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Legal Bytes: The 50th anniversary of the Fourth Department’s miniskirt debate
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of several culturally significant events — Woodstock, Stonewall Riots, Beatles’ break-up and Neil Armstrong’s small step, just to name a few. With little ballyhoo, Oct. 30, 2019 will also be the golden jubilee for the Fourth Department’s decision of Peck v. Stone.[1] While the case certainly doesn’t rank the same […]
Legal Bytes: Back to school: How New York schools are “arming” themselves this fall
When two troubled students with military-style firearms shot 11 classmates, a teacher and themselves at Colorado’s Columbine High School two decades ago, it completely shocked the nation. Since then, statistics from the federal government, academic and advocacy groups show these mass shooting events have recurred with alarming and growing frequency. Since the end of July […]
Legal Bytes: Legal recourse for those who suffer allergic reactions at restaurants
It should no longer come as a surprise that food allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness, with over 32 million Americans diagnosed with a food allergy in the United States. As one of the 32 million people who suffer from a food allergy, I can proudly say that our society’s awareness and […]
Legal Bytes: Amendable: protecting minority members’ interest in limited liability companies
Section 417 of the New York Limited Liability Company Law (NY LLCL) requires that the members of a limited liability company (LLC) adopt a written Operating Agreement establishing — among other things — the rights, responsibilities and limitations of the members. The adoption of an Operating Agreement is a perfunctory exercise to many LLC members […]
Legal Bytes: The flight from New York—how to do it
We often hear about New Yorkers fleeing to non-tax states such as Florida, which has no income or estate tax. Wealthy New Yorkers (and not so wealthy) are concerned that they will be subject to a New York estate tax to the extent that their combined estates (with their spouse) exceed the current New York […]
Legal Bytes: Commercial landlords post-Ferrara: Cause for concern?
At first glance, the holding of a recent New York Court of Appeals case may have sent commercial landlords and lenders into a panic. Ferrara v. Peaches Café, LLC, 32 N.Y.3d 348 (2018), involved the enforcement of a mechanic’s lien against a commercial landlord for work performed at the tenant’s request. By way of background, […]
Legal Bytes: The end of The Turtles’ travels: music modernization
Leatherback turtles spend their lives in the ocean and migrate thousands of miles to lay their eggs, returning to their place of birth. Like their namesake, the peripatetic Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (a/k/a “Flo and Eddie”), former front men for the 1960s musical group The Turtles, migrated thousands of miles to coastal states, commencing […]
Legal Bytes: Hemp, CBD and cannabis — How federal laws and New York’s laws will play out for industry participants
On Dec. 20, 2018, the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Farm Bill) was signed into law. The law removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, meaning it is now legal throughout the United States — subject to state law — to grow, process and sell hemp and hemp products. Stepping back for a minute, it’s […]
Legal Bytes: Miscellaneous changes to estate income taxes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
As Benjamin Franklin once famously wrote, “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Arguably, nowhere has this saying rang truer than in the context of taxes imposed in connection with an individual’s death. State and federal estate taxes may be the most notorious example of this, to the extent that they […]
Legal Bytes: Yada, yada yada: 2018 Fair Housing update
Remember the old “Seinfeld” episode when Kramer went on a smoking binge for 72 hours and even set up a smoking lounge for “pipe night” in his apartment? You know, the one where Jerry told Kramer that the smoking was starting to negatively impact his appearance, so Kramer decided he wanted to sue the tobacco […]
Legal Bytes: Many online retailers will be SALTy about a new Supreme Court decision
State and local taxes (SALT) are getting a little shake-up thanks to a new U.S. Supreme Court decision that, according to the headlines, is going to change the landscape of online sales. Take those headlines with a grain of SALT. On June 21, the Supreme Court, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, overruled National Bellas Hess […]
Legal Bytes: The Murphy decision and the ramifications of sports gambling legalization
My father and I went on a trip last summer to tour the national parks on the way from Colorado to San Francisco. In between our travels from the unparalleled beauty of Zion National Park to the striking sequoia trees in California, we stopped in the State of Nevada. Our first stop was at a […]
Case Digests
- Fourth Department – Breach of contract: Hausrath Landscape Maintenance Inc. v. Caravan Facilities Management LLC
- Second Circuit – New York Child Victim’s Act: Kane v. Mount Pleasant CSD; Coe v. Eastport Union Free School
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Appointing law clerk: Opinion 22-149
- 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
Law News
- Greenlight Networks selects Buffalo-based attorney as general counsel
- 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
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