For years, you work with your grandfather to manage his rental apartments. When he retires from the business, you take over the rentals and upkeep of the building. You find tenants. You pay the mortgage and taxes. You do everything. In exchange for your years of work, he orally promises to give you the building …
Court of Appeals Holds Bail Bondsmen Can’t Keep Bond Premium if Defendant Not Released
Arthur Bogoraz is a bad dude. For more than three years, he ran a multi-million dollar no-fault insurance fraud scheme by convincing radiologists to review MRIs and submit fake insurance claims for payment. He paid the radiologists kickbacks and then not only pocketed the cash, but used the radiologists' information to set up fake medical …
Second Department Grants Leave to Appeal to Court of Appeals Sua Sponte. Can It Do That?
People v Flores is an important case. In Flores, four criminal defendants were tried together on gang assault charges. The County Court where they were being tried, however, decided that it was going to empanel an anonymous jury, with the jurors identified only by number, not by name. The defendants' objected, arguing multiple times that …
Court of Appeals Holds Education Funding Cases Must be Pled on District-by-District Basis
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 …
EEOC Argues Sexual Orientation Discrimination is Protected by Title VII, Second Circuit Should Overrule Simonton En Banc
In Zarda v Altitude Express, Inc., the Second Circuit, sitting en banc, is faced with the question of whether to overrule its prior precedent and hold that Title VII protects against sexual orientation discrimination. In Simonton v Runyan, the Court previously held that sexual orientation discrimination is not protected under Title VII's protection against discrimination "because …
You Can Be Ticketed for Using Handheld GPS While Driving, Third Department Says
Over the last number of years, the State has made clear that it won't tolerating talking on the phone or texting while driving because of the serious dangers of distracted driving. The particular language of the Vehicle and Traffic Law prohibits the use of a “portable electronic device,” which is defined as a “hand-held device …
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Creating Conflict with First Department, Fourth Department Holds that Service of Notice of Voluntary Discontinance After Motion to Dismss is Timely
This is one of those questions that only the truest of procedural nerds can love. Say you commenced a case. You think it's a really good case. But you decide that you want to move on and pursue other matters, even though it is a good case. The CPLR says you can discontinue your case …
Second Circuit Certifies Questions to Court of Appeals Concerning Damages, Interest in Misappropriation of Trade Secrets Cases
Manufacturing plastic security seals is apparently big business. You know, those seals that are nearly impossible to get off a bottle without a knife but give you a measure of comfort that nobody tampered with your goods before you opened them. Well, when your company makes those plastic security seals, and three employees steal your …
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 Amendment
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 …
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