Metro

What nerve! Silver’s law firm solicits sex victims whose claims were covered up by power brokers – just like what Shel did for Vito Lopez

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s law firm wants to represent victims of sexual abuse whose claims were covered up by power brokers — which is exactly what Silver did for his disgraced pal Vito Lopez, critics charge.

Powerhouse law firm Weitz & Luxenberg, which has long employed Silver as a special “of counsel” adviser, recently launched an aggressive ad campaign soliciting sex-abuse victims.

“A frightening rise of sexual-assault cases is plaguing America,” the firm says on its Web site, citing published articles.

“Victims of sexual assault often must endure horrendous intimidation and embarrassment. Many are wrongly made to feel that they should remain silent about what happened to them.

“This social stigma inflicts even more suffering and pain on the victims, and in worst cases, lets the criminals off the hook.”

It went on to say that on some college campuses, “victims and suspects sign a nondisclosure agreement about the outcome of investigations” and that in US military academies, there is a “culture of silence” around sexual harassment.

But the firm is crusading against the same actions taken by Silver, who helped silence two of then-Assemblyman Lopez’s sex-harassment victims by handing them confidential, taxpayer-funded settlements worth a total of $103,080 last year.

The two accusers, Rita Pasarell and Leah Hebert, also had to sign a “nondisclosure” deal, forbidding them from discussing their allegations publicly.

Following that hush-hush deal, two more women, Chloe Rivera and Victoria Burhans, filed a negligence suit against Silver in federal court, claiming they would never have worked for Lopez had they known about the prior harassment complaints.

They accused Silver of enabling Lopez to abuse again.

Silver’s office didn’t forward the initial sex-harassment accusations to the Assembly’s ethics panel for investigation, as required under house rules. Silver has admitted the failure to report was a mistake, but defended the settlement as legal.

A state investigative report found that the cancer-stricken Lopez harassed and abused as many as eight female staffers — groping them, ordering massages of his tumors, requiring them to wear sexually revealing clothes and even trying to get them to share hotel rooms with him.

Critics are blasting Silver and his firm for hypocrisy because the firm is trolling for sex-abuse victims while the speaker allegedly committed the same kinds of acts his firm wants to avenge.

“They should fire Silver for covering up sexual harassment. They should do a pro-bono case against him in court. If they are really concerned about sexual abuse, they should go after Silver. The fact that they won’t, shows what frauds they are,” said State Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox.

But the firm will protect Silver, Cox said, because as Assembly speaker, he helps trial lawyers make money by blocking tort reform in Albany.

“The law firm is about making money. Sheldon Silver gets his cut,” Cox said.

Silver’s office declined to comment.