Under the Education Article of the New York Constitution, students are guaranteed a free, sound basic education that should prepare them for participation in society. For the last 20 years, parents, education groups, and the State have fought over exactly what that requires. Beginning in 1995 with a series of cases called Campaign for …
Judge Rowan Wilson, Dissenting in Personal Jurisdiction Case, Advocates that Court of Appeals Should Have Dismissed Appeal as Improvidently Granted
In Wilson v Dantas (No. 62), previewed here, the Court of Appeals affirmed an order of the Appellate Division, First Department, holding that it had long-arm jurisdiction over the defendants in a breach of contract and fiduciary duty action, because the appellant expressly abandoned his challenge to the personal jurisdiction ruling on appeal. Interestingly, however, …
Court of Appeals Holds New York City’s Adult Use Zoning Ordinance Does Not Violate First AmendmentÂ
In this long and tortured litigation over New York City's adult use zoning regulations on First Amendment grounds, which I previewed here, the Court of Appeals was asked to decide whether New York City met its burden to show that the reconfiguration of adult businesses to attempt to avoid regulation under the adult use zoning …
Court of Appeals Holds Additional Insured is Only Entitled to Coverage if Named Insured Proximately Caused Occurrence
In insurance contracts for major development or municipal projects, there are generally a number of parties that have insurance coverage under a single insurance policy. For example, in The Burlington Insurance Company v NYC Transit Authority (No. 57), previewed here, a general contractor, Breaking Solutions, Inc. (BSI), was awarded a contract to complete some excavation work …
Court of Appeals Decision Puts Redevelopment of Shea Stadium Site on Hold
In Matter of Avella v City of New York (No. 54), previewed here, the Court of Appeals was asked to decide whether the plans to redevelop the blighted former Shea Stadium site as a retail mall and a movie theatre, known as Willets West, exceeds what the Legislature allowed when it approved the alienation of …
Continue reading "Court of Appeals Decision Puts Redevelopment of Shea Stadium Site on Hold"
Court of Appeals Upholds DMV Regulations Barring Recidivist DWI Offenders from Getting Licenses Back
When the first few lines of an opinion begin like this, you pretty much know how it will end. In Matter of Acevedo v New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (Nos. 40, 41, and 42), the Court of Appeals rejected three challenges brought by recidivist drunk drivers to new regulations adopted by the DMV that foreclosed …
Court of Appeals Holds Attorney’s Fees are Available to Prevailing Plaintiff Against the State in a Pre-2015 Action Under the Human Rights Law
In Kimmel v State of New York (No. 36), previewed here and here, the Court of Appeals was asked whether an award of attorney's fees is available to a prevailing plaintiff against the State under the Equal Access to Justice Act (CPLR article 86) in an action alleging sex discrimination by a state agency in …
Court of Appeals Holds Police Can Run License Plate Without Reasonable Suspicion Because It is Not a Search
In People v Bushey (No. 50), the Court of Appeals was asked to decide if it was an unreasonable search for the police to run a license plate of a driver who was obeying the rules of the road through a Department of Motor Vehicles database to check for any outstanding violations. In Bushey, the …
Court of Appeals Holds Fraudulent Inducement Claims Cannot Be Based on Lost Business Opportunities
In Connaughton v Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (No. 46), a celebrity chef sued Chipotle for fraudulent inducement after he entered an agreement to develop a ramen noodle chain for Chipotle. The deal, however, fell through when the plaintiff was told that Chipotle had previously entered a similar deal with a different celebrity chef, and that …
Court of Appeals Says Recertified Judges May be Barred from Receiving Pension While Still on the Bench
Under the New York Constitution, judges cannot continue to sit on the bench beyond the end of the year that they turn 70 years old unless they are recertified for an additional 2 year term. Recertification can happen three times, with judges forced to step off the bench entirely at 76. The determination whether to …
New York Appeals 