Photo of Matthew D. Donovan

Matthew D. Donovan is a partner in Farrell Fritz’s commercial litigation department. His practice involves the resolution of complex business disputes, shareholder and partnership disputes, construction disputes, insurance coverage disputes, and a variety of other commercial matters through litigation and arbitration.

Matt is admitted to practice in New York; Connecticut; the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York; the District of Connecticut; and the Supreme Court of the United States.  He is a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Commercial & Federal Litigation Section and the Westchester County Bar Association’s Corporate and Commercial Law Committee.

Much ink has been spilled over the last couple of years, including here at New York Commercial Division Practice, on the topic of practicing law remotely in the COVID (and likely post-COVID) era.  As we all brace for the coming wave of Omicron, which may well be the fastest spreading virus in human history,

Aficionados of Commercial Division practice know that the ComDiv rules originally were — and, as evidenced by an Administrative Order earlier this month, continue to be — modeled after the federal rules.  Efficiency begets efficiency.

Earlier this month, on October 4, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks promulgated new ComDiv Rule 35, which, as of

Several weeks back, we reported on an apparent uptick in commercial lease disputes over the last 18 months in this new COVID era.  It only follows that there would be a corresponding uptick in Yellowstone applications from commercial tenants embroiled in such disputes.

As most readers know, injunctive relief under Yellowstone preserves the “status quo”

I think it’s fair to say that there’s been an uptick in litigation involving commercial lease disputes and retail property closings gone awry over the last 15 months.  And for obvious reasons.  The commercial real estate industry has taken a beating from COVID-19.

Some evidence of this of this uptick can be found in the

A quick timeout this week from some of our more substantive content here at NY ComDiv Practice to report on some upcoming events and happenings in and around the Commercial Division, particularly in Westchester County…

This past Monday, during her weekly message concerning the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the court system (

The New York Commercial Division continues to be a beacon of innovation with a recent amendment to ComDiv Rule 6, now requiring bookmarking and hyperlinking within briefs and affidavits filed with the court.  The amendment is no doubt welcome news to an overburdened (and underbudgeted) court system already well-known for its efficient administration of

To be sure, much has been reported on here at New York Commercial Division Practice concerning Commercial Division innovation — including in the areas of courtroom technology and, more recently, in adapting to the “new norm” of virtual practice in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  As we observed a few months back, the

At this point, after nearly three months of practicing law virtually from home, I think it’s fair to say that what was once novel and experimental has become a kind of new norm for the future.

Sure, state courts in New York, including the Commercial Division, have been returning slowly-but-surely to in-person operations over the