NYLJ Eastern District Roundup

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Gary R. Brown dismissed a complaint against United States Bankruptcy Court Chief Judge Alan S. Trust and others based on judicial immunity. Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon denied a motion for sanctions and adverse inferences. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks granted a motion to disqualify counsel. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Eric R. Komitee denied a preliminary injunction to a defamation plaintiff, Judge Gary R. Brown denied a prisoner’s pro se petition to have his sentence vacated under 28 U.S.C. §2255 and Judge Frederic Block denied a motion by defendants to access frozen funds in an action brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Rachel P. Kovner dismissed a First Amendment challenge to a school district’s policy of restricting comment at school board meetings to local residents. Judge Eric N. Vitaliano granted defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims under 42 U.S.C. §1983 concerning the Mitchell-Lama housing program. Judge Gary R. Brown found that plaintiffs challenging New York state gun control legislation had not made a sufficient showing of irreparable injury to support preliminary injunctive relief. Read More

In this edition of their Eastern District Roundup, Harvey M. Stone and Richard H. Dolan report o… Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Joanna Seybert saw no basis to grant bail pending sentence, despite defendant’s plea to a lesser charge of the indictment. Judge Brian M. Cogan held that requiring certain out-of-state travelers to fill out a New York state COVID-19 health form on entering the state does not violate the Supremacy Clause. Judge Cogan also declined to grant a TRO directing the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti to adjudicate Form I-130 petitions under a fast-approaching deadline set by plaintiffs. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge William F. Kuntz II set forth the reasons for a two-year sentence of incarceration in a tax case. Chief Judge Margo K. Brodie granted plaintiffs’ motion to serve a preliminary injunction on a Taiwan-based company by email. And Judge Joanna Seybert and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decided related cases concerning defendant’s motion to transfer a matter to a multidistrict litigation. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Eric R. Komitee, denying a motion to suppress statements made to foreign officials in Bulgaria, found that there was no “joint venture” between U.S. and Bulgarian agents so as to require Miranda warnings. Judge Sterling Johnson Jr., held that there was no subject matter jurisdiction over claims against Interpol. And Judge Brian M. Cogan sanctioned plaintiffs’ counsel, in a Fair Labor Standards Act case, for improper client solicitation. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Brian M. Cogan found that defendant’s hostile remarks on Yelp about plaintiffs’ medical practice did not amount to actionable defamation. Judge Frederic Block dealt with motions to dismiss securities fraud claims against a drug company and its executives relating to an off-label promotion scheme. And Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall ordered an attorney representing the debtor “in connection with” a bankruptcy case to disgorge part of his fee for failure to file the requisite statements of compensation. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto, while ordering defendant to disgorge over $5 million in a civil securities fraud case, deducted from the sum sought by the SEC the amounts paid by defendant to co-conspirators. Judge Brian M. Cogan denied plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment in a RICO case and dismissed all claims where the 186-page complaint failed to allege facts showing a RICO enterprise. And Judge LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall dealt with claims under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Dora L. Irizarry declined to dismiss labor law claims against a school offering career services training. Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto denied a second motion by defendant Martin Shkreli for compassionate release from prison. And Judge Joan M. Azrack, affirming bankruptcy court orders, denied relief to the debtor and imposed a filing injunction in light of her vexatious pleadings. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Eric Komitee ordered defendant, charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government, to be detained pending trial. Judge Ann M. Donnelly held that participants in a particular employee benefit plan had no Article III standing to challenge the management of the plan where they could point to no “injury in fact.” And Judge Komitee dismissed, with certain exceptions, Section 1983 claims brought by landlords and landlord advocacy groups challenging the 2019 amendments to New York state’s rentstabilization laws. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Joan M. Azrack denied defendant’s motion, based on the current pandemic, to postpone a criminal jury trial set for this month. Judge Brian M. Cogan, granting partial summary judgment to the government in a civil tax penalty collection action, found that defendants had willfully parked funds at a Swiss bank and hid the existence of those accounts from the IRS. And Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis dismissed a surgeon’s age discrimination claims on summary judgment. Read More

This column reports on several significant representative decisions handed down recently in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto denied a motion for compassionate release by Martin Shkreli, a 37-year-old convicted of securities fraud who is now serving his sentence at FCI Allenwood Low. Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis denied a motion for a directed verdict by defendant Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority after its loss at trial in a Section 1983 case involving a police officer’s mistreatment of a bicyclist. And Judge I. Leo Glasser denied a suppression motion where the evidence in question fit the pedigree exception to Miranda. Read More