Patterson Belknap’s Commercial Division Blog covers developments related to practice and case law in the Commercial Division of the New York State Supreme Court. The Commercial Division was formed in 1993 to enhance the quality of judicial adjudication and to improve efficiency in the case management of commercial disputes that are litigated in New York State courts. Since then, the Division has become a leading venue for judicial resolution of high-stakes and every-day commercial disputes. This Blog reviews key developments in the Commercial Division, including important decisions handed down by the Commercial Division, appellate court decisions reviewing Commercial Division decisions, and changes and proposed changes to Commercial Division rules and practices. Our aim is to provide you with thoughtful and succinct analysis of these issues. The Blog is written by experienced commercial litigators who have substantial practices in the Commercial Division.
by Muhammad U. Faridi on April 13, 2021
In Hawk Mountain LLC v. RAM Capital Group LLC, the First Department held that, under New York General Obligations Law (“G.O.L.”) § 17-101, an acknowledgment of a debt tolled the limitations period for an action to recover a debt owed on a promissory note, even though the acknowledgment did not specifically mention the note at issue or the precise amount due on the note. This decision clarifies that “there is no requirement that an acknowledgement of a debt pursuant to [G.O.L.] § 17–101 leave no room for doubt as to the nature and quantum of the debt to be acknowledged.”
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by Jacqueline Lash Brandon and Muhammad U. Faridi on March 29, 2021
In a recent decision in SL Globetrotter L.P., Global Blue Group Holding AG v. Suvretta Capital Management, LLC, Toms Capital Investment Management LP, Justice Peter Sherwood declined to dismiss plaintiffs’ breach of contract claims, which arose out of a dispute over investment, through a special purpose acquisition vehicle (“SPAC”), in a new public company.[1] The opinion sheds light on the interpretation of conditions precedent in a contract, particularly when they deal with the consistency of relevant financial information.
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by Christopher Wilds and Muhammad U. Faridi on March 18, 2021
In Morse v. LoveLive TV US, Inc., a recent decision by Justice Robert R. Reed of the New York County Commercial Division, the Court denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss, holding that where it is impossible or futile to obtain a judgment against a defunct corporation that has defaulted on debts by “informal dissolution,” creditors can maintain an action directly against the directors of that company.
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by Megha Hoon and Muhammad U. Faridi on March 2, 2021
On February 11, 2021, the New York State Unified Court System issued Virtual Bench Trial Protocols and Procedures (“Protocols and Procedures”) in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While “Virtual Bench Trials are, in all respects, identical to In-Person Courtroom Bench Trials[,]….certain modifications are necessary regarding the presentation of testimonial, documentary, and physical evidence in order to safeguard accuracy and ensure reliability.”
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on March 1, 2021
Hon. Margaret Anne Pui Yee Chan and Hon. Melissa A. Crane have been assigned to the Commercial Division of Supreme Court, New York County.
Judge Chan’s assignment to the Commercial Division follows an eight-year stint as an Acting Supreme Court Justice in the Civil Term for New York County, beginning in 2013. Prior to her designation to the Supreme Court, Judge Chan had served as a Civil Court Judge in New York County, where she began her judicial career in 2007.
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by Thomas P. Kurland and Dakotah M. Burns on February 17, 2021
Last summer, we wrote about two principles of New York law that could provide a path to insurance coverage for businesses hit hard by the economic losses resulting from Governor Cuomo’s COVID-19-related shutdown orders. Although we noted that businesses seeking such coverage would likely face an uphill battle, we proposed that recovery under certain business interruption policies might be available in New York because: 1) an insurable loss of use occurred even without physical damage to the covered property; and/or 2) the policy’s “civil authority” clause extended to closures resulting from Governor Cuomo’s orders.
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by Julia M. MacAllister on February 17, 2021
A CLE was recently presented by the Columbian Lawyers Association of the First Department on February 3, 2021 to offer guidance on the latest rule changes affecting the New York State Courts and the Commercial Division in particular. At that program, Commercial Division Blog editor Stephen P. Younger of Patterson Belknap, along with Rosanne E. Felicello, Michael James Maloney, and Kristie Blase of Felicello Law P.C., gave guidance to judges and litigators who focus on commercial disputes, as well as many who practice in other court parts.
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by Alvin Li and Muhammad U. Faridi on February 9, 2021
In Farro v. Schochet, the Second Department recently held that §1002 of the NY LLC Law restricted a dissenting member’s remedy to an appraisal for the fair value of his interest in the business after a freeze-out merger. Thus, the Court reduced the legal remedies for a minority LLC member that lacked protections in the operating agreement against the merger.
