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“Summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party without a full trial.” ( Here .) The motion is designed to avoid unnecessary trials – that is, its purpose is to avoid a trial where there are no material issues of fact to be decided by the trier of fact ( e.g. , the judge or the jury). Summary judgment motions can also simplify a trial (known as a motion for partial summary judgment) because it can dispense with issues or claims for w

Many times, the applicable statute of limitations expires during the pendency of an already commenced action.  No problem – right?,  While generally speaking such an occurrence should not be a problem, issues may arise when an otherwise timely action is dismissed subsequent to the expiration of the limitations period.  Depending on the nature of the dismissal, a plaintiff may be permitted to commence a new action notwithstanding the expiration of the applicable statute of lim

Concealment of material information and market manipulation. Both forms of improper conduct were on display in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Airborne Wireless Network , 21-cv-01772 (S.D.N.Y.) ( here ), a case we examine below.  The Importance of The Disclosure of Information Disclosure of information has long been a mission of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or the “Commission”). As noted on the SEC’s website: “ he laws and rules that govern the securiti

“You can’t have fraud if you disclose it,” said the motion court in Ibarrondo v. Evans , 2020 N.Y. Slip Op 30051(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Jan. 6, 2020) ( here ), aff’d , 2021 N.Y. Slip Op. 01200 (1st Dept. Feb. 25, 2021) ( here ). Yet, without alleging any new facts detailing how the alleged fraud was not disclosed, the plaintiff in Ibarrondo sought to amend her complaint to reallege the cause of action. In today’s article, we examine Ibarrondo . Ibarrondo involved a dispu

Frequently, the first question asked by a potential client when consulting about a new litigation matter is “can we sue them for our legal fees.”  Clients are often dismayed to learn that attorney’s fees are not generally recoverable in litigation under the “American Rule,” because “ n the United States, the prevailing litigant is ordinarily not entitled to collect a reasonable attorney fee from the loser.”  Alyeska Pipeline Services Co. v. Wilderness Society , 421 U.S. 240,

As the title of this article suggests, there are times in litigation where the facts simply do not support a claim or defense advanced by one or more of the parties. That was the case in Alston v. Golfo , 2021 N.Y. Slip Op. 30471(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Feb. 17, 2021) ( here ). Alston was commenced by a labor union welfare fund (the “Fund”) in July 2018 against one of its enrollees, Salvatore Golfo (“Salvatore”), and his former wife, defendant Denise Golfo (“Denise”), for

In today’s article, we examine familiar territory: complaints alleging breach of contract and fraudulent inducement. Kleber v. 10012 Holdings Inc. , 2021 N.Y. Slip Op. 30441(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County Feb. 8, 2021) ( here ). As the title of the article indicates, Kleber involved the purchase of an “Uncle Sam” screen print edition 1/5 by Andy Warhol (the “Artwork”), which was signed and numbered by the artist. In April 2019, Plaintiff Claus Kleber and Defendant Guy Hepner (“He

This BLOG has written extensively on issues related to residential mortgage foreclosure actions.  Indeed, earlier this month, in “ PRETEXTUAL DE-ACCELERATION OF MORTGAGE DEBT ”, this BLOG provided an overview of the applicable statute of limitations in foreclosure, the calculation of the commencement thereof, and the acceleration and de-acceleration of mortgage debt.  The Departments of the Appellate Divisions were not in agreement on some of these related issues and, accordi

“We make premium widgets with the highest quality metals.” Assume for the moment, the widgets are made from alloys that are prone to imperfections. Also assume that the speaker sincerely believed the statement to be true, notwithstanding the instances of imperfections. Is this statement an actionable fraud? In Matter of Sundial Growers, Inc. Sec. Litig. , 2021 N.Y. Slip Op. 01014 (1st Dept.Feb. 16, 2021) ( here ), the Court considered this question and, as discussed below, he