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Category: Articles

What Makes a Wage and Hour Attorneys’ Fee Award “Reasonable”? A Multi-Factor Analysis from the Southern District of New York, White Plains Division

Articles

In a March 2023 decision arising out of a putative class and collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law, Southern District of New York Judge Philip M. Halpern tackled the “reasonableness” of attorneys’ fees awards in wage and hour settlements.  Both statutes contain fee-shifting […]

To Vacate or Confirm? How Excessive Attorneys’ Fees Award Brought Down an Entire Arbitration Award

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Under CPLR 7510-11, judicial review of arbitration awards is limited. Because of our judicial system’s partiality toward resolving issues through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, courts can only vacate an arbitration award where the plaintiff proves with clear and convincing evidence that the award was irrational, against public policy, or that […]

NYC Council Approves Amendment to the Human Rights Law to Include “Height and Weight” as Protected Under the Discrimination Statute

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On May 11, 2023, the New York City Council approved Intro 209–A, a local law amending the New York City administrative code to include “height and weight” as protected characteristics under the Human Rights Law’s discrimination statute.  Key features of the amendment include: Prohibiting discrimination based on one’s height or […]

U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals Certifies Novel Questions to New York’s Highest Court: Does “Inherited-Jurisdiction Theory” Apply if Acquisition Falls Short of Merger?

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The legal theory of inherited jurisdiction holds that when two companies merge, the successor corporation “inherits” the predecessor’s status for personal jurisdiction purposes.  Thus, if the predecessor was subject to jurisdiction in New York, so is the successor, irrespective of the successor’s contacts (or lack thereof) with the New York […]