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by Gizele Rubeiz and Jacqueline L. Bonneau on February 3, 2021
Administrative Order 270/2020—which adopts certain Commercial Division Rules into the Uniform Civil Rules for the Supreme Court in New York—went into effect on February 1, 2021. In signing this order, Chief Judge Marks described the Commercial Division as “an efficient, sophisticated, up-to-date court, dealing with challenging commercial cases” that “has had as its primary goal the cost-effective, predictable and fair adjudication of complex commercial cases[.]” Further, he acknowledged the Commercial Division’s role in dealing with the “unique problems of commercial practice,” and praised its “function[] as an incubator, becoming a recognized leader in court system innovation, and demonstrating an unparalleled creativity and flexibility in development of rules and practices[.]”
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by Julia M. MacAllister and Muhammad U. Faridi on January 27, 2021
Good news for lawyers preparing for trial in New York’s Commercial Division—you can finally delete that old copy of WordPerfect. An upcoming amendment to the rule governing pre-trial memoranda, exhibits, and requests to charge makes a few changes that trial-ready attorneys should note.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on December 23, 2020
Over the past several months, many disputes have arisen over whether the COVID-19 pandemic or government responses to it provide, depending on the jurisdiction, an impossibility or impracticability defense for nonperformance under a contract. Now, we are beginning to see a flood of decisions addressing that defense.
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by Ian C. Kerr on December 22, 2020
As New York commercial practitioners will recall, the U.S. Supreme Court in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver Cty. Emps. Ret. Fund held that state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over class actions alleging violations of only the Securities Act of 1933 (the “1933 Act”) and, further, that defendants in such suits filed in state court cannot remove those actions to federal court to avoid state-court jurisdiction. Not surprisingly, this development has led to an increase in the filing of securities claims in state courts.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on December 22, 2020
In Black Diamond Aviation Group LLC v. Spirit Avionics, Ltd., the Commercial Division held that it would be inappropriate for a New York court to exercise personal jurisdiction over an aircraft maintenance and refurbishing company that had no presence or ties to New York other than turning over an aircraft to be serviced to the care of a New York airport at the plaintiff’s request.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on December 17, 2020
In Sutton 58 Associates LLC v. Pilevsky, the New York Court of Appeals recently held in a 4-3 split decision that, under certain circumstances, bankruptcy law does not preempt a lender’s state law claims against third-party non-debtors for tortious interference with a contract between the lender and the debtor. This decision preserves a state forum for lenders asserting claims that: 1) involved “wrongful conduct by non-debtor defendants that occurred prior to the bankruptcy proceeding,” and 2) are “grounded in independent contractual obligations."
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by Alvin Li and Muhammad U. Faridi on December 1, 2020
Recently, Justice Andrew Borrok of the Commercial Division denied a summary judgment motion in a dispute involving what is colloquially referred to as a “shotgun” or a “buy-sell” clause in agreements governing joint ventures and partnerships. See Seokoh, Inc. v. Lard-PT, LLC, Index No. 650983/2020, 69 Misc. 3d 1207(A) (Sup. Ct., NY Cty. Oct. 20, 2020).
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on November 30, 2020
In Fava v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Inc., Justice Barry R. Ostrager of the New York County Commercial Division denied Petitioner Frank Fava’s (“Fava”) motion to vacate an arbitration award issued by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), and granted Respondent Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Inc’s (“Morgan Stanley”) request to confirm the award. The opinion addresses whether a party who objects to an arbitration panel’s jurisdiction but participates in arbitration may vacate an arbitral award on the ground that the arbitrators exceeded the scope of their authority.
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by Michael Farinacci and Muhammad U. Faridi on November 10, 2020
Judge Leslie Stein and Judge Eugene Fahey were confirmed together and will retire together. The two judges have been part of a group of judges who have cast the deciding votes in many of the Court’s cases.
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by Ian C. Kerr and Muhammad U. Faridi on October 28, 2020
New York Business Corporation Law § 1104-a empowers a holder of 20% or more of a closely held corporation’s stock to petition for that corporation’s dissolution on the grounds that, inter alia, the controlling shareholders have committed “illegal, fraudulent or oppressive actions toward the complaining shareholders.”
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on October 22, 2020
On Monday, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore issued a statement on the latest developments affecting jury trials in New York City.
