbestos firm Weitz & Luxembourg, and other attorneys who serve as advisers or consultants to law firms.<\/p>\n Liakas Law faces a federal complaint accusing it of operating as a \u201cfraudulent enterprise that targets immigrants and individuals of limited means\u201d through \u201csham lawsuits and inflated medical bills.\u201d<\/p>\n Silver used his powerful role to not only push policies that aided the legal practice \u2014 like blocking tort reform<\/a> \u2014 but also to steer the firm\u2019s cases toward friendly judges <\/a>who owed their careers to the consummate backroom gladhander.<\/p>\n Najmi also now has a direct hand in screening judicial nominees, since Mamdani appointed him in January as the chairman of the Mayor\u2019s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, which is tasked with naming lawyers to the bench in family and civil courts, as well as naming interim appointees for criminal courts.<\/p>\n Silver appointed his firm\u2019s partner to a similar committee <\/a>in 2008.<\/p>\n \u201c[Sheldon] was \u2018of counsel\u2019 for years and never worked a case,\u201d one source said \u2014 adding that the idea that a plaintiff\u2019s attorney would help screen judicial nominees was \u201cnuts.\u201d<\/p>\n For Silver, the title meant raking in over $3 million in referral fees<\/a> while he served as one of the most powerful players in Albany for years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing they New Yorkers need is a Shelly Silver part two,\u201d said Tom Stebbins, head of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.\u00a0 AP<\/p>\n Najmi joined Liakas as \u201cSpecial Counsel\u201d in October 2025, according to his Linkedin profile, just before Mamdani was elected mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery morning when I walk into Liakas Law, I\u2019m reminded why I chose this work,\u201d Najmi said in an ad-like video<\/a> on his Instagram account showing him high-fiving people.<\/p>\n He also maintains his own private firm where he specializes in criminal defense, civil rights and election law.<\/p>\n Najmi, who repped Mamdani\u2019s prior Assembly campaigns, rose to power in the Queens Democratic electoral machine over the last decade. He repped more than a dozen campaigns during the June primary last year.<\/p>\n One of Mamdani\u2019s first foray into politics was working on Namji\u2019s failed run for a Queens City Council seat more than a decade ago, and the two have remained close since, insiders said.<\/p>\n City Hall did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n The lawsuit against Liakas, filed last week in Brooklyn federal court by the Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company, claims the firm recruited plaintiffs \u2014 often especially vulnerable undocumented migrants \u2014 to fake accidents and injuries, and then used \u201cfalsified medical documentation to inflate claims.\u201d<\/p>\n Court watchers said that immediately raises eyebrows \u2014 especially since Najmi\u2019s new role in City Hall will hold sway over judicial nominees. REUTERS<\/p>\n The lawsuit contains several examples of clients claiming debilitating injuries, but then appearing in photographs at bars or playing sports.<\/p>\n One Liakas client testified at trial that \u201che was disabled to the point he was unable to put on underwear without assistance,\u201d the suit claims. <\/p>\n But two photos in the filing claim to show the client at a bar celebrating a soccer match two months after the alleged 2020 accident \u2014 and another with his soccer team just a month after his testimony.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, Liakas filed roughly 20 lawsuits against New York City \u2014 and the firm has over 50 active cases before the city, according to court records.\u00a0<\/p>\n Court watchers said that immediately raises eyebrows \u2014 especially since Najmi\u2019s new role in City Hall will hold sway over judicial nominees.<\/p>\n \u201cHow could his affiliation with a plaintiff\u2019s firm, and the money that he\u2019s getting from a plaintiff\u2019s firm, not tilt his perspective towards the plaintiff?\u201d Stebbins said.<\/p>\n For Sheldon Silver, his \u201cOf Counsel\u201d position meant raking in over $3 million in referral fees while he served as one of the most powerful players in Albany for years. REUTERS<\/p>\n In a statement, Najmi told The Post that \u201cI am not associated with the frivolous litigation attack against the firm which started long before I joined.\u201d<\/p>\n Hank Sheinkopf, spokesperson for Liakas, said the suit was \u201cbaseless\u201d and that \u201cthe case [will] fall apart once judicial scrutiny is applied.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, the federal government filed a false claims lawsuit against Liakas, stating that the firm unlawfully took $1.09 million in PPP loans \u2014 and was now liable for damages of $3.29 million.<\/p>\n New Yorkers spent $96 billion in excessive litigation last year, according to a tort reform group which labeled the state court system the second-worst \u201cJudicial Hellhole\u201d<\/a> in the nation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a massive \u2018fraudemic\u2019 that is happening on our streets and in our construction sites,\u201d Stebbins said. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd the last thing we need is to have the politicians potentially benefiting from it.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t