Once an action is commenced, litigants have numerous discovery devices at their fingertips to help flesh-out facts to prove, or defend against, asserted claims.  Sometimes, however, a potential litigant believes that a viable claim exists but, for one or more reasons, has insufficient information to bring a claim.  The answer is provided by CPLR 3102 (c) , which permits disclosure “before an action is commenced, … to aid in bringing an action, to preserve information or to ai

The coronavirus (“COVID-19”) has impacted the public and private sectors in so many ways – many of which are unprecedented and beyond the scope of this article. The Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), other governmental authorities have worked to ensure that the markets have functioned and will function in an open, orderly and transparent fashion. In today’s article, we consider some of these

It is said that justice never sleeps. This is true, even as we adjust to life during the coronavirus pandemic. Although state and federal courts around the country have limited the business they handle, they nonetheless remain open. But what does this mean?  The Lower Courts The State of New York has answered this question through several recent court orders. These orders make clear that the courts are, as Chief Judge Janet DiFiore stated in a recent online message, “up and r

Historically, an individual was required to appear, in person, before the notary public acknowledging his/her signature.  See In re Napolis , 169 A.D. 469, 471 (1 st Dep’t 1915) (“The court again wishes to express its condemnation of the acts of notaries taking acknowledgments or affidavits without the presence of the party whose acknowledgment is taken or the affiant, and that it will treat as serious professional misconduct the act of any notary thus violating his official

On March 24, 2020, the New York Court of Appeals decided Plavin v. Group Health Inc. , 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 02025 (Mar. 24, 2020) ( here ), a case in which the Court was asked by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to decide whether an insurance company’s alleged misstatements and omissions about its insurance plan, made to over 600,000 current and former New York City employees and retirees, sufficed to satisfy the consumer-oriented element of a claim unde

Sometimes this Blog gets to address numerous issues in its examination of a case. In MDK Hijos Trust v. Nordlicht , 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 30793(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Mar. 10, 2020) ( here ), we get the opportunity to do so again. MDK Hijos Trust v. Nordlicht Background Plaintiff, MDK Hijos Trust (“Plaintiff” or “MDK”), sought damages for, among other claims, fraudulent inducement and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with investments by the Katz family (Marcos Katz and

“Spoofing is a type of scam in which criminals attempt to obtain someone’s personal information by pretending to be a legitimate business, a neighbor, or some other innocent party.” See Julia Kagan, Spoofing , Investopedia (updated Jan. 29, 2020) (“ Spoofing ”) ( here ). Spoofing can occur in any form of online communication, including emails, text messages, telephone calls, and websites. Id . Although spoofing comes in many forms, the goal of spoofing is the same: to deceiv

As a general matter, business entities ( e.g. , for-profit and not-for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships) formed outside the State of New York (whether in another state or a foreign country) may not do business within the State unless they receive authority to do so. See generally , Business Corporation Law (“BCL”) §§ 1301-1320 (corporations), Limited Liability Company Law (“LLCL”) §§ 801-809 (limited liability companies), Not-for-Prof

Most (lay) people think that a breach of contract action involves nothing more than a failure to perform some requirement in a contract. One need look no further than Wikipedia for such a definition. ( Here (“Breach occurs when a party to a contract fails to fulfill its obligation(s) as described in the contract.…”).) But as today’s post shows, there can be more to a breach of contract action than a simple failure to perform. Schum v. Spatorico , 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 01816 (4t