On June 11, 2020, the First Department issued a decision in Matter of Wimbledon Fund, SPC (Class TT) v. Weston Capital Partners Master Fund II, Ltd., 2020 NY Slip Op. 03279, holding the funding litigation does not violate the champerty statute . . .
On June 4, 2020, Justice Borrok of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in LSG 105 W. 28th LLC v. Sinclair, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31764(U), holding that defendants could not be liable for prima facie tort when they were motivated by more than disinterested malevolence . . .
On April 4, 2020, Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in D. Karnofsky, Inc. v. Rozof, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31748(U), dismissing derivative claims because of the plaintiff’s failure to give the board adequate time to respond to the plaintiff’s demand . . .
On June 23, 2020, the Court of Appeals accepted two pairs of certified questions–one from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and one from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit–regarding New York’s usury laws . . .
On June 4, 2020, Justice Cohen of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Rutigliano v. Locantro, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31768(U), holding that derivative claims based on the misconduct of corporate officers were barred by the in pari delicto doctrine . . .
On May 15, 2020, Justice Sherwood of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Fisher v. Stone, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31732(U), holding that the fact that the plaintiff, rather than the defendant (as required by CPLR 2104), filed a stipulation of settlement did not render the settlement ineffective . . .
On April 22, 2020, Justice Knipel of the Kings County Commercial Division issued a decision in Safir v Charm City House, LLC, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31619(U), holding that tax returns were not discoverable without a strong showing that the information in them was indispensable to a party’s case . . .
On June 2, 2020, Justice Borrok of the New York Commercial Division issued a decision in Matter of Netshoes Sec. Litig. v. XXX, 2020 NY Slip Op. 20123, holding that Securities Act Section 11 and 12 claims are not subject to heightened CPLR 3016 pleading standards . . .
A recent Commercial Division ruling analyzed whether an at-will employee can raise the affirmative defense of economic duress when his or her employer threatens to terminate the employee for refusal to sign a contract . . .
On May 25, 2020, Justice Friedman of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision in Part 60 Put-Back Litigation, 2020 NY Slip Op. 31693(U), holding that a trustee can obtain attorneys’ fees from a seller in an RMBS put-back action based on representation and warranty breaches, but not deciding whether fees would be available for a failure to notify claim . . .