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In settling a Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) action, reaching an agreement between the parties has usually been just the first step. Before the parties file a stipulation of discontinuance under Federal Rule 41(a)(1)(A), the court or the Department of ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View

Rather than specify a dollar amount, state court plaintiffs may plead damages “in an amount to be determined at trial” or “in excess of the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts.” These statements do not establish an amount in controversy. ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

If a defendant is subject to general jurisdiction in New York, it may be sued in New York regardless of whether the plaintiff’s claims have anything to do with the defendant’s New York contacts. In a series of recent decisions, ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

I have recently observed a trend in employment litigation: employers attempting to enforce covenants not to compete or solicit clients (“restrictive covenants”) that are contained in employee manuals, as opposed to discrete contracts. Employers should reconsider this practice if they ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

When I last wrote about unmissable deadlines, I described CPLR and NYCRR provisions setting deadlines that normally can’t be forgiven. If you’re defending a state court action, there’s another deadline you must remember: the 30-day deadline to remove an action ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

Trials are clashes of ideas and attitudes. Attorneys condense complex theories into characterizations and themes. Jurors consider what witnesses do on the stand in addition to what they say. But the jury’s memory of arguments and testimony can be fleeting. ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

You would think that a judgment always comes from a judge, and in most cases they do. But the CPLR gives plaintiffs several ways to obtain a money judgment directly from the county clerk.  These CPLR provisions bypass the judge ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy Sher

Adjournments and extensions are routine in New York litigation. Return dates are postponed, scheduling orders are amended, and discovery deadlines are forgiven.  But deadlines can only be extended if the parties or the court have the authority to change them.  ...

In the last Advocate’s View article, my colleague Stacey Trien offered her perspective as an experienced Florida litigator who recently began practicing in New York. This article continues Ms. Trien’s theme of highlighting some of the more unusual aspects of ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

The federal False Claims Act grants the government (or a private party suing on the government’s behalf) the right to seek damages vastly exceeding what is normally available in a fraud action. Enacted in 1863 to combat fraud by government ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View False Claims Act

The Court of Appeals’ 4-3 decision in Biotronik A.G. v. Conor Medsystems Ireland, Ltd., 22 N.Y.3d 799 (Mar. 27, 2014), raises new questions about pursuing lost profits in a breach of contract action. Biotronik held that, based on the contract ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher

BDO Seidman v. Hirshberg remains the leading New York authority on enforcing post-employment restrictive covenants — contracts that prevent an employee from competing with his employer after leaving his job, 93 N.Y.2d 382 (1999). Now approaching its 15th anniversary, BDO ...

Tagged with: Advocate's View Jeremy M. Sher