By Robert Rosborough. Only two weeks ago, the Commission on Judicial Nomination released the list of candidates to replace Associate Judge Leslie Stein on the Court of Appeals bench when…
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New Case Grants.
The Court issued motion decisions today and two days ago, granting leave in three new cases: Dieffenbacher v. Jackson, 189 A.D.3d 710 (1st Dep’t 2020), a CPLR article 78 proceeding…
Case set down for reargument.
The Court today set several cases down for reargument, including U.S. Bank NA v. DLJ Mortgage Capital, which was argued in April 2021 and will now be argued again in…
Appeals Withdrawn.
Folks paying attention would have noticed that two appeals that had originally been scheduled for argument in March (Jean-Paul v. 67-30 Dartmouth St. Owners Corp.) and April (Home Equity Mortgage…
Commission on Judicial Nomination Selects 7 Women Candidates for Court of Appeals Vacancy for the First Time In NY History.
By Robert Rosborough. For watchers of the New York Court of Appeals, this is the Super Bowl. This year is the first in almost 30 years that the Court of…
Court clarifies certain RPAPL notice requirements in a decision discussing how to prove that a letter was actually sent (CIT Bank NA v. Schiffman).
As we explained in our case summary, the questions in this case certified from the Second Circuit were: (i) whether a bank established that it properly mailed notice of an…
Appeal dismissed.
The Court issued motions decisions today, notably dismissing the appeal in Zervos v. Trump as moot.
Village not authorized to obtain judgment against owner of property for non-payment of water rents (Herkimer County Industrial Development Agency v. Village of Herkimer).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether a municipality may recover damages directly from a property owner for unpaid water rents when the…
Experts Roundup – New Commentary About the Mortgage Acceleration Cases
This session’s commentary is about the Court’s decision in the Mortgage Acceleration Cases, i.e., Wells Fargo Bank NA v. Ferrato, Vargas v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., Ditech Financial, LLC…
The Doctrine of Nullification Also Justifies the Result in the Mortgage Acceleration Cases.
By David P. Case. The Engel decision came to the right result and settles a recent question on revoking an acceleration through discontinuance. Up until recently, it was clear that…
Court of Appeals Issues Four Landmark Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Decisions to Provide Clarity and Consistency Regarding the Statute of Limitations.
By Stephen J. Vargas. Residential mortgage foreclosure actions have dominated the trial and intermediate appellate court dockets for more than a decade. Former Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second…
The Court’s Decision Fixes What Wasn’t Broken, Promotes Manipulation of the Judicial System, and Undermines the Purpose of Statutes of Limitations.
By Sara Manaugh. During argument on the appeal in Freedom Mortgage v. Engel—which the Court heard along with three other cases presenting similar issues concerning the statute of limitations governing…
Experts Roundup – New Commentary About Doe v. Bloomberg LP.
This session’s commentary is about the Court’s decision in Doe v. Bloomberg LP. As we explained in our decision summary, in that case, a divided Court held that an individual…
L’etat N’est Pas Moi: When the “Owner” is Not the “Employer”
By Robert S. Whitman. The decision of the Court of Appeals in Doe v. Bloomberg, L.P. is welcome news for individual executives who are frequently named as defendants in employment…
Doe Decision Limits Employee Rights Under State and City Human Rights Laws
By Miriam F. Clark. Disclaimer: Ms. Clark submitted a brief amicus curiae on behalf of the National Employment Lawyers Association/New York in support of appellate in Doe v. Bloomberg LP….
The New York Court of Appeals will not expansively interpret the City HRL in every case.
By Stephen Bergstein. The New York City Council has periodically amended the City Human Rights Law to reemphasize the statute’s broad remedial nature. The Council has even embedded the liberal…
Owners are not employers under the City Human Rights Law (Doe v. Bloomberg LP).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether an individual owner of a corporate entity could be liable as an “employer” under the New…
The April/May Session calendar is set (Feb. 18, 2021).
The Court today set its April / May Session arguments: 4/27 West 58th Street Coalition v. City of New York U.S. Bank National Association v. DLJ Home Equity Mortgage v….
Agency gets deference in defining what are “reasonable” attorneys fees (Matter of Juarez v. Office of Victim Services).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether the State Office of Victim Services (OVS) permissibly adopted regulations limiting the availability of attorneys’ fees…
New case grants (February 18, 2021).
