- Reasonable fees charged by outside counsel and e-discovery consultants;
- Reasonable costs incurred in
The Cost of Withholding ESI: First Department Sets Limits on Non-Party Recovery of ESI Production Costs
Court Permits Expert Reports with Disclosure Gaps but Recognizes Limits on Trial Testimony
My colleague Matt Donovan recently wrote about the requirements of Commercial Division Rule 13(c) and highlighted certain decisions in which expert reports were precluded for non-compliance. This week’s post looks at a decision by newly-appointed Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Nancy M. Bannon, who denied a motion to preclude expert reports despite non-compliance with the rule. In the decision, Justice Bannon sheds light on the boundary between admissible and impermissible expert opinions, particularly when reports encroach on the court’s authority to opine on legal conclusions, while also imposing specific limitations on the expert’s testimony.Continue Reading Court Permits Expert Reports with Disclosure Gaps but Recognizes Limits on Trial Testimony
Narrow Escape of Expedited Judgment Under CPLR 3213 Due to Ambiguous Guaranty
As readers of this blog are aware—click here, here, here, and here for related posts—the CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint can be a powerful tool to secure an expedited judgment, “meld[ing] pleading and motion practice into one step, allowing a summary judgment motion to be made before
Buyer’s Remorse Does Not Constitute Duress, Holds First Department
A recent decision from the First Department reminds us that New York courts are not sympathetic to duress claims when the alleged acts or threatened acts fall within the ambit of the defendant’s rights under a valid agreement.
In Zhang Chang v Phillips Auctioneers LLC, the First Department affirmed Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Jennifer
All You Need Is Love… And An Articulable Nexus Of Fraud
What can you do when the parties you are suing are effectively judgment-proof? Oftentimes, plaintiffs will try to go after a defendant’s family member or related entity. However, as we see in a recent case from the courtroom of Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Robert R. Reed, New York courts require more than just a
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
Oops! They Did it Again: New York Courts Continue to Dismiss Lawsuits Based on Contractual Disclaimers
A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Arco Acquisitions, LLC, v Tiffany Plaza LLC et al. decision, in which Suffolk County Commercial Division Justice Elizabeth Hazlitt Emerson held that the plaintiff’s fraud claims were barred by the specific disclaimer provisions contained in the parties’ agreement to purchase commercial real property.
A recent decision from
Defenses and Counterclaims In a CPLR 3213 Action Are Only Successful If They’re “Inseparable”
In one of my previous posts, I discussed the basic requirements for bringing a CPLR 3213 motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. One such requirement (and the one that generates the largest body of case law), is that the document upon which the motion is based qualify as either a “money instrument”
Too “Privileged” To Be Held Liable for Defamation, Says the Commercial Division
“Relevant statements made in judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings are afforded absolute protection so that those discharging a public function may speak freely to zealously represent their clients without fear of reprisal or financial hazard.”
Professionals, including attorneys, and individuals may find themselves subject to a defamation lawsuit. Attorneys, however, may sometimes rely on absolute or
“Single Breach” vs. “Continuing Wrong”; the Continuing Wrong Doctrine Prevails, Saving Plaintiff’s Claim from Dismissal
A cause of action accrues, triggering the commencement of the statute of limitations period, when “all of the factual circumstances necessary to establish a right of action have occurred, so that the plaintiff would be entitled to relief” (Gaidon v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am.). The “continuing wrong” doctrine is an exception