This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.
The legal issues and challenges arising from Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.28, staying proceedings based on non-payment of rent, are now in the courts. A decision last week in Supreme Court, New York County, is among the first of what will undoubtedly be many.
Prestige Deli & Grill Co. sought a Yellowstone injunction. PLG Bedford Holdings opposed the motion.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.
A ceiling fixture falls on a tenant in his apartment. Shortly before the incident a toilet leaking from the unit above was replaced. The tenant blames the owner. And the owner blames the plumber. Case closed. Not. Issues of fact as to causation and notice. Claims for contribution and indemnification. Cross-claims for negligence. A textbook case worthy of a bar exam question.
Daniel Ebalo claimed that he was injured when a ceiling light fixture in his bathroom fell onto him due to the negligent installation of the toilet in the apartment above his by the Trustees of Columbia University, Columbia University, the property owners, and Titan PH LLC, a plumbing contractor.
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Posted in Landlord-Tenant, Litigation, Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.
Litigation is not mathematics. There is not always a universally accepted equation or answer. And as we often tell clients: Any similarity between justice and our justice system may be purely coincidental. Outcomes are often dependent upon the experience-based tendencies of the trial court, or the composition of a jury or appellate court panel.
Many considerations go into filing a lawsuit, such as the various theories of liability to be prosecuted, the nature of the relief sought, and the cost-benefit analysis based upon the anticipated expense of litigation. But occasionally, in a suit to be pursued in New York City, an important threshold consideration is in which of the five counties the proceeding should be filed.
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Posted in Litigation, Litigation, New York Law
This was originally posted on the SGR blog.
The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs. — Charles DeGaulle
Suits by the owners of two dogs in a residential condominium were recently dealt “double header” appellate blows on their claims for breach of fiduciary duty against the Board of Managers and for defamation against the managing agent.
Kenneth Gottlieb and Terry Gottlieb own a condominium unit located within the Fishkill Woods Condominium. The Board of Managers of the Condominium is an unincorporated condominium association created for the purpose of governing the affairs of the Condominium. Peter Galotti was the president of the Board.
In two separate incidents that occurred in 2014 and 2015, two dogs owned by the Gottliebs allegedly attacked two neighbors on Condominium property. In February 2016, the Board commenced an action against the Gottliebs alleging that because of the incidents and complaints from other homeowners, the Board gave the Gottliebs written notice to remove the dogs from the Condominium community, in accordance with the Condominium’s declaration. The Board alleged that the Gottliebs failed to remove the dogs from the Condominium community and sought a judgment declaring that they were in violation of the declaration. The Board also sought an injunction compelling the Gottliebs to permanently remove the dogs from the Condominium community and an award of attorneys’ fees.
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Posted in Animals, Condominiums, Litigation, New York Law, Real Estate
This post originally appeared on the SGR Blog.
What did 26 year old Samantha Fernandez expect when she entered the bouncy house at her four year old niece’s birthday party? As a recent case illustrates, an injury resulting from an instinctive act of concern raised a plethora of legal issues.
Samantha Fernandez injured her left foot while inside an inflatable rubber bounce house at the Laser Bounce of Li, Inc. children’s entertainment center in Levittown, New York. Fernandez sued Laser Bounce on various theories of liability, including violations of the New York State Labor Law as well as provisions set forth in bulletins issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. In response to Laser Bounce’s motion for summary judgment, Fernandez retreated to the exclusive theory of liability in this matter that the negligent failure to provide adequate supervision of the bounce house which Laser Bounce owned, operated, maintained, and which it had a responsibility to supervise. Laser Bounce moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.
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Posted in Litigation, New York Law, Personal Injury
This was originally posted on the SGR Blog.
Is it possible for a person’s reputation to be so bad the he is, in effect, “libel-proof” and not at risk of “incremental harm” from allegedly defamatory statements? A recent lawsuit, between two former New York Mets teammates, addressed that question.
Lenny Dykstra, a former Major League Baseball player, sued his former Met’s teammate Ron Darling, and the publishers St. Martin’s Press, LLC and Macmillan Publishing Group LLC, for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress, based upon allegedly defamatory statements about him in the Darling’s book.
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Posted in Defamation, Litigation