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by Jacqueline Lash Brandon and Muhammad U. Faridi on October 19, 2020
In a recent order, Justice Andrea Masley assigned a special discovery master to supervise discovery in Hindlin v. Prescriptions Songs LLC, et al., a “complex commercial action” with a “multitude of discovery issues[.]” The decision underscores the constraints placed on the Commercial Division in light of the ongoing pandemic and cuts to the budget of the state’s judiciary.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on October 7, 2020
On Monday, just days after Justice Peter Sherwood and Justice Marcy Friedman announced their upcoming retirements from the bench, the Chief Administrative Judge announced the news that Justice Robert Reed—currently a New York Supreme Court Justice—will start receiving Commercial Division cases in the next few weeks.
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by Michael Farinacci and Muhammad U. Faridi on October 5, 2020
On September 23, 2020, Chief Administrative Judge Marks amended Commercial Division Rule 11-g and the Division’s Standard Form Confidentiality Order (“SFO”) to allow parties to designate certain documents as highly confidential for attorney’s eyes only (“AEO”). Such a designation already exists in federal court, and it will be useful in the Commercial Division in matters involving particularly confidential issues such as the disclosure of confidential business information between competitors and disclosure of trade secrets.
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by Michael Farinacci and Muhammad U. Faridi on October 2, 2020
On September 29, 2020, Chief Administrative Judge Marks amended Commercial Division Rule 6 to increase the font size of footnotes in briefs and affidavits from 10-point to 12-point. Additionally, it requires the use of a proportionally spaced serif typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Baskerville, New Century Schoolbook) in all papers filed with the Court. With Commercial Division Rule 17 establishing a word limit rather than a page limit, increasing the font size of footnotes will have no impact on the length of briefs. Instead, a larger font size coupled with a proportionally spaced serif typeface will enhance readability and improve comprehension of long passages of text.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on September 24, 2020
A common question in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak has been whether the pandemic or governmental responses to the pandemic provide, depending on the jurisdiction, an impossibility or impracticability defense for nonperformance under a contract.
The answer to that question will, of course, turn on the facts underlying the nonperformance, as well as the law of the jurisdiction. Two recent decisions from New York are instructive on the contours of the defense of impossibility — the relevant defense under New York law.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi and Jacqueline L. Bonneau on September 21, 2020
As the country entered into an extended period of lockdowns this spring, there was widespread concern that the anticipated severe economic impact of the pandemic would lead to a wave of defaults and foreclosures in the commercial real estate market.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on September 9, 2020
In GMX Technologies, LLC v. Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P., Justice Andrea Masley of the New York County Commercial Division denied Defendants Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. (“Pegasus”) and The Leiber Group Inc.’s (“Leiber”) (collectively, “Defendants”) motion to dismiss a claim for declaratory judgment seeking to bar Leiber from exercising a put option in connection with its membership interest in Plaintiff GMX Technologies, LLC (“GMX”). The opinion addressed whether a Delaware LLC member may exercise a put option when doing so would force the LLC into insolvency.
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by Alvin Li and Muhammad U. Faridi on September 3, 2020
Recently, the Commercial Division rendered a split decision on a petition to stay an arbitration in Gol v. TNJ Holdings, Inc., Index No. 652304/2020, Doc. No. 75 (Sup. Ct., NY Cnty. Aug. 13, 2020). Based on an analysis of the relevant shareholder agreements and the positions taken by the parties in another litigation, Justice Joel M. Cohen denied the petition to stay arbitration as to the claims brought by the TNJ respondents, but granted the petition to stay arbitration as to the claims brought by the Kahlon respondents—the owners of TNJ.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi and Alvin Li on August 19, 2020
The New York County Commercial Division saw a substantial increase in the number of new cases filed (i.e.,a total of 102 new cases) during the first four-week span after the New York courts re-opened for non-essential matters on May 25, 2020—as compared to both February 2020 (77 new cases), the last full month of filings prior to the crisis, and a comparable period between May 27 and June 23, 2019 (87 new cases).
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by Michael Farinacci on August 12, 2020
In mid-June, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore appointed the Commission to Reimagine the Future of New York’s Courts, and charged it with examining technological, regulatory, and other long-term innovations for New York Courts. Additionally, in the short-term, it was to provide recommendations for resuming in-person court operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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by A. Robert Quirk and Muhammad U. Faridi on August 11, 2020
When the funds invested by one victim of a Ponzi scheme are used to pay the scheme’s debts to an earlier investor, can the later investor recover those funds from the earlier investor through an unjust enrichment claim? Yes, if there is a sufficient connection between the parties, according to Commercial Division Justice Andrea Masley’s recent decision in JHAC LLC v. Advance Entertainment LLC. In JHAC, Justice Masley allowed unjust enrichment claims by one Ponzi scheme victim against other victims to proceed by holding that reliance and inducement are not elements of unjust enrichment in New York. All that is required to sustain the claim is a “connection” between the victims, and Justice Masley held that JHAC adequately pled such a connection.
