This month we review an individual’s right to indemnification pursuant to the New York Business Corporation Law (“BCL”) for counsel fees incurred to defend a civil action or proceeding, other than a derivative suit. In typical fashion, directors and officers are sued for conduct in the course of...

In light of the unbridled fiduciary duty owed to an employer, after an employee resigns to join a competitor an immediate investigation concerning the former employee’s activities in the months preceding resignation is warranted.  If the investigation confirms pre-resignation misconduct by...

In the September 2012 column, we reviewed Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s Task Force Report and Recommendations for the Commercial Division which included certain proposed procedural reforms to the Commercial Division Rules, the most notable being an amendment of the expert disclosure process to...

In a unique twist from the garden-variety breach of fiduciary duty claim, Justice Scarpulla (New York County Commercial Division) recently refused to expand the scope of viable “faithless servant” claims in Pozner v. Fox Broadcasting Company, concluding that sexual harassment is not within the...

A recent mid-winter decision from Central Islip Eastern District Judge Sandra Feuerstein provides a stark reminder to counsel for Plaintiffs to scrutinize documentation annexed as exhibits to a Complaint as the same may later haunt the Plaintiff as a basis for dismissal. In Levista Inc. v. Ranbaxy...

In mid September, approximately 30 practitioners, several Justices and Court personnel participated in the inaugural training session for the Suffolk County’s Commercial Division Mediation Program.  The training, which consisted of 24 hours over three days, was presented by Simeon Baum, Esq....