When the Court orders you to attend a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) class on civility “for the harm [you’ve] done to the [legal] profession”– not to mention issues you five-figures in sanctions – you know you’ve done something very, very wrong. And that’s exactly what happened last month when Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Andrea Masley
Asserting an Equitable Defense or Counterclaim? “Waive” Your Jury Goodbye!
Most New York practitioners are aware that certain causes of action are triable by a jury, while other claims are triable only by the court. For example, causes of action for money damages, such as tort claims, contract claims, and certain statutory claims, are triable by a jury, while equitable claims, such as claims for
Commercial Division Says Plaintiffs Can’t Have Their Cake and Eat it Too When it Comes to Breach and Anticipatory Breach
When a party to a contract repudiates, the non-repudiating party is faced with two options: (1) treat the repudiation as an anticipatory breach, terminate the contract and seek damages; or (2) continue to treat the contract as valid and await the time for performance before bringing suit. In a recent decision from the Suffolk County
Defendants Get Lit Up by the Court on the Fifth Day of Hanukkah
It’s not often that a lawsuit in the Commercial Division between sophisticated parties to an arm’s-length business transaction warrants a blistering rebuke of the parties by the Court. But on December 3, 2021, New York County Commercial Division Justice Andrew Borrok issued a scathing decision in a case entitled Extended CHAA Acquisition, LLC v Mahoney
New Amendment to ComDiv Rule 3(a) Provides More Options to Litigants Seeking Alternative Dispute Resolution
In recent years, the New York court system has endorsed alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) as a way to increase efficiency in the court system, making ADR presumptive in most civil cases. As a pioneer of efficiency, the Commercial Division has reinforced – through the adoption of multiple ADR-related rules and rule amendments – its “strong
Joint Venture Agreements: For Better or For Worse; In Profit or In Loss
Just like a bride and groom vow to join together for better or for worse, commercial parties joining together through a joint venture must make a similar promise to share in profits and losses. In a recent decision from the Suffolk County Commercial Division, Justice Elizabeth H. Emerson took a close look at the parties’
The Dynamic Duo of Proportionality and Reasonableness: Another New Proposal From the Commercial Division Advisory Council
As we’ve mentioned time and again on this blog, since its inception in 1995, New York’s Commercial Division has continued to not only be a leader in developing and shaping commercial law, but it is also on the forefront of instituting rules with the goals of fostering litigation efficiency, cost reduction, and implementation of technology
New York Yankees Up to Bat in the Commercial Division Against Former Minor League Affiliate
A few weeks ago, my colleague, Madeline Greenblatt, wrote a blog about a $1.75 million breach of contract action brought against Bob Dylan in the Manhattan Commercial Division. In her blog, Madeline reminded practitioners that New York courts will not consider extrinsic evidence to aid in the interpretation of an unambiguous contract, especially on
When Faced with Questions of Arbitrability, the Suffolk County Commercial Division Passes the Ball to the Arbitrator
In a recent Commercial Division case, Justice Elizabeth H. Emerson was asked to determine whether certain parties were bound by an arbitration clause and whether that arbitration clause applied to a particular controversy—two questions typically determined by the court. Then why did Justice Emerson defer these questions to the arbitrator? The answer requires a close
Bob Dylan Takes Breach of Contract Action Out with Just One Punch
A reminder to practitioners: when a contract is unambiguous, the submission of a hurricane of extrinsic evidence to “interpret” it on a pre-answer motion to dismiss won’t fly.
A breach of contract action brought against Robert Zimmerman a/k/a Bob Dylan and Universal Music seeking to capitalize on the widely-reported blockbuster sale of Dylan’s 600-song catalog