The New York State Courts Have Suspended Most Court Filings as of March 22, 2020

By Bradley Rank on March 25, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus

On Sunday, March 22, 2020, pursuant to Administrative Order AO/78/20 of Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks, the New York Unified Court System took the drastic step of suspending all filings (both paper and e-filing) in all but a select few types of cases in all New York Courts. The Order provides that:

…effective immediately and until further order, no papers shall be accepted for filing by a county clerk or a court in any matter of a type not included on the list of essential matters attached as Exh. A. This directive applies to both paper and electronic filings. Continue Reading

Commercial Division Justices Provide Dueling Approaches to Discovery Stays in State Court Securities Litigation

By Kate Ross on August 14, 2019 Posted in Jurisdiction, New York Civil Practice Law and Rules

In In re Everquote, Inc. Securities Litigation, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 29242, No. 651177/2019, 2019 WL 3686065 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cnty. Aug. 7, 2019), Justice Andrew Borrok of the New York County Commercial Division stayed discovery pending a motion to dismiss a federal securities class action pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “PSLRA”), diverging from the handful of state courts that have grappled with that statute’s application since the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund, 138 S.Ct. 1061 (2018) (“Cyan”). The PSLRA provides for an automatic discovery stay pending adjudication of motions to dismiss private securities actions, and has been interpreted to be a procedural mechanism meant to curb litigation abuses in securities cases. See 15 U.S.C. § 77z(b)(1). In his decision, Justice Borrok joined the ever-growing list of judges tasked with deciding whether such mechanisms apply to state court securities litigation in the wake of Cyan. Continue Reading

Commercial Division Denies Plaintiff’s Request for Additional Time to Serve Complaint After Plaintiff LLC Failed to Appear Through Counsel

By Jean Ripley on April 10, 2019 Posted in New York Civil Practice Law and Rules

Pursuant to New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 306-b, a plaintiff is required to serve a summons and complaint within 120 days of commencing an action. Although a court may grant an extension of this deadline for good cause shown or in the interests of justice, Judge Richard M. Platkin recently found that neither justified an extension of the plaintiff’s time to serve its summons and complaint in Plank, LLC v. Dutch Village, LLC, et al., 62 Misc. 3d 1220(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Feb. 7, 2019). In that case, the Court rejected any argument that the plaintiff’s failure to serve the complaint was excused by its pro se status, especially given that New York prohibits limited liability companies like the plaintiff from appearing pro se. Continue Reading

Chief Judge DiFiore Announces Expansion of Commercial Division to Bronx County

By Thomas Monahan on April 9, 2019 Posted in Rule Updates

During her annual State of Our Judiciary speech on February 26, 2019, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore announced that the Commercial Division would be expanding to Bronx County. As stated by Chief Judge DiFiore, the expansion is “in recognition of the economic resurgence taking place in the Bronx” and “the number of commercial cases filed in Bronx Supreme Civil.” Although the change was effective on April 1, 2019, the Commercial Division has yet to announce which justices will be assigned to these new Commercial Division openings or amend the Commercial Division Rules to provide for, among other things, a jurisdictional threshold for the Commercial Division in Bronx County.

Seeking to Allege General Jurisdiction in New York? Corporate Registration is Not Enough

By Damani Sims on September 12, 2018 Posted in Jurisdiction

In Kyowa Seni, Co., Ltd. v. ANA Aircraft Technics, Co., Ltd., Docket No. 650589/2017, 2018 WL 3321410 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. July 5, 2018), Justice Saliann Scarpulla of the New York County Commercial Division joined in a long line of New York federal cases that have vitiated the registration theory of jurisdiction. Continue Reading

Commercial Division Rule Revisions Continue to Promote Efficiency in Complex Cases

By Thomas Monahan and Meghan Stuer on August 1, 2018 Posted in Rule Updates

In an effort to streamline litigation in the Commercial Division, the Commercial Division Advisory Council has continued with its revisions to the Commercial Division Rules by recently implementing one new rule encouraging early adjudication on threshold issues, and revising another rule to approve the use of technology-assisted review in discovery. Continue Reading

Commercial Division Rolls Out Four New Rules Covering Expert Disclosures, Temporary Restraining Order Requirements, Forum Selection Clauses and Trial Length

By James Salem on October 4, 2017 Posted in Recent Articles

Four of the proposed amendments to the Commercial Division Rules, which were discussed in an earlier blog post while the rules were under consideration by the Office of Administration, were adopted over the summer and have now gone into effect in the Commercial Division. Continue Reading

Changing of the Guard in the New York County Commercial Division

By Bradley Rank on September 18, 2017 Posted in Recent Articles

On May 22, 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that Justices Anil C. Singh and Jeffrey K. Oing had been appointed to fill vacancies on the bench of the Appellate Division, First Department. June 12, 2017 was the last day on the Commercial Division bench for both Justices. Since their departure for the First Department, Justices Singh and Oing have been missed on the Commercial Division bench, as the Court has worked to reassign their substantial caseloads. Acting Administrative Judge George J. Silver, who has temporarily stepped into the role left by prior Administrative Judge Peter H. Moulton (who was also elevated to the Appellate Division with Justices Singh and Oing) and the Office of Court Administration have been responsible for filling these vacancies on the Commercial Division bench. Continue Reading

New York Appellate Division Revives Non-Monetary Class Action Settlement in M&A Class Action with Revised Standard of Review

By John Stigi and Christopher Bosch on March 2, 2017 Posted in Courts and ADR, Mergers & Acquisitions

In Gordon v. Verizon Communications, Inc., No. 653084/13, 2017 WL 442871 (N.Y. App. Div. Feb. 2, 2017), the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial Department (the “First Department”), reversed an order denying plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of a proposed non-monetary settlement in a shareholder class action litigation related to Verizon Communication Inc.’s (“Verizon”) acquisition of Vodafone Group PLC’s (“Vodafone”) stake in Verizon Wireless (“VZW”). With its decision, the New York Appellate Division breathed new life into beleaguered disclosure-only class action settlements, and modernized what it believed had become an outdated analytical framework for approving class action settlement agreements. It also appeared to accord special weight to provisions in such agreements whereby corporations promise to obtain fairness opinions in connection with future transactions in determining the overall fairness of the agreements. Thus, while non-monetary class action settlements are increasingly disfavored in other courts — most notably, in the Delaware Court of Chancery — New York courts remain receptive to their utility.

New Year, New Rules: More Changes to the Commercial Division Rules Coming in 2017

By Bradley Rank on December 8, 2016 Posted in Uncategorized

The New York Commercial Division is poised to continue its rules revamp, with six new rules proposals announced since October. While these proposals would not alter practice before the Commercial Division in the same manner that the 2014 and 2015 updates did, they do raise important practice considerations for parties and counsel who are currently, or expect to be, engaged in practice before the Commercial Division.

The Office of Court Administration is currently accepting public comments on most of the proposed rules described below, which will likely go into effect later this year or early next year.

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