In Rockwell v Despart (87 Misc3d 233 [Sup Ct, Albany County 2025]), the trial court extinguished and declared unenforceable a restrictive covenant that the subject property remain “forever wild” in the loving memory of a decedent. The covenant was
What happens when a law firm breakup combines self-help with firm funds, weaponized billing practices, a fatal deemed admission, and a federal court’s refusal to entertain dissolution? Ballon Stoll gives us the answer—and several cautionary lessons.
In contract litigation, damages provisions often do more work than parties expect—and sometimes less than litigants later claim. The First Department’s decision in Gamma USA, Inc. v. Pavarini McGovern, LLC is a useful reminder that courts will read damages limitations by their actual
If you’ve raised a pre-seed or seed round in the past few years, you likely did it through a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity). And if the early investor pushed back on your valuation cap, or you didn’t want
Recently, my partner Peter Sluka wrote about two Kings County Supreme Court decisions testing the procedural boundaries of shareholder-oppression claims under BCL § 1104-a. One of the lessons from those cases is that procedure can shape the outcome of a
New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 9802 is a condition precedent that imposes a strict notice-of-claim requirement on parties pursuing contractual claims against the State’s incorporated villages. Notice of claim (CPLR 9802) is a formal, verified written claim
This week’s post examines how a premature $50 million buyback notice and a hurried $140 million third-party sale collided—leaving both transactions invalid and the Elie Tahari joint venturers stuck together, at least for now.
I’m a word person. One of the reasons I like reading e-books is any time I come across a word that’s new to me or unusual, I tap on it and up pops a definition. Not quite as convenient when
A multi-million-dollar development project which relies on site plans approved by a municipal board months prior is ready to break ground. However, the municipal board failed to refer the plans to the county planning board before approving them. The result?
One might assume that pending legal matters at the time of a law partnership’s dissolution are firm assets or property. Not so, held the New York Court of Appeals in a ruling that practically guarantees prolonged litigation over the correct
