Business litigation often involves both contract and tort claims. A fraud or negligence claim that is deemed “duplicative” of a breach of contract claim, however, will be dismissed. When is that the case? The Westchester Commercial Division and the Appellate Division, Second Department recently answered this question in Oceanview Associates, LLC v. HLS Builders Corp.,
On Monday, June 8, I co-moderated a Virtual Town Hall discussion with Hon. Linda S. Jamieson and Hon. Gretchen Walsh about litigating in the Westchester Commercial Division during COVID-19 and beyond, the Court’s operations, and the methods the justices are using to move cases forward. The justices have worked very hard throughout the pandemic, and
It is not uncommon for litigants to sit on their rights and, after years have passed, argue that they are entitled to delayed accrual of their claims under the discovery rule. This was the key issue in a recent decision by Westchester Commercial Division Justice Linda S. Jamieson in Gelaj v. Gelaj, et al., Index
In civil litigation, contempt is the most severe sanction available because it can subject the offender to fine or imprisonment. A motion for civil contempt was the subject of a recent decision by Westchester Commercial Division Justice Linda S. Jamieson in Matter of Prisco v. L’Aquila Realty LLC, Index No. 58654/2018, a case
A bankruptcy filing often puts a quick halt to efforts to collect a debt from a bankrupt debtor. Under 11 U.S. Code § 362, the filing of a bankruptcy petition puts in place an automatic stay of collection efforts against a debtor. The stay does not, however, automatically stay proceedings against a guarantor of a
Sometimes, based on the nature of an action, plaintiffs wish to present their case to a jury and file a demand for one with the court. If the defendants oppose, they can move to strike the demand pursuant to CPLR 4101. This was the subject of a recent decision by Westchester Commercial Division Justice Linda
Defendants usually make a CPLR 3211 motion to dismiss at the outset of the case and file it together with a Request for Judicial Intervention (RJI). In that situation, a defendant can simply file the motion without contacting the court in advance. When a defendant makes a later motion to dismiss, though, it is best
Although contracts are to be construed in accordance with the parties’ intent, in New York, it is firmly established that the best evidence of what parties intend is what they say in writing. This rule is applied with special force when the agreement is negotiated at arm’s length or by sophisticated business people. Sometimes, parties
A recent decision by the Honorable Linda S. Jamieson again demonstrates that the Justices of the Westchester Commercial Division will not decide matters on procedural technicalities, and usually will go out of their way to decide a case on the merits. The matter involved service of process, and an apparent default in appearance.
First, some
We’ve previously written about how judges in the Westchester Commercial Division will dismiss cases in which the contract at issue contains a forum selection clause requiring the parties to resolve their dispute elsewhere. On September 10, 2019, Justice Linda Jamieson issued another decision doing just that.
Satin v. 1-800 NY Bulbs Limited, Index No.