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
Westchester Commercial Division Practice
Litigating in the Westchester Commercial Division During COVID-19: A Virtual Town Hall Discussion
Join us on Monday, June 8, as Lachtman Cohen P.C. partner Brian Cohen co-moderates 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.
See the invite for details: WCBA June 2020 Event Flyer
Register with the Westchester County Bar
The Westchester Commercial Division is Back in Business … Sort Of.
In light of the COVID-19 emergency in New York State and nationwide, on March 22, 2020, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks directed that no papers shall be accepted for filing by a court except in “essential matters” (for example, criminal, family and domestic violence, mental hygiene, and emergency landlord-tenant).
Effective April 13, 2020, Judge…
“May I Make This Motion, Please?” – For Motions to Dismiss After Filing the RJI but Before the Close of Discovery, Request a Conference
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…
Service on the Secretary of State: Effective … Most of the Time
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…
Default Judgment Granted When Defendant Failed to Provide a Reasonable Excuse for Default
In an earlier post, we explained that the Westchester Commercial Division will not grant a motion for a default judgment without reviewing the papers. The Court will first determine whether the plaintiff has made a prima facie showing of its entitlement to a judgment. It is not unusual for the Westchester Commercial Division justices…
Breakfast with Westchester’s Commercial Division Judges
On June 14, 2019, the New York State Bar Association hosted a breakfast at the Westchester County Courthouse with Justices Linda Jamieson and Gretchen Walsh. This was a great opportunity to hear from Westchester’s Commercial Division judges on various topics, including their expectations of attorneys who appear before them. Here are a handful of important…
Amending Complaint Seven Years Later Not Prejudicial to Defendants
Westchester Commercial Division Justice Linda Jamieson recently granted leave to plaintiffs to amend their complaint seven years after they filed their original complaint.
In MCC Realty III v. Retail Opportunity Investments Corp., Index No. 56448/11, Plaintiffs sought leave to drop three causes of action and add five new ones. The reason: to reflect information…
Property Sellers’ Representations About Existing Facts Survive Closing
Ordinarily in real estate sales, the seller’s pre-closing representations do not survive the closing unless the contract expressly states that they do. The situation is different, however, when the seller has made a pre-closing representation about a then-existing fact, like whether the tenants are current in rent. That was the state of facts alleged by…
Rule 19-a Statements: What Westchester Commercial Division Litigants Need to Know
Commercial Division Rule 19-a says that, on a summary judgment motion, the Court may direct the filing of “a separate, short and concise statement, in numbered paragraphs, of the material facts as to which the moving party contends there is no genuine issue to be tried.” Lawyers who don’t handle Commercial Division cases can get…