The Court of Appeals was busy delving into criminal law this month, with lots of interesting opinions affecting how criminal trials must be run in New York. The most newsworthy, of course, was the Court’s reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction because it was tainted by the introduction of impermissible prior bad acts that tainted …
The Court of Appeals Adopts New Rules for the Timing of Amicus Briefs
The New York Court of Appeals is joining the vast majority of courts that require motions to appear as amicus curiae on merits appeals and motions for leave to appeal (or petitions for a writ of certiorari, as they like to call them at the Supreme Court) to be made soon after the briefs of …
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NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 4.26.24: When a Company Acquires the Assets and Liabilities of Another Company, It Also Acquires Its Jurisdictional Contacts
May a company that acquires all of the assets and liabilities of another company have the personal jurisdiction contacts of the other company attributed to it for purposes of suit on the liabilities it acquired? The Court of Appeals clarified that when a company buys assets and liabilities, it is also buying the acquired company’s …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 4.19.24: What Must a Plaintiff Demonstrate to Avoid an Anti-SLAPP Dismissal of a Defamation Claim?
This week, the First Department took a deep dive into the legislative history underlying New York’s anti-SLAPP law, and clarified that when a plaintiff is opposing an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must come forward with “such relevant proof as a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support” its claim to avoid dismissal …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 4.12.24: Can an Accounting Firm be Held Liable for Aiding and Abetting Corporate Fraud?
Can an accountant firm avoid liability for aiding and abetting corporate fraud when they reflected the fraud in the company’s books and records, but failed to advise the other principals that it was occurring? The First Department tackled that novel question this week, holding that generally accepted accounting practices require an accountant to disclose fraud …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 4.5.24: When May Restrictive Covenants Be Enforced in Ordinary Commercial Contracts?
The Second Department, this week, addressed a novel issue in New York concerning the factors that must be considered when evaluating the enforceability of restrictive covenants in ordinary commercial contracts. Drawing from Court of Appeals precedent on restrictive covenants in employment contracts, the Court held that whether the covenant protects a legitimate business interest, the …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 3.29.24: Can New York’s Extreme Risk Protection Order Statute, Which Temporarily Removes Guns from at Risk People, Survive a Second Amendment Challenge?
The Court of Appeals this week concluded its opinions from the February argument session, but the most interesting cases, to me, came from the Second and Third Departments. In the Second Department, the Court rejected a Second Amendment challenge to New York’s extreme risk protection order statute that authorizes the temporary removal of weapons from …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 3.22.24: Can Out-of-State Residents Bring Claims for Employment Discrimination Under the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws?
The Court of Appeals is back with an important opinion on whether the employment discrimination protections offered under the New York City and New York State Human Rights Law apply to those who live outside New York, but seek employment here. They do, the Court held. Let’s take a look at that opinion and what …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus Newsletter 3.15.24: Can a Scrivener’s Error Take a Guarantor Off the Hook for a $44 Million Debt?
It’s not every day that the New York appellate courts face a $44 million scrivener’s error in a contract. As the First Department explained this week, when the contract makes clear its true intent, the courts may overlook the scrivener’s error to interpret the contract as the parties’ clearly intended. And here, that decision kept …
NYSBA CasePrepPlus NewsLetter 3.8.24: Taking Us Back to First Year Law School Contracts, the Second Department Answers Whether a contract Must have enumerated consideration to be valid?
This week’s Newsletter is full of civil procedure questions for New York practice nerds like me. The First Department tackled forum non conveniens and the thorny pleading requirements necessary to establish the predicate sexual conduct for a Child Victims Act claim. The Second Department took us back to our first year contracts class, with a …
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