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
On June 25th, the New York State legislature passed a bill which will make it easier for litigants to introduce Google Maps, Google Earth and other digital map images at trial. Google Maps and Google Earth display high resolution aerial images, often for multiple dates, which can be very useful in litigation for purposes of … Read more
Until recently, if a party wanted to obtain social media evidence in a lawsuit, New York courts would apply a different standard than for other types of evidence. The idea was to give more protection to online information that was intended to be kept private (or available only to a restricted group of people). The … Read more
Companies and employees dealing with a possible discrimination claim should be aware of a recent decision by the New York Court of Appeals regarding liability for punitive damages. Often plaintiffs seek punitive damages in an employment discrimination case. However, with respect to claims under the New York City Human Rights Law, it wasn’t clear what … Read more
Generally, the law recognizes parties’ freedom to enter into a contract under the terms of their choosing. Parties can freely determine the terms of their personal and business affairs unless the agreement is illegal. However, one area where New York law steps in to impose limitations on parties’ freedom of contract is with usury laws. … Read more
Typically, officers and employees of corporations or limited liability companies are not personally liable for acts taken in a corporate capacity. However, there are important exceptions. As discussed in a previous post, when a corporate entity fails to follow corporate formalities and its shareholders mingle personal and corporate funds, the shareholders may be personally liable … Read more
In any litigation, information that is relevant or intended to lead to relevant information is discoverable unless it falls within an exception. Relevant information which is privileged such as communications between an attorney-client, physician-patient, and spouses as well as attorney work product are common exceptions to the discovery rule. In the context of insurance coverage … Read more
When someone files a lawsuit, he/she must serve papers on the defendants to establish the Court’s personal jurisdiction over them. There are laws governing how and when serving papers can occur in order to be valid. Among the rules that apply are those dealing with serving papers on the Sabbath. Importantly, a recent New York Appellate … Read more
Information contained in income tax returns can be relevant to various types of disputes. Therefore, parties may seek to “discover” the other party’s tax returns. However, courts generally do not require the disclosure of tax returns —even when the returns may be relevant—due to their private and confidential nature. Instead, courts apply a strict standard to … Read more
In certain types of cases, including antitrust and patent matters, “good faith” is a commonly asserted defense. However, claiming “good faith” is not without risk– doing so may force a defendant to reveal attorney-client communications. Companies faced with impending litigation need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of relying on a good faith defense particularly … Read more