The Court granted leave in two new cases. In Reis v. J.B. Kaufman Realty Co., the Court will consider whether a written lease-extension agreement, which did not set a definite…
New case grant (February 11, 2021).
The Court on Thursday granted leave in one new case. In Koegel v. Koegel, the Court will consider whether extrinsic evidence can cure a defect in the acknowledgment of a…
Allegations of gross negligence insufficient to avoid sole-remedies clause in RMBS deal (Deutsche Bank v. Morgan Stanley).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether the trustee of a residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) trust can bypass a contractual “sole-remedy” clause by…
The March Session calendar is set (January 12, 2021).
The Court today set its March Session arguments: 3/23 People v. Powell Protect the Adirondacks v. NYS Dep’t of Environmental Cons. People v. Anderson 3/24 Cutaia v. Bd of Managers…
Case Summary – Matter of Kotsones
The question in this probate case is whether the trial evidence established that one of the beneficiary’s of decedent’s will had a confidential relationship with or otherwise exercised undue influence…
Case Summary – Columbia Memorial Hospital v. Hinds
The question in this case is whether an insured employee whose employer pays his insurance premiums is entitled to a cash payout owed to policyholders when the insurance company converts…
New case grant (January 7, 2021).
The Court on Thursday granted leave in one new case. In Columbia Memorial Hospital v. Hinds, the Court will consider whether an employee whose employer pays insurance premiums on his…
Argument Preview – Who qualifies as an “employer” under the New York City Human Rights Law?
The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) makes it illegal for “an employer” to fire, refuse to hire, or take other adverse employment action because of a person’s gender….
New case grant (December 17, 2020).
The Court yesterday granted leave in one new case. In Matter of Kotsones, the Court will consider whether, in a probate dispute, evidence that a beneficiary of the will held…
City agency gets deference in interpreting really complicated zoning ordinance (Matter of Peyton v. N.Y.C. Board of Standards and Appeals).
As we explained in our case summary, space counts as open space under the New York City Zoning Resolution if it is “accessible to and usable by all persons occupying…
New case grants (December 15, 2020).
The Court recently accepted one appeal certified by the Second Circuit and another appeal in which leave was granted by the First Department. In Donohue v. Cuomo, a case certified…
Case Summary – Matter of Claim of Johnson v. New York City
The question in this case is whether, for the purpose of calculating Workers’ Compensation schedule-loss-of-use benefits, an award for loss of function of one part of a limb can properly…
Plaintiffs’ tortious interference with contract claims are not preempted by federal bankruptcy law (Sutton 58 Associates v. Pilevsky).
As we said in our case summary, the question in this case was whether federal bankruptcy law preempted plaintiffs’ state law claims against a non-debtor third-party for tortious interference with…
The Court adjusted its end-of-term schedule.
The Court announced today that it had amended its calendar for the May and June Sessions. Under the new schedule, there won’t be any argument or conference dates in June,…
Excess insurer not liable for post-judgment interest (Chen v. ICSOP).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether the follow-form provision of an excess insurance policy required the excess insurer to pay post-judgment interest…
Statute authorizes prison officials to retain sex offenders in prison facilities for the entire term of their supervised release (McCurdy v. Warden).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) was authorized to house a sex offender in…
Highest-risk sex offenders on parole not automatically barred from going near schools (People ex rel. Negron v. Superintendent).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether the statutory provision barring sex offenders from entering onto or living near school grounds was mandatory…
Experts Roundup – New Commentary About CNH Diversified v. Cleveland Unlimited.
We’re very excited to present our first experts roundup. This is the first installment of a new feature on the site that will offer commentary about a decision of interest…
Forced Debt for Equity Exchange Outside Bankruptcy Impairs Bondholder Payment Rights.
By Harald Halbhuber. The recent decision of the New York Court of Appeals in CNH Diversified Opportunities Master Account, L.P. v. Cleveland Unlimited, Inc. provides important guidance for bond markets,…
Court of Appeals Decision “injects uncertainty into a multi-trillion-dollar corporate debt market.”
By Alexander Lees & Sinjini Saha. The Court of Appeals’ recent decision in CNH Diversified Opportunities Master Account, L.P. v. Cleveland Unlimited, Inc., 2020 WL 6163305 (NY Oct. 22, 2020),…
Bondholders cannot be forced to accept workout deal against their consent (CNH Diversified v. Cleveland Unlimited).
As we explained in our case summary, the question in this case was whether plaintiff noteholder’s rights were violated when the indenture trustee, in response to the debtor’s default, agreed…