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The Commercial Division Rules are once again the subject of several proposed amendments, as detailed below.  While these proposals are not as far-reaching as some of the rule changes enacted in 2014, they nonetheless raise important practice considerations for parties and their counsel engaged in practice before the Commercial Division.  Expect to see these new rules take effect later this year.
Continue Reading Commercial Division Practice Continues to Shift Towards Federal Standards with Four Proposed Rule Changes

New York court officials have approved an amendment to Section 202.70(a) of the Commercial Division Rules, which will increase in the minimum monetary threshold of $150,000 to $500,000 for the commencement of lawsuits to be adjudicated in Manhattan’s Commercial Division.  The Commercial Division handles complicated commercial cases as part of the Supreme Court of New York State.  The new rule is effective February 17, 2014.
Continue Reading Monetary Threshold For Commencing Cases In Manhattan’s Commercial Division Raised to $500,000

In Daou v. Huffington, No. 651997/2010 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cnty. Feb. 14, 2013), the Supreme Court (J. Ramos) granted nonparty Timothy Armstrong’s (“Armstrong”) motion to quash a subpoena served on him by political consultants Peter Daou and James Boyce (collectively “Plaintiffs”). Plaintiffs sought a deposition of Armstrong regarding his knowledge of the valuation of the Huffington Post. In quashing Plaintiffs’ subpoena, and therefore finding that Armstrong did not need to be deposed, the court upheld the basic tenets of the common law apex deposition rule (the “Apex Rule”), which limits a party’s access to deposing nonparty senior executives.
Continue Reading Subpoena of AOL Senior Executive Under the “Apex Rule” Disallowed Absent Special Knowledge