Although discretionary, it is well-known among commercial practitioners that the Commercial Division justices generally like a Rule 19-a statement of material facts included with the submission of a summary judgment motion. When responding to a Rule 19-a statement, the responding party should be thinking a couple moves ahead. The ultimate goal should be to make things easier for the judge to accept clearly stated facts that cannot be contested before the commencement of a trial. The last thing that you want to happen is to be caught in a Steve Urkel “did i do that ” moment in failing to dispute a contested fact. A recent decision issued by Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Robert R. Reed sheds light on the consequences of that very scenario.

Background and Analysis:

Perella Weinberg Partners LLC et al. v Michael A. Kramer et al., involved a breach-of-contract dispute related to the defendants’ departure from the plaintiffs’ financial-advisory firm. During the course of the litigation, both parties moved for summary judgment on their respective claims and counterclaims. As part of their submissions, the parties submitted and responded to their respective Rule 19-a statements.Continue Reading A Cautious Reminder When Responding to a Rule 19-a Statement of Material Facts on a Motion for Summary Judgment

Visitors to this blog may recall our recent posts (here and here) concerning the individual practice rules of Manhattan Commercial Division Justice Bransten and Queens County Commercial Division Justices Gray and Livote.  “Check the rules!”, was the cautionary theme of those posts.

But just how much of a stickler for compliance