By: Jeffrey M. Haber Celebrities often use their fame and likeness to promote goods and services. After all, it is a way to make extra money. Sometimes, when securities are involved, the celebrity will promote an investment opportunity without making any disclosure about whether they are paid for their endorsement. Even worse, the celebrity makes materially false and misleading statements about the investment opportunity. When the investment opportunity involves a virtual to

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Arbitration is an alternative form of dispute resolution where the parties voluntarily agree that a neutral, private person will resolve any legal disputes between them, instead of a judge or jury in a court of law. 1 In business and commercial transactions, arbitration is the preferred means of resolving disputes. It is encouraged and recognized as the public policy of the State of New York. 2 For this reason, “New York courts interfere as little as po

By Jonathan H. Freiberger Because there have been a number of appellate decisions interpreting RPAPL 1304 , this Blog has written frequently on that topic. See, e.g. , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> , < here =">here</a>"> and < here =">here</a>"> . By way of background, and as p

By: Jeffrey M. Haber On February 14, 2023, the New York Court of Appeals decided State of New York v. Vayu, Inc. , 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 00801 (Feb. 14, 2023) ( here ). Vayu addressed what it means to purposefully avail oneself of the privilege of conducting activities within New York by transacting business in the state. In a 5-1 decision, authored by Judge Michael J. Garcia, the Court held that Vayu, acting through its chief executive officer, repeatedly projected itself into

By: Jeffrey M. Haber As readers of this Blog know, to form a contract, the following elements must be present: an offer, acceptance of the offer, consideration, mutual assent (or a meeting of the minds) and an intent to be bound. Contracts are subject to the equitable remedy of rescission or reformation if entered under a mutual mistake. 1 To invoke the doctrine of mutual mistake, a party must present proof that the agreement, as expressed, does not represent a “meeting of t

By Jonathan H. Freiberger A commercial lease can be a valuable asset for a business. Accordingly, a tenant must be mindful of its rights in the face of a default/cure notice from a landlord. Generally, a tenant that wants to retain its lease and disputes a curable default, or cannot remedy a curable default within the contractual cure period, should consider obtaining a Yellowstone injunction. Yellowstone="<em>Yellowstone</em>" injunctions="injunctions" here,=">here</a>,"

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Previously, this Blog has examined the doctrine of res judicata ( here and here ). Under the doctrine, a party may not litigate a claim where a judgment on the merits exists from a prior action between the same parties involving the same subject matter. The doctrine applies not only to claims actually litigated but also to claims that could have been raised in the prior litigation. The rationale underlying the doctrine is that a party who has been give

By: Jeffrey M. Haber We have often written about the SEC’s whistleblower program and, in particular, the success of the program with respect to detecting and preventing violations of the federal securities laws. The success of the program depends, in large part, on the ability of would-be whistleblowers to have the freedom to report wrongdoing without fear of reprisal. Taking steps to impede a departing employee from sharing information with the SEC impairs this free flow of

By Jonathan H. Freiberger This Blog frequently addresses issues related to mortgage foreclosure actions, generally, and issues of standing, specifically. Much of the background of this article was taken from a prior article: “ Appellate Division, Second Department, Validates Mortgage Foreclosure Defendants’ Cries of ‘Leave me Allonge ’”. As to the issues relating to the standing of a lender to commence a foreclosure action, this Blog has noted that, in general, a foreclosin