News & Insights

Information About Economic Duress

economic duress

Generally, courts will respect and enforce the terms of a contract. However, one exception to that rule involves situations where one party was coerced into signing a contract by the other party. Economic duress occurs when one side threatens to breach the agreement if the other party doesn’t accept the new terms. When it occurs, … Read more

Suing an Unlicensed Home Improvement Contractor Is Not as Easy as You Think

New York City (and various other counties throughout the State) now impose a requirement that all contractors doing home improvements must have licenses issued by the municipality where the work is to be performed. Indeed, in 2006, the NYC Administrative Code added Title 20, Chapter 2, Subchapter 22 which addresses home improvements and sets out … Read more

U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies When You Can Sue Foreign Organizations

Laws giving foreign organizations immunity from lawsuits date back to at least 1945 with the “International Organization Immunities Act.” This Act granted international organizations the same immunity from being sued as enjoyed by foreign governments. However, since then, the scope of foreign government immunity has been curtailed raising the question of whether foreign organizations should … Read more

New York Court Recognizes Possible Constructive Trust Claim to Property When Non-Married Couples Split Up

When unmarried couples make oral financial promises to each other, problems can arise if they split up. In a recent New York court decision, the Appellate Division, Second Department addressed such a situation, finding that the Plaintiff could pursue her claim for constructive trust with respect to certain property she asserted was promised to her … Read more

Beware of Liability for Water Flowing onto Your Neighbor’s Property

Property owners often must make improvements to their properties in order to develop them, such as paving, leveling and changing the grade of their land. This process can change how surface waters flow across the property, and may unintentionally cause flooding as water may flow onto surrounding properties. This has historically been the subject of … Read more