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By:  Jeffrey M. Haber In CJS Indus. Inc. v. Dolce , 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 05037 (1st Dept. Sept. 23, 2025 ( here ), plaintiff sued RS Custom Woodworking and its representatives for fraud after winning an arbitration award. Plaintiff alleged that defendants conspired to avoid payment by incorporating a new entity with a similar name between the initial and final arbitration awards. Plaintiff claimed the incorporation was part of a deliberate scheme to mislead and evade enforcemen

By:  Jeffrey M. Haber Under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and Article 75 of New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”), an action should be dismissed or stayed, and the claims referred to arbitration when they are subject to a broad, mandatory arbitration provision in the parties’ governing agreement. The FAA provides that written agreements to arbitrate are “valid, irrevocable, and enforceable” and “places arbitration agreements ‘upon the same footing as other co

By:  Jeffrey M. Haber In Jefferies LLC v. Blaize Holdings, Inc. , 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 33272(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Sept. 3, 2025 ( here ), the New York Supreme Court held that an engagement letter concerning the provision of investment banking services did not qualify as an “instrument for the payment of money only” under CPLR 3213, which allows for expedited summary judgment. The motion court found that the engagement letter imposed mutual obligations and required performa

By: Jonathan H. Freiberger Today’s article is about Nuruzzaman v. Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. , an action that involves numerous areas of the law about which we frequently write -- mortgage foreclosure, FAPA, RPAPL 1501(4), CPLR 205(a), CPLR 205-A and statutes of limitation . Statute of Limitations in Foreclosure Actions By way of brief background, and as previously written in this BLOG, an action to foreclose a mortgage is governed by a six-year statute of limitations. CPL

By:  Jeffrey M. Haber In Celauro v. Celauro , 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 04870 (Sept. 10, 2025) ( here ), a minority shareholder of a family-owned business alleged that company executives operated an illicit cash business, diverted profits and deprived shareholders of distributions/dividends. Plaintiff relied on dated deposition testimony, documents, and financial statements to support claims of ongoing misconduct. However, the motion court dismissed most of the breach of fiduciary d

By:  Jeffrey M. Haber In New York, as in most jurisdictions, statutes of limitation serve as a cutoff point for initiating legal action. These statutes define the time frame within which a plaintiff must file a lawsuit after a cause of action accrues. Once the limitation period expires, the claim is generally barred, regardless of its merits. The purpose of a statute of limitations is twofold. For plaintiffs, it encourages timely action, preserving evidence and ensuring witne

By: Jonathan H. Freiberger Obtaining personal jurisdiction over a defendant is a critical aspect of litigation. There are two components of personal jurisdiction, which the New York Court of Appeals has succinctly described as follows: One component involves service of process, which implicates due process requirements of notice and opportunity to be heard. Typically, a defendant who is otherwise subject to a court's jurisdiction, may seek dismissal based on the claim that s

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Pursuant to CPLR 3213, a plaintiff may commence an action “based upon an instrument for the payment of money only or upon any judgment” by filing a summons and motion for summary judgment in lieu of complaint. The statute “provide a speedy and effective means” for resolving “presumptively meritorious” claims. The standard to prevail on a CPLR 3213 motion is the same as that on a CPLR 3212 motion: accelerated judgment will be awarded “if, upon all the pa

By:  Jeffrey M. Haber Ponzi schemes and affinity fraud frequently overlap because both exploit trust and social interactions to operate effectively. A Ponzi scheme relies on a continuous stream of new investors to pay returns to earlier participants, creating the illusion of a profitable enterprise. To maintain the flow of funds, fraudsters often target affinity groups—close-knit communities connected by shared identity, such as religious organizations, cultural associations