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EDNY Blog

Current Developments in the US District Court for the
Eastern District of New York
Posted: April 17, 2014

Judge Weinstein Grants Summary Judgment To Contract Creditor Piercing The Corporate Veil

In an April 4, 2014 judgment and order in Jiaxing Globillion Import and Export Co. v. Argington, Inc., 11 CV 6291 (JBW) (E.D.N.Y. Apr. 4, 2014), Judge Jack B. Weinstein granted summary judgment for plaintiff and pierced the corporate veil to hold one of the corporate defendant’s two shareholders liable for the company’s breach of contract. Plaintiff Jiaxing Globallion Import and...

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Posted in EDNY, Summary Judgment, Veil-piercing
Posted: April 16, 2014

Order Allowing Defendant’s Proffer To Be Disclosed To His Co-Defendants Not Appealable

On April 14, 2014, the Second Circuit issued a decision in United States v. Doe, Docket No. 14-572, dismissing an appeal from “an oral order of the” EDNY “granting the government’s motion for a protective order that would allow proffer statements made by” defendant Doe “to be disclosed to his codefendants” because the order was not appealable. The Second Circuit determined that...

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Posted in EDNY, Appeals
Posted: April 4, 2014

Second Circuit Clarifies Rules for Time to Appeal Non-Final Orders

On April 2, 2014, the Second Circuit issued a decision in United States ex rel. Maurice Keshner v. Nursing Personnel Home Care, Docket Nos. 13-1688-cv (Lead), 14-251-cv (Con), addressing the question of when the time to appeal non-final fee awards begins to run. In Keshner, the Second Circuit addressed a motion to dismiss an appeal from an order issued by...

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Posted in EDNY, Appeals, Attorney Fees
Posted: April 3, 2014

Homeowners’ Fraud Claims Based On Lender’s Questionable Practices Dismissed

In Knox v. Countrywide Bank, 13 CV 3789 (JFB)(WDW) (E.D.N.Y. March 12, 2014), homeowners who took out first and second home mortgage loans from Countrywide sued the bank and others on two fraud theories. The first theory alleged that Countrywide had concealed that the note underlying the mortgage was invalid because the mortgage was held in the name of defendant...

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Posted in EDNY, Mortgage
Posted: March 28, 2014

Case Remanded To EDNY To Determine What Plaintiff Knew Or Could Have Known Regarding Its Claims Before Defendants’ Bankruptcy Discharge

On March 27, 2014, the Second Circuit issued a decision in DPWN Holdings (USA), Inc. v. United Airlines, Inc., No. 12-4867-cv, discussing the standard for determining whether a post-bankruptcy-discharge lawsuit can be brought based on pre-discharge claims. In DPWN Holdings, the EDNY denied the defendants’ motion to “dismiss an antitrust price-fixing claim,” rejecting the defendants’ argument that “the plaintiff had sufficient notice...

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Posted in EDNY, Bankruptcy
Posted: March 19, 2014

District Court May Not Refuse To Award Prevailing ERISA Plaintiff Attorney’s Fee Without Performing Full Analysis Of Relevant Factors

On March 11, 2014, the Second Circuit issued a decision in Donachie v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. et al., Nos. 12-2996-CV (Lead), 12-3031 (XAP), clarifying “the scope of a district court’s discretion in deciding whether to award attorneys’ fees to a prevailing” ERISA plaintiff. In Donachie, the EDNY granted the plaintiff summary judgment “on his claim for long-term disability benefits pursuant...

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Posted in EDNY, Attorney Fees, ERISA
Posted: March 17, 2014

Second Circuit Remands And Reassigns ADA Case After Judge Conducts His Own Investigation And Determines Plaintiff’s Counsel Not Deserving Of Attorneys’ Fees

In a March 11, 2014, summary order, the Second Circuit (Katzmann, C.C.J., Sack, C.J., and Rakoff, D.J.) vacated an order denying the plaintiff’s motion for attorneys’ fees under the Americans With Disabilities Act (the “ADA”). The court also remanded and reassigned the case because Eastern District Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. had conducted his own investigation of the premises at issue...

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Posted in EDNY, Attorney Fees, Evidence
Posted: March 12, 2014

Court Retains Jurisdiction Over Child Custody Dispute Involving A Parent Leaving The Federal Witness Protection Program

The domestic relations exception to diversity jurisdiction, which divests federal courts of power to issue divorce, alimony, and child custody decrees, is generally well-known.  But the Witness Security Reform Act of 1984 (the “Program Statute”), which deals with the federal witness protection program, creates a rare exception to the exception by expressly creating a right of action for domestic relations...

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Posted in EDNY, Jurisdiction, Witness Protection Program
Posted: February 7, 2014

Aeropostale Executive Fails To Escape Conviction For Mail And Wire Fraud

In U.S. v. Finazzo, 10-CR-457 (RRM)(RML) (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 14, 2014), Judge Roslynn Mauskopf denied three post-trial motions by Defendant Christopher Finazzo: (1) for judgment of acquittal (under Fed. R. Crim. P. 29); (2) to vacate the judgment (under Fed. R. Crim. P. 33); and (3) to arrest the judgment (under Fed. R. Crim. P. 34). Finazzo was an executive at the clothing retailer...

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Posted in EDNY, Mail and Wire Fraud
Posted: January 29, 2014

Summary Judgment Denied In Trademark Dispute On The Gowanus

In The Gowanus Dredgers v. Baard, 11 CV 5985 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2013), the Gowanus Dredgers (the “Dredgers”), a charitable organization established “to raise awareness of environmental issues affecting the Gowanus waterfront in Brooklyn and the broader New York/New Jersey harbor area,” sued Erik Baard, the founder of a group called the Long Island City Community Boathouse (“Boathouse”) that...

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Posted in EDNY, Summary Judgment, Trademark