It is well settled that stipulations of settlement are favored by the courts. Hallock v. State , 64 N.Y.2d 224, 230 (1984). Stipulations of settlement not only serve the interests of efficient dispute resolution but also are essential to the management of court calendars and integrity of the litigation process. Id . For these reasons, stipulations of settlement are not lightly cast aside. Id . See also Matter of Galasso , 35 N.Y.2d 319, 321 (1972). Notwithstanding, a stipula

Securities fraud comes in all shapes and sizes. While the substance of a fraudulent investment scheme may change depending upon the circumstances and the fraudster involved, the types of securities fraud tend to fall into one of the following (non-exclusive) categories: financial statement/accounting fraud; pyramid schemes; Ponzi schemes; pump-and-dump schemes; affinity fraud; promissory note fraud; Internet fraud; “microcap” stock fraud; and fraud concerning information abou

It is well settled that New York has a “long and strong public policy favoring arbitration,” such that the “courts interfere as little as possible with the freedom of consenting parties to submit disputes to arbitration.” Smith Barney Shearson v. Sacharow , 91 N.Y.2d 39, 49-50 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). In light of this public policy, arbitration is encouraged “as a means of conserving the time and resources of the courts and the contracting parties” to a dis

Like the iconic scene when a cruise ship is leaving the dock, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, in BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP v. Alvarado (January 30, 2019), has everyone waiving. CPLR 3018(b) requires that “ party plead all matters which if not pleaded would be likely to take the adverse party by surprise or would raise issues of fact not appearing on the face of a prior pleading….” Generally, affirmative defenses are waived by the def

Parties to commercial/business transactions are no doubt familiar with “term sheets”, “letters of intent”, “memoranda of understanding” and “agreements in principle”. As the parties to these documents know, they outline the fundamental terms of the transaction being negotiated. Not surprisingly, disputes arise over the enforceability of these documents. In A.J. Richard & Sons, Inc. v. Forest City Ratner Cos., LLC , 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30215(U) (Sup. Ct. Kings County Jan. 28,

Commercial litigation practitioners know that, as a general matter, courts will not permit a fraudulent inducement claim to survive a motion to dismiss when the claim arises from a breach of contract. Indeed, courts routinely dismiss a fraudulent inducement claim where “ he existence of a valid and enforceable written contract govern a particular subject matter” and the recovery sought arises out of the same facts and circumstances. Clark-Fitzpatrick v. Long Is. , 70 N.Y.2d

Statutes of limitations encourage plaintiffs to pursue the prosecution of their claims as soon as they are known. As the term implies, they are statutory mechanisms that limit the duration of a defendant’s liability for all types of alleged wrongdoing, e.g. , fraud, breach of fiduciary and negligence. These statutes “promote justice by preventing surprises through revival of claims that have been allowed to slumber until evidence has been lost, memories have faded, and witne

Readers of this Blog know that we have addressed fiduciary duty claims in the past ( here ), most often in the context of a claim against a financial advisor, a corporate officer, or an LLC member ( e.g. , here , here , here ). There are, of course, other relationships that involve fiduciary duties, e.g. , lawyers, bankers, business partners, corporate officers and directors, managing shareholders, personal representatives (executors and administrators), and trustees. Fiducia

In New York, judicial review of arbitration awards is limited. Tullett Prebon v. BGC Fin. , 111 A.D.3d 480, 482 (1st Dept. 2013). The reason for such a limited review is to promote the settlement of disputes efficiently and avoid protracted and expensive litigation. Id . Thus, the grounds upon which an arbitral award will be modified or vacated are few. These include: (1) “corruption, fraud, or misconduct in procuring the award”; (2) partiality of the arbitrator; (3) the arbi

The desired result of litigation is a judgment fully and finally resolving the matter. In many instances, the resolution of a lawsuit involves a money judgment. Article 52 of the CPLR governs the enforcement of money judgments. There are several mechanisms by which a judgment creditor can enforce a money judgment against a judgment debtor. For example, CPLR 5018 permits a judgment to be docketed against real property of the judgment creditor. Once a judgment is dockete

Melville, NY ( Law Firm Newswire ) January 30, 2019 - Jonathan H. Freiberger, a member of the law firm of Freiberger Haber LLP, was recently quoted in the New York Post in an article about franchising issues related to the Bareburger hamburger chain. The link to the article can be found here. Located in New York City and Melville, Long Island, Freiberger Haber LLP is dedicated to representing corporations, small businesses, partnerships and individuals involved in a broad

Insurance. It is an important part of life. People buy insurance for many reasons, such as for the protection of their health, auto, business and home. The expectation is that one’s insurance policy will cover enough risks to protect against financial loss. As explained by Investopedia, an online resource “dedicated to financial education and empowerment” ( here ), “ nsurance policies are used to hedge against the risk of financial losses, both big and small, that may resul

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. Rent-A-Ctr., W, Inc. v. Jackson , 561 U.S. 63, 67 (2010) (noting that “arbitration is a matter of contract”). In business and commercial transactions, arbitration is the preferred means of resolving disputes. It is encouraged and recognized as the public policy of

Questions of arbitrability and waiver are often litigated by parties to a contract containing an agreement to arbitrate disputes arising thereunder. In the Matter of New Roots Charter School v. Ferreira , 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30137(U) (Sup. Ct. Tompkins Cnty. Jan. 16, 2019) ( here ), the Court was faced with these questions, having to decide whether the parties had agreed to arbitrate their disputes and if so whether the respondent had abandoned his right to litigate certain cl

To plead a fraud or fraudulent inducement claim, a plaintiff must allege the following: “a misrepresentation or a material omission of fact which was false and known to be false by the defendant, made for the purpose of inducing the other party to rely upon it, justifiable reliance of the other party on the misrepresentation or material omission, and injury.” Pasternack v. Laboratory Corp. of Am. Holdings , 27 N.Y.3d 817, 827 (2016) (internal citations and quotation marks omi

Commercial transactions very often involve parties from different states. One party can be domiciled in New York, for example, while the other can be incorporated or headquartered in Delaware. When a dispute arises between such geographically diverse parties, questions concerning the jurisdiction of a court over the parties often gets litigated. This becomes even more pronounced when the corporation is a multinational company, which conducts business across the county and th

On January 15, 2019, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department rendered a decision in In re: New York State Land Title Association, Inc. v. New York State Department of Financial Services , in which the Court, inter alia , upheld certain provisions of the Insurance Law and related regulations promulgated by the Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) designed to “explicitly prohibit the practice of kickbacks from insurers to title closers, attor

Laches is an equitable bar to a claim that is based on a lengthy failure to assert one’s rights that prejudices an adverse party. The doctrine is “designed to promote justice by preventing surprises through the revival of claims that have been allowed to slumber until evidence has been lost, memories have faded, and witnesses have disappeared.” Order of R.R. Tels. v. Ry Express Agency, Inc. , 321 U.S. 342, 348-49 (1944). As explained in Law.Com’s online dictionary, the doctri