William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” interweaves themes of infidelity, deception, mistaken identities and (most importantly for this article) various plays on the words “noting” and “nothing.”[1] Many of these same themes (especially the last one) swirled around a recent case that went up to the U.S. Supreme Court with great public hullabaloo. The case … Continued
Whether you’ve been a solo or small firm practitioner for a year or for decades, there is a thought in everyone’s mind about what happens when you don’t want to do this anymore, or worse yet, when you can’t do it anymore. That’s when preparation pays off. And to be fair, this sort of preparation … Continued
The Nominating Committee invites members of the Association to seek consideration to be a nominee for Association offices beginning in 2024. Members wishing to become an officer or member of the NYSBA Executive Committee should review Article VIII of the Association’s Bylaws describing the Nominating Committee and nominations for office (NYSBA Bylaws). Offices for nomination … Continued
A New York State Bar Association task force will address the benefits and potential dangers surrounding artificial intelligence and make regulatory recommendations for this powerful and fast-developing technology. The task force was formed both to address AI’s potential to streamline how daily business is conducted and in response to high-profile cases of professionals in many … Continued
Planning, preparation and mastering your presence during a deposition are key to a successful experience. Scott Occhiogrosso, partner at Block, O’Toole and Murphy, hosted a CLE called “Ten Deposition Lessons You Don’t Want to Learn the Hard Way.” Occhiogrosso specializes in catastrophic construction accidents and serious personal injury cases in New York City. His background … Continued
The New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Advancing Diversity will issue a report in August that will recommend how colleges and universities, corporations and law firms and courts and government entities can preserve diversity in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action at Harvard and the University of … Continued
The New York State Bar Association is launching a task force that will come up with recommendations on how best to prosecute hate crimes against Asian Americans and Jewish Americans and examine what can be done about the alarming increase in hate crimes. “Hate does not belong in our communities,” said New York State Bar … Continued
LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV do not trust the criminal legal system, according to a survey conducted by Lambda Legal in partnership with Black and Pink National and Strength in Numbers Consulting Group. Richard Saenz, senior attorney at Lambda Legal and project manager for the survey, discussed the results at a continuing legal … Continued
The opportunity to serve as the 126th president of the New York State Bar Association is the highest honor of my professional career. It is the culmination of all my work for this association, from my service as Executive Committee liaison to the Task Force on Rural Justice to chairing the Uniform Court Rules Committee … Continued
Readers may recall this column that ran in the Bar Journal from 2004 to 2018. After a five-year hiatus, corresponding to a period of significant changes in New York civil practice, occasioned in part by the pandemic but also by systemic changes, some pre-dating the pandemic, we pick up where the column left off.[1] Our … Continued