In the past 30+ years, I have had the privilege of presiding over hundreds of large and complex commercial arbitrations, in the course of which I have worked with many hundreds of litigators in New York and other areas of the country. I have benefited greatly and learned much from observing excellent lawyering by so … Continued

Already passed by both houses of the New York Legislature, New York’s proposed law banning non-competes can potentially disrupt years of labor law practice in New York. If signed by the governor, the new law would amend the New York Labor Code to prohibit non-compete covenants in employment agreements, with a handful of exceptions. The … Continued

In IKB International, S.A. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 51, 2023 WL 4002324 (N.Y. June 15, 2023), the New York Court of Appeals announced that the “economic loss rule” applies only in products liability cases. By limiting the rule to products liability, the Court of Appeals resolved the significant confusion among lower state and federal courts, … Continued

It is a great honor for me to write this message as the 35th chair of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section (ComFed). I want to thank our immediate past chair, Ignatius A. Grande, for his dedication and diligence during his tenure. It was a great year as we returned, cautiously at first, from the … Continued

Adapted from English trust law, the “fiduciary exception” provides shareholders with a potential avenue to pierce the company’s attorney-client privilege in certain circumstances. This judicial construct recognizes that corporations exist for the benefit of their shareholders, and that shareholders may be entitled to privileged communications undertaken by their corporate fiduciaries on their behalf. Recent cases … Continued

While the legal field is often slow to adopt new technologies (less than 30% of legal personnel consider themselves “early adopters” of technology),1 early adopters may find themselves a step ahead of their competitors. Attorneys who first adapted to using online legal research when it arose decades ago, for example, often had distinct advantages over their … Continued

Few would dispute that the growing backlog oppressing the New York court system warrants new and enlightened tools to achieve more efficient judicial administration. Certainly, the New York courts have taken some meaningful steps. For example, system-wide, courts are increasingly turning to presumptive mediation–often early in a case–as an expedient to reduce caseloads.1 Many judges have … Continued

I recently wrote about structured legal fees for lawyers through the New York State Bar Association.1 For nearly 30 years, plaintiff lawyers have been structuring contingent legal fees based on the seminal tax cases of Childs v. Commissioner, 103 T.C. 634 (1994), aff’d without opinion, 89 F.3rd 856 (11th Cir. 1996). Payments over time can flatten the peaks … Continued

It is hard to believe that it has been a year since I took over the reins as the chair of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section. It has been a privilege to serve as section chair during the first full year when the section returned to in-person programming after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ComFed … Continued

As we stand on the precipice of another economic downturn, a new Commercial Division case arising from the great financial crisis of 2007-2008 is a timely reminder of the limitations on the recovery of lost profit damages. The Commercial Division, Kings County, recently precluded plaintiffs from seeking to recover lost profit damages, finding that such … Continued