Navigating electronic discovery: Preparation and evaluation
You will be hard pressed today to find someone who does not have an electronic footprint. Whether it’s email, social media, bank accounts, or simply owning a smartphone, almost every person creates an electronic trail. Knowing that these trails exist is crucial to any comprehensive litigation discovery plan, especially if electronically stored information (“ESI”) is […]
Residential evictions: The importance of an organized approach
As a landlord, it is best practice to stay updated on current eviction procedures. This article outlines the general steps any residential landlord should take when evicting a tenant under two common circumstances: (1) when a tenant fails to pay rent and (2) when a tenant fails to vacate the property at the conclusion of […]
The enforceability of skilled nursing care agreements
The environment for long-term care for the elderly, and particularly skilled nursing care, is complex, often emotionally charged, and marked by financial burdens on all sides. Skilled nursing care is costly to provide and thus expensive, and nursing homes and their residents are facing unprecedented staffing shortages, economic pressures, and a complicated network of statutes […]
Comprehensive housing and zoning regulations set to sweep across New York | Environmental Law
In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed the New York Housing Compact, which includes a series of proposals to address the purportedly low housing selection across New York. The New York Housing Compact aims to complement the Governor’s Housing Plan announced last year to create or preserve 100,000 affordable homes throughout New York. Additionally, several bills […]
Civil Litigation: The cost of convenience: Tips to avoid litigation when granting authority
To avoid the annoyance of troublesome processes and procedures, people and businesses sometimes choose to make decisions based on convenience. For some, convenience comes in the form of quick grants of authority to another for one-off business-related tasks. When authorization to act on another’s behalf is given, the one who receives the authority is called […]
Civil Litigation: Staying ready: An alternative approach to taking depositions
An attorney’s or client’s quick perusal of online practitioners’ guides will find that most of those who opine on best practices for depositions encourage a conversational approach to probe for information. This approach is half correct. I offer an alternative. A deposition is an exhibition for trial. The score may not count in any classical […]
Civil Litigation: From law school to the real world: The ethics of client management
All lawyers are bound by the ethical rules of the jurisdiction in which they practice and practicing ethically is an integral part of what it means to be a good attorney. One thing I learned about ethics after law school is that ethics in practice can be a bit different than ethics in the classroom. […]
Civil Litigation: The Ever-So-Handy Handbook
By law, employers are required to provide employees with an ever-increasing amount of information, policies, notices, and acknowledgments throughout their employment. In New York these include but are not limited to a sexual harassment prevention policy, pay notices, airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans, leave eligibility notices, and various other policies. In some instances, the[...]
Civil Litigation: Privileged communications between an attorney and the client’s agent
Many people understand their communications with their lawyers concerning legal matters are protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege. However, they may not be aware that the privilege also protects communications by one serving as an agent of either the attorney or the client. The attorney-client privilege is the oldest of the common-law evidentiary privileges […]
Civil Litigation: Spoiler alert — The ins and outs of spoliation
In most commercial litigation in the New York courts, the parties and their lawyers spend much effort and expense in discovery. “Discovery” is the pretrial process of obtaining evidence from the opposing party that is or may be relevant to the parties’ claims and defenses. Like most aspects of litigation, discovery is an adversarial process […]
Civil Litigation: Fourth Dept. weighs in on preserving investors’ interests against defense of tax estoppel
And I am, whatever you say I am. If I wasn’t, then why would I say I am? These words of one of the great American lyricists echoed the cold reality that confronted many investors who reasonably relied upon their corporate venture’s representations in tax documents before the investors’ relations with the corporate management of […]
Civil Litigation: Are Zoom depositions making us all a little crazy?
The “new normal” of practicing law remotely has its challenges. Zoom depositions are one of them. Preparation is tedious. Computer screens notoriously freeze mid-sentence. And how about those lawyers who love using the limitations of virtual testimony to feed helpful hints to their witnesses? As annoying as they can be, Zoom depositions are likely here […]
Case Digests
- Fourth Department – Bill of particulars: Harris v. Rome Memorial Hospital, et al.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Accusations against co-judge: Opinion 22-148
- Fourth Department – Medicaid: Washington Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Home v. NYS Dept. of Health
- Fourth Department – Criminal possession of a firearm: People v. Wilson
- Fourth Department – Promoting prostitution: People v. Watts
- Second Circuit – Class certification: Arkansas Teachers Retirement System V. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
- Fourth Department – Show-up identification: People v. Waggoner
- Fourth Department – Association: Victory Village Tenants Assoc. v. Evergreen Communities, et al.
- Second Circuit – In personam jurisdiction: Kaplan v. Bank Saderat PLC
- Fourth Department – Labor Law: Verdugo v. Fox Building Group
- Fourth Department – Out-of-possession landlord: Truax v. M.D. Meyer’s Properties
- Fourth Department – Discovery: Sylvester v. Sanders
Law News
- Espinosa named general counsel at Greenlight Networks
- Barclay Damon hires attorney Matt Smith
- Rochester man sues Geneseo police, alleging false arrest, assault
- The Daily Record’s Power List for Intellectual Property 2023
- NY ethics panel says judges can join NRA
- Harter Secrest & Emery LLP names partner-in-charge of Buffalo office
- Banned professor sues SUNY Fredonia leaders
- Hochul signs law requiring unemployment insurance information from employers