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UPDATE: LANDLORDS NOW HAVE A DUTY TO MITIGATE DAMAGES FOLLOWING RESIDENTIAL LEASE BREACH

Posted on November 21, 2016

Here’s the scenario:  In month 9 of a 12 month residential lease term, Tenant defaults on his rent payment and abandons the apartment with three months still to go on the lease.  Landlord, in accordance with the lease terms, declares the lease terminated and brings a civil suit seeking monetary damages against tenant – including the value of the three months’ worth of rent Landlord otherwise would have received had Tenant not abandoned the lease.  However, during those three months,Read More

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NDNY: No Interpleader Jurisdiction Where Investment Manager Previously Distributed Disputed Funds

Posted on August 8, 2014

I recently represented USAA Investment Management Company in the matter of USAA Investment Management Company v. John Connell et al., 2014 WL 2176283 (N.D.N.Y. 2014), an interesting case concerning interpleader jurisdiction.  In general, interpleader jurisdiction permits a party in possession of property to which multiple other parties have laid claim to initiate a suit in federal court whereby the Court and the claimants will adjudicate the ownership claims.  Interpleader offers protection for the party in possession (referred to as the “stakeholder”), whoRead More

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Book Review: Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, Third Edition, editor-in-chief Robert L. Haig, Esq.

Posted on July 5, 2012

Recently, West Publishing released a new third edition of the premier treatise on commercial litigation in the New York State courts.  I was asked by the book’s editor-in-chief and by the Saratoga County Bar Association to review it.  Click the link for the review, which appeared in the May-June 2012 issue of the SCBA’s Law Notes publication: Book Review: Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts

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Appellate Division Ruling Holds E-mail Correspondence May Create Binding Real Estate Contract

Posted on October 31, 2011

Naldi v. Grunberg, 80 AD3d 1 (1st Dept. 2010), leave to appeal denied, 2011 NY Slip Op. 71494 (NY May 3, 2011) At issue in Naldi v. Grunberg was whether the defendant had breached an agreement to give plaintiff a right of first refusal to purchase certain real property in New York City.  Plaintiff contended that the right of first refusal was granted by defendants in an email describing the terms of the contemplated transaction.  Defendants moved to dismiss theRead More

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Article: Covering Your Assets: The Importance of Products Liability Due Diligence When Making an Acquisition

Posted on October 30, 2011

Some years back, I co-authored an article on the importance to businesses that are in the process of acquiring another company of undertaking thorough products liability due diligence prior to the acquisition.  The points are as true today as they were when the article was first written, so I thought I’d post the link here: ARTICLE 

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Defendant Not Liable for Plaintiff’s Auto Accident Injuries In Absence of Objective Proof of Serious Injury

Posted on October 28, 2011

Bowen v. Saratoga Springs City School District et al., N.Y. Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 3d Dept., Case No. 512164, decided October 20, 2011 In New York, a person injured in an automobile accident cannot recover non-economic damages in a negligence lawsuit against the insured driver of the other vehicle unless the injured plaintiff has suffered a “serious injury” as defined in section 5102 of the New York Insurance Law.  In Bowen, the Appellate Division granted summary judgment to the defendantRead More

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Slip-and-fall Case Dismissed Where Plaintiff was not a Third Party Beneficiary of Snow Removal Contract

Posted on October 25, 2011

Carol Gibson v. Dynaserv Industries, Inc., Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Div., 3rd Dept., Case No. 511962, decided October 20, 2011 On Thursday, the Appellate Division, Third Department, held that a defendant snow removal company hired by the plaintiff’s employer could not be held liable for injuries sustained by the plaintiff when she slipped on ice in her employer’s parking lot.  The respondent/defendant snow removal company had been hired under contract by the plaintiff’s employer toRead More

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Co-Ownership of Real Property: Different Forms for Different Situations

Posted on October 19, 2011

Real property is often purchased by or conveyed to multiple owners – such as when a married couple buys a home.   When such a transaction occurs, there are a number of different ownership forms that can be selected from (by the purchasers, in the case of real estate transactions, or by the testator when he or she is drafting a will containing a devise of real property), each of which will affect the rights of the individuals in the ownershipRead More

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Blind Persons Cannot Serve as Witnesses to Execution of Wills

Posted on October 13, 2011

In order for a will to be valid, a bevy of formal, technical requirements must be exactingly complied with.  Among these is the rule, codified in EPTL 3-2.1(a), that the testator’s signature at the end of the will must be made in the presence of at least two witnesses (or, if signed outside the presence of witnesses, presented to at least two witnesses and acknowledged to them as his or her signature on their last will and testament).  The witnessRead More

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Appellate Division Ruling Holds Bank Lacks Standing to Foreclose on Residential Mortgage Loan

Posted on October 11, 2011

Bank of New York v. Silverberg et al., 86 AD3d 274 (2d Dept. 2011) On June 7, 2011, the Appellate Division, Second Department, dismissed a mortgage foreclosure proceeding based on payment default after holding that the plaintiff bank lacked standing to sue because it could not prove it was the owner of the underlying mortgage note.  The Bank obtained its interest in the mortgage as an assignment from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), a national mortgage registry used byRead More

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