On November 18, 2020, at 6:00 PM, Schlam Stone & Dolan LLP partner John Lundin will be one of the presenters at a CLE for the New York City Bar entitled Hyperlinking and Other Recent Commercial Division Developments.
On October 6, 2020, Justice Ostrager of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Castleton Commodities Merchant Trading, L.P. v. Soleil Chartered Bank, 2020 NY Slip Op. 33290(U), holding that a letter of credit was not an instrument for the payment of money only for purposes of CPLR 3213 . . .
On September 30, 2020, the Second Department issued a decision in Loughlin v. Meghji, 2020 NY Slip Op. 05196, addressing whether a provision in a contract granting a prevailing party in litigation double its attorneys’ fees was valid. In overturning the trial court’s ruling that such a provision was an unenforceable penalty, the Court confirmed longstanding doctrine that a contract entered into by parties with similar bargaining power should be enforced.
On September 30, 2020, Justice Friedman of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Express Trade Capital, Inc. v. Horowitz, 2020 NY Slip Op. 33223(U), holding that the COVID-19 pandemic was not an excuse for failing to respond to a motion . . .
On October 14, 2020, the Second Department issued a decision in Insiders Success Ventures, LLC v. Onewest Bank, FSB, 2020 NY Slip Op. 05728, holding that the Supreme Court should not have vacated a default judgment when a loan servicer’s excuse was “confusion regarding the multiple cases filed in multiple counties” . . .
On October 13, 2020, Justice Vito M. DeStefano of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Nassau County, issued a decision in Stanco and Toomey v. Rallye Motors Holding, LLC, Index No. 612155/2017, dismissing almost all of the counterclaims asserted by the defendant, a holding company for several automobile dealerships (“Rallye”) against its minority members and former senior executives Joseph Stanco and Nicholas Toomey, who are suing the company for violations of their employment agreements as well as the company’s operating agreement. The counterclaims were dismissed on various legal grounds . . .
On October 9, 2020, the Fourth Department issued a decision in Harvard Steel Sales, LLC v. Bain, 2020 NY Slip Op. 05635, holding venue in a fraud case was not proper in Eire County when no party resided in Erie County and the alleged fraudulent statements were not made in Erie County . . .
On October 1, 2020, Justice Borrok of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Karen’s Shipping, LLC v. West Side Foods, Inc., 2020 NY Slip Op. 33268(U), holding that the statute of frauds does not bar quantum meruit claims . . .
On October 7, 2020, the Second Department issued a decision in HSBC Bank USA, N.A. v. Macaulay, 2020 NY Slip Op. 05493, holding that partial payments renewed the statute of limitations . . .
On October 1, 2020, the First Department issued a decision in Pizzarotti, LLC v. FPG Maiden Lane LLC, 2020 NY Slip Op. 05305, holding that a court cannot vacate, modify or discharge a Lien Law § 19 lien where there is no defect on the face of the lien . . .