As mortgage loan transactions continue to become increasingly complex, lenders often worry about the remedies they have if borrowers fail to live up to their obligations. In the event of a default, lenders have the choice under New York’s election of remedies statute (RPAPL § 1301 (1)) to either (i) enforce the note
Parties
Oral Modifications to Written Agreements? Better Get Them in Writing Says the Commercial Division

In Castle Restoration & Constr., Inc. v Castle Restoration, LLC, Suffolk County Commercial Division Justice Elizabeth H. Emerson refused to enforce an oral agreement that allegedly modified a prior written agreement between the parties. In this blog post, we see how the Court applied a variety of contractual principals to determine the validity of…
Commercial Division Denies Application to Enforce Stipulation of Settlement for Lack of Standing

The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution provides that “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.” In terms of stipulations of settlement, New York courts favor such stipulations and will rarely set them aside absent the…
Work Performed in the Forum State May Be Insufficient to Establish Personal Jurisdiction Over Out-Of-State Defendants
Recently, Justice James Hudson issued a decision testing the limits of New York’s Long Arm Statute. The Court was tasked with determining whether personal jurisdiction exists over an out-of-state defendant, based on a claim arising from an out-of-state contract, but where a portion of the work under the contract was performed in New York.
In…
Pandemic Aftermath: The Rise Of Interstate Depositions And Discovery
With global commerce massively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, post-pandemic litigation will undoubtedly result in a rise of interstate depositions and discovery. In turn, litigants engaged in actions pending outside of New York State will seek depositions and discovery from individuals and businesses residing in New York. As a result, New York attorneys will likely
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Beneficiary To A Trust Lacks Standing To Collect Unpaid Debt
The poet, Robert W. Service once wrote that “a promise made is a debt unpaid.” The question that remains is: Who gets to collect on that unpaid debt?
The issue of standing to collect on a debt owed to a beneficiary of a trust recently arose in Zachariou v Manios where plaintiff (a resident of
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A Film-Worthy Lesson on Class Certification
A class must satisfy the following prerequisites in order to be certified to proceed in the form of a class action: numerosity, commonality, typicality, adequacy and it must be demonstrated that a class action is superior to other available methods for adjudication of the controversy (see CPLR 901).
New York County Commercial Division Judge
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If you don’t use it, you lose it – don’t risk losing your right to terminate a contract by failing to timely notify your counterparty of material breaches
In a recent decision in Inferno Restaurant & Pizzeria, Inc. v SW Michaels Pizzeria, Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 50995(U) (June 13, 2019), the Supreme Court, Albany County, found that where a defendant knew of a plaintiff’s material breaches of a contract and failed to timely notify the plaintiff of these material breaches,…
A Prior Inconsistent Statement Is Not Necessarily Your Road to Judicial Estoppel

You have been engaged in extensive motion practice in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. You learn that your adversary, it appears, has taken a position contrary to the one taken in a prior proceeding. These “gotcha” moments don’t happen often, but you savor them when they do. You immediately proceed to…
Have a Dog In Someone Else’s Fight? Intervene to Protect Your Right!

Generally speaking, most people want to avoid becoming entangled in litigation. But what happens when an action is pending and, although your client is not a party, his or her interests may be adversely affected? Move to intervene.
Intervention is a procedure whereby an outsider can become a party to a pending action on its…