A recent decision from the Court of Appeals clarifying the standard to obtain non-party discovery, coupled with proposed new guidelines for obtaining electronically stored information (“ESI”) from non-parties in Commercial Division cases, provide the Commercial Division practitioner with an easier...

In February 2011 we reviewed JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Pinzler, 28 Misc.3d 1214(A), pertaining to an attorney’s liability for disbursement of counterfeit funds.  In Pinzler, the defendant attorney was found liable to the plaintiff bank for disbursing funds to a client that was drawn on a...

One of the cornerstone pleading tenets of commercial practice is that a plaintiff may not pursue a fraud cause of action simultaneously with a breach of contract cause of action as the fraud cause of action, when it is premised upon the same facts and circumstances as the breach cause of action,...

With subtle hints that the economy is finally turning from its free-fall, merger and acquisition transactions will begin to surface once again.  The preamble of many transaction documents includes various “representations and warranties”, provisions which may provide the parties with a...

In late June 2012, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman's Task Force on Commercial Litigation released its Report and Recommendations for the Commercial Division, the culmination of the Task Force’s six-month exploration of how to better manage judicial resources of the Commercial Division by improving...

This month we review an interesting decision regarding the provisional remedy of replevin.  Although the Plaintiff’s moving affidavit was inadequate to comply with the CPLR, luckily for the Plaintiff the Court nonetheless awarded Plaintiff possession of the subject chattel premised upon the...