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by Jacqueline Lash Brandon and Muhammad U. Faridi on August 6, 2020
In a recent decision in South College Street, LLC v. Ares Capital Corporation, Justice Schechter of the New York State Supreme Court, Commercial Division, dismissed petitioner’s New York Debtor and Creditor Law claims, which were premised on alter ego liability. The opinion addressed the types of allegations a plaintiff must make in order to successfully plead a veil-piercing claim.
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by Michael Farinacci and Muhammad U. Faridi on July 14, 2020
On July 13, 2020, Governor Cuomo appointed four Supreme Court Justices to fill vacancies on the Appellate Division, First Department. The Governor elevated Justices Saliann Scarpulla, Manuel Jacobo Mendez Olivero, Martin Shulman and Tanya R. Kennedy, who represent the diversity of New York’s judicial system.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on July 8, 2020
The reverberations from the collapse of Bernie Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme continue to be felt in Manhattan’s Commercial Division. On May 20, 2020, Judge Joel M. Cohen issued a decision in Matter of FGLS Equity LLC, No. 157170/2019, 2020 WL 2557877, 2020 NY Slip Op 31476(U) (Sup. Ct., N.Y. Ctny., May 20, 2020), approving the liquidation plan of FGLS Equity LLC, which was founded by accountant Steven Mendelow as a feeder fund to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities (BLMIS). Mendelow, who passed away in 2016, was allegedly instrumental in funneling investors to the scheme. The decision is notable, not least because it may be the first New York case in which a court has been asked to pass judgment on an LLC plan of liquidation proposed by a liquidator appointed by the LLC’s members pursuant to its operating agreement.
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by Thomas P. Kurland and Dakotah M. Burns on July 6, 2020
In the wake of punishing economic losses caused by Covid-19-related shutdown orders, business owners across New York have turned to their insurers for temporary relief in the form of business interruption coverage. If recent reports are any indication, however, New York businesses will face an uphill battle.
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by Michael Farinacci on June 25, 2020
On June 23, 2020, Chief Administrative Judge Marks approved the repeal of Rule 23 of the Commercial Division Rules. Rule 23 (known as the “60-Day Rule”) required movant’s counsel to notify the court and other parties whenever a motion had not been decided within 60 days of its submission or oral argument.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on June 22, 2020
Although New York City’s state court judges are now back in their chambers, in-person hearings have not yet commenced.
Administrative Judge Deborah A. Kaplan reported that her division has had success using “video-linked ‘virtual’ hearings for a wide range of matters.” In-person hearings will still be available when truly necessary. For example, this option may be available to self-represented litigants without access to the requisite technology.
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by Michael Farinacci on June 17, 2020
On June 15, 2020, Chief Judge DiFiore announced that the five upstate regions—Finger Lakes, Central New York, Mohawk Valley, Southern Tier, and North Country—that began Phase III reopening last Friday, June 12, will expand the number of in-person functions in their courthouses beginning June 17. Accordingly, these regions will now handle in-person matters including a limited number of bench trials in civil matters.
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by Michael Farinacci on June 17, 2020
On June 16, 2020, Chief Administrative Judge Marks approved an amendment to Rule 1 to the Commercial Division Rules. The amendment is designed to allow counsel to request the court’s permission to appear though videoconferencing and other similar technology.
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by Alvin Li and Muhammad U. Faridi on June 15, 2020
A recent Commercial Division decision provides an example of a court rejecting “unrealistic and optimistic” business projections in determining the valuation of a petitioner’s shares in a corporation. In Magarik v. Kraus USA, Inc., Index No. 606128/2015, Doc. No. 252 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Cnty. Apr. 28, 2020), Justice DeStefano refused to credit the valuation made by the petitioner’s expert, which depended heavily on a set of projections that the corporation at issue made in the process of obtaining a loan.
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on June 12, 2020
In the 2001 film Zoolander, male model Derek Zoolander mused, while giving the “eugoogly” at the funeral for three deceased model friends, that a “model’s life is a precious, precious commodity.”
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by Muhammad U. Faridi on June 10, 2020
In Yakuel v. Gluck, Justice Joel M. Cohen of the New York County Commercial Division denied Petitioners’ application to confirm an appraisal award and denied Respondent Andrew Gluck’s (“Gluck”) cross-petition to vacate the same award in connection with the appraisal of Gluck’s ownership interest in Agency Within LLC (“Agency Within”), a digital marketing company. The opinion addressed the legal standard for confirming or vacating an appraisal award pursuant to CPLR § 7601, as well as a party’s right to present evidence to an appraiser over the objection of a counterparty.
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