First Department Says Access-Law Amendment Does Not Disturb Neighbor's Fee Award
A unanimous panel affirmed a $41,196.70 fee award against Panasia Estate, holding that fees under RPAPL 881 do not depend on which side prevails.
New York Appellate Division
N.Y. Appeals Court Upholds $1.17 Million Judgment Against Jide Zeitlin Over Loan Deal
A unanimous First Department panel held that the defendants had to turn over a $413,731.53 recovery without deducting legal fees and list a Dutchess County property.
Appeals Court Gives Ex-Mount Sinai IT Manager Win on Disability Dialogue Claim
The First Department held Mount Sinai liable under the city's Human Rights Law for never discussing accommodations with a disabled manager.
N.Y. Appeals Court Says Landowner's Deal With Town Sank His Rail Trail Defenses
The Third Department held that a landowner who dropped his property claims against the town with prejudice lost both those claims and his defenses to a land trust's suit.
N.Y. Appeals Court Vacates $1.4 Million Waterworks Award in Chelsea Building Dispute
The First Department upheld the fixture supplier's contract and lien claims but ordered new damages proceedings, disregarding proof Waterworks first offered in reply.
N.Y. Appeals Court Upholds Foreign Bank's Win on Defaulted Loan of About $10 Million
The First Department unanimously held that RBL Bank Limited could sue in New York and that the borrower and its guarantor could not invoke a Banking Law defense.
Appeals Court Lets Estate Executors Pursue Malpractice Suit Against Falcon Rappaport
A unanimous First Department panel held that a formal agreement engaging the firm for a company that owned an estate's commercial property did not defeat the executors' claim to be the firm's clients.
N.Y. Appeals Court Keeps City's Ejectment Suits Against Two Health Occupants Alive
The First Department held that Heritage's agreement, including its 60-day no-cause termination clause, pointed to a license, not a lease, and that neither occupant had conclusively shown it was entitled to tenants' notice rights.
N.Y. Appeals Court Upholds Win for Funds Suing Chinese Developer Over Defaulted Notes
A unanimous First Department panel held that funds holding bonds through Euroclear could sue and that a change in Chinese law did not excuse the issuer's nonpayment.
N.Y. Appeals Court Blocks RICO Claim, Upholds $425,000 Receiver Fee in Resort LLC Fight
The Second Department barred RICO and fraud claims and cut two tort counts from the suit of a co-owner of the company that owned the Hudson Valley Resort, but kept her partner's counterclaim open.
N.Y. Appeals Court Tosses Lawyer's Bid for Fees Spent Defending a Fee Award
The Second Department held that a promissory note lacking express language on fees on fees could not support Jonathan Davidoff's suit, and ordered the suit dismissed.
Second Department Says Keeping Notice of Pendency After Injunction Loss Signals Bad Faith
A New York appeals court affirmed cancellation of a would-be dealership buyer's notice of pendency after a judge found money damages would make the buyer whole.
Second Department Says Hempstead Owes FOIL Fees to Law Firm, Rejects Companion Suit
Hempstead missed its deadline on a law firm's records appeal and must pay the firm's fees, the court held, but it upheld dismissal of the firm's second, premature suit.
Red-Lined Indemnity Clause Bars Owner's Lost-Rent Claim, N.Y. Appeals Court Rules
The Second Department held that a contract from which the parties struck 'any other economic loss' excludes lost rent, but reopened the owner's security and equipment claims.
N.Y. Appeals Court Applies California Law to Toss Ex-Worker's Claim Against Grubmarket
A New York appellate panel dismissed a fired employee's implied-covenant counterclaim under his contract's California-law clause but let his contract counterclaim proceed.
Appeals Court Upholds $1.2 Million Verdict Against Church in Preschool Lease Fight
The First Department upheld a finding that a church landlord gave up its lease's jury waiver by raising it four months after the tenants filed their note of issue.
Fourth Department Lets Fired BOCES Employee File Late Discrimination Claim
A unanimous panel held that her grievance gave Erie 1 BOCES timely knowledge of the claim, though she had no reasonable excuse for missing the 90-day deadline.
N.Y. Appeals Court Upholds Union Clause Requiring Dues Until Annual Opt-Out Window
The Fourth Department unanimously declared that a teacher who quit his union in March could be charged dues until the August revocation window opened.
Fourth Department Upholds Cut of CMBS Trustee's Roughly $588,000 Fee Request to $250,000
A unanimous panel affirmed an Erie County judge who cut a securitized lender's legal fees and refused to stack note-rate interest on top of default interest.
First Department Affirms Refusal to Vacate Default Judgment, Rejects Usury Defense
A unanimous panel held that a business owing a funder 15% of its future receivables failed to show the deal was a loan, a necessary element of a usury defense.
New York Appeals Court Ends Iberdrola's Fraud Suit Against Oaktree
The First Department held that Iberdrola could not sue for fraud over work it was already obligated to perform under its construction contract.
Divided First Department Tosses Negligent Supervision Claim Against Cosby Show Producer
A 3-2 appeals panel held that Bill Cosby's alleged use of the Cosby Show set to win a woman's trust did not make Carsey-Werner liable for his alleged assaults.
N.Y. Appeals Court Rejects City's Greenwashing Suit Against Exxon, Shell and BP
A unanimous First Department panel held that ads for lower-emission gasoline could not mislead consumers the city says already know fossil fuels drive climate change.
Car Dealer Waived Arbitration by Litigating Vehicle-Fire Suit, NY Appeals Court Rules
The Second Department held that Merlex Auto Group gave up its right to arbitrate a buyer's injury claim by litigating for about 18 months before seeking arbitration.
Second Department Breaks With First Department on NYC Tax Class Challenges
The Second Department said owners of vacant residential lots may use article 78 to fix city tax class errors, declining to follow a First Department ruling.
N.Y. Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Fraud-Aiding Claims Against PepsiCo
The Second Department said a shareholder's complaint did not show PepsiCo gave the affirmative help needed to plead it aided an alleged inflated-invoice scheme.
N.Y. Appeals Court Says Nonprofit Officers Owe No Fiduciary Duty to Members
The Second Department dismissed a broker's remaining claims against the Long Island Board of Realtors and three officials over a $5,000 fine and account suspension.
N.Y. Appeals Court Sends Equinox Membership-Fee Class Action to Arbitration
The Second Department held that a claim Equinox's membership contract violated the Health Club Services Act does not void the agreement's arbitration clause.
Appeals Court Tosses Lawyer's $500,000 Suit Over 'Master of None' Google Review
The Second Department held a Google review mocking an attorney was protected opinion under New York's anti-SLAPP law and ordered him to pay the reviewer's legal fees.
N.Y. Appeals Court Lets Ticket-Fee Class Action Against Museum of Ice Cream Proceed
The Second Department held the voluntary payment doctrine does not bar claims that a ticket seller disclosed fees too late or not conspicuously enough under state law.
NY Appeals Court Lets Attorney General Subpoena Out-of-State Restaurant Review Records
The First Department refused to narrow Letitia James' subpoena in a deceptive-review probe, citing the company's New York ties and ".nyc" email addresses.
New York Appeals Court Revives Investors' Mortgage-Bond Claims Against U.S. Bank
The First Department held that Article 77 determinations that U.S. Bank reasonably accepted trust settlements in 2014 do not bar claims that U.S. Bank failed earlier to pursue Citigroup and JPMorgan over bad loans.