In late May, a lawyer for the New York State Assembly sent a note to his colleagues in the attorney general’s and comptroller’s offices, soliciting their advice. 

At issue was an eyebrow-raising legal dispute: one of the nation’s most prominent lawyers, Gloria Allred, had been seeking a $1.2 million financial settlement for two female Assembly employees who alleged that they had been harassed by one of the most powerful political bosses in New York City, Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez of Brooklyn.