Exclusive | Top Mamdani aide wholl help pick NYC judges is special adviser to law firm accused of massive fraud

A close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who will help him pick judicial nominees — is a “special” adviser for a Manhattan law firm accused of being involved in a massive insurance fraud scheme, The Post has learned.Ali Najmi — an election attorney whom Hizzoner had referred to as his “brother” and who was a key part of the Democratic socialist’s rise to power — joined the personal injury firm Liakas Law, PC, on the eve of the November election.Experts said Najmi’s role as “special counsel” alone raises ethical questions — pointing out that the arrangement appears similar to that of corrupt former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was “of consul” to a major personal injury firm and collected millions despite never performing legal work.Liakas Law now also faces a federal suit accusing it of operating as a “fraudulent enterprise that targets immigrants and individuals of limited means” through “sham lawsuits and inflated medical bills.”“The last thing New Yorkers need is a Shelly Silver part 2,” said Tom Stebbins, head of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York. “The potential conflicts of interest here are innumerable.” Among the possible conflicts of interest are that a top City Hall aide moonlighting as “special counsel” to a law firm could potentially try to influence the mayor’s position on an array of issues affecting the practice’s bottom line, insiders said.The title is roughly the same as the “of counsel” 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.Silver used his powerful role to not only push policies that aided the legal practice — like blocking tort reform — but also to steer the firm’s cases toward friendly judges who owed their careers to the consummate backroom gladhander.Najmi also now has a direct hand in screening judicial nominees, since Mamdani appo...