A Fool For A Client
The Respondent, Vargas Leon Corporation, failed to appear at the housing court hearing on the scheduled date. As a result, a default judgment was entered against it that allowed the Landlord-Petitioner to terminate its license and oust it from the building. The Respondent moved the Court to be restored, arguing that it was not properly […]
A Big Win In Small Claims Court
Simpson v. Islip Terrace Fire District is the rare Small Claims case that merits an entry in our Decisions of Interest. Usually, Small Claims Court is a “People’s Court” where the rules of evidence and civil procedure are relaxed. Litigants casually tell their stories, and the Judge often asks questions. Often, neither side is represented […]
Be Courteous
It is an age-old adage that “records are made to be broken”. Unfortunately, so, too, are contracts. Since the parties who entered into the contract have a vested interest in seeing it fulfilled rather than litigating the breaches, many agreements require the non-breaching party to give written notice of the breach with an opportunity to […]
Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Curtain
It is a bedrock principle of law that a corporation and the person who owns/operates it are not one and the same. This is true even for people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, who are forever and inexorably tied to the companies they co-founded. This legal concept that protects the owner of […]
The American Rule
Many places in the world use the “English Rule”, where the prevailing party in a law suit is entitled to recover legal fees. America generally prefers the (aptly named) “American Rule”, wherein each party is responsible for his/her own legal fees unless there is a fee shifting statute or contract provision. We represented the Plaintiff […]
Lien On Me
Shilian v. All Sons Electric is the subject of our second Newsletter. Our client, an electrical contractor, retained us after it was served with legal papers by homeowners challenging the validity of its mechanic’s lien. We argued that the Judge had the inherent equitable power to back date the lien extension so that it was […]
More On Shifting The Burden
After our clients sold their home, they were sued by the (former) brokers. The brokers alleged that they were owed a commission since they introduced the buyer to the seller during the exclusive period of time covered in the broker’s agreement. After discovery was complete, we moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, arguing that […]
Shifting The Burden
After our clients’ house sustained significant damage from a burst pipe, they retained a public adjuster to negotiate the best possible settlement with their insurance company. Since the homeowners had already received an offer of $230,000 from the carrier, our clients agreed to pay the public adjuster 10% of any amount recovered above $230,000. The […]
If I Could Turn Back Time
Our client obtained a money judgment of about $75,000 in 2002 against its tenants. Six years later, the tenants sought to set aside the judgment by arguing that (i) they hadn’t been properly served with the summons & complaint and (ii) didn’t owe the money in any event. The trial court vacated the judgment and […]
Winning Isn’t Everything
On several occasions, we’ve won even though we may have technically lost. For example, in Jamaica Bay Riding Academy v Azulay, Civil Court, Kings County, the stable sued our client, seeking approximately $35,000 for four years of unpaid stable charges. Our defense: Our client was [only] liable for the missing the first month’s payment, after […]
