Eric Schneiderman

"'Astroturfing' is the 21st century's version of false advertising, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it," according to Schneiderman.

The companies paid $350,000 to settle the matter, but the settlement opened the way for private suits as well.

"Every state has some version of the statutes New York used," according to lawyer Kelly H. Kolb.

"What the New York attorney general has done is, perhaps, to have given private lawyers a road map to file suit."

Schneiderman was elected to represent the 31st district in the New York State Senate.

At the time, this district comprised Manhattan's Upper West Side, as well as Morningside Heights, West Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill, in addition to part of Riverdale in the Bronx.

Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th Attorney General of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018.

Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten years in the New York State Senate before being elected Attorney General.

He graduated from the Trinity School in New York City in 1972 and Amherst College in 1977.

He earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1982.

Schneiderman served as a judicial clerk for two years within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and subsequently joined the international law firm Kirkpatrick and Lockhart LLP (now known as K&L Gates), where he became a partner.

Schneiderman married Jennifer Cunningham in 1990.

They later divorced in 1996.

They have a daughter, Catherine, who is married to Matthew Newton.

In the 1998 Democratic primary, Schneiderman, defeated Daniel O'Donnell, a civil rights attorney, with 68% of the vote.

In the general election, he defeated Vincent McGowen with 82% of the vote.

He won re-election in 2000 (84%), in 2002 (87%), 2004 (89%), 2006 (92%), and 2008 (90%).

Schneiderman was the chief sponsor of the Rockefeller Drug Law reforms, which were passed and signed into law in 2009 by Governor David Paterson.

The reforms included reducing reliance on long, mandatory minimum sentences, and allocating funds for alternatives to incarceration, focusing on treatment and reentry of prisoners into society.

His other legislative activities include passing ethics reforms to root out fraud against taxpayers.

Schneiderman was the Democratic Party nominee for New York Attorney General.

He denied being involved in a hit-and-run automobile accident in July 2010.

He defeated Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice and three other candidates in the Democratic primary on September 14, 2010.

Schneiderman defeated Republican nominee and Richmond County District Attorney Dan Donovan in the general election and took office on January 1, 2011.

In 2011, Melissa DeRosa, who was later the Secretary to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, became deputy chief of staff and acting chief of staff for Schneiderman.

In August 2013, Schneiderman filed a $40 million civil lawsuit against Donald Trump for his "Trump University" (now known as Trump Entrepreneur Initiative), alleging it to be an "unlicensed university" and calling it a "bait-and-switch scheme".

Trump denied all accusations, calling Schneiderman a "political hack".

In September 2013, Schneiderman announced a settlement with 19 companies to prevent astroturfing; i.e., buying fake online praise.

Schneiderman won re-election in 2014.

His major opponent was Republican John P. Cahill, who had been an environmental conservation commissioner for the state.

Schneiderman was instrumental in pushing for a tougher fraud settlement with large banks over illegal foreclosure practices.

Along with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Schneiderman pushed to prevent the settlement from including immunity for the banks from further investigation and prosecution of other related illegal activities.

In October 2014, a New York judge found Trump personally liable for the institution's not having the required license.

Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.. were sued in 2015 in a constitutional challenge to New York's 1997 ban on mixed martial arts.

The following year, the New York State Legislature legalized MMA in the state.

In November 2015, Schneiderman issued cease-and-desist letters to daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel, accusing the companies of operating a gambling enterprise that is illegal under New York law.

This sparked a six-month-long legal battle.

In May 2018, Schneiderman resigned from his position as Attorney General after The New Yorker reported that four women had accused him of physical abuse.

In 2021, Schneiderman’s law license was suspended for a year after a disciplinary proceeding where he admitted to the abusive conduct.

Schneiderman was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the son of Abigail Heyward and Irwin Schneiderman, a lawyer.