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Category: Blog: The Westchester Litigator

Second Department Steps into the Sanctions Fray and Reverses Trial Court’s Lenient Ruling on Discovery Misconduct

Blog: The Westchester Litigator

CPLR 3126 provides the trial courts with broad discretion to sanction parties for failing to comply with their discovery obligations.  One of the most drastic remedies is striking a party’s pleading, which requires a clear indication that a party’s failure to comply with discovery is “willful and contumacious.”  Given the […]

Win Some Lose Some: Second Circuit Affirms FLSA Fee Award Where Work on Successful and Unsuccessful Claims is “Inextricably Intertwined”

Blog: The Westchester Litigator

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York’s Labor Law (NYLL), statutory fee-shifting trumps the default American rule that each party bears its own fees and costs and obligates defendants to pay the attorneys’ fees of prevailing plaintiffs. What happens when plaintiffs prevail on some claims but […]

If Permits are Wrong, You Won’t Have a Right: Town’s Erroneously Issued Permit Invalidates Application of “Vested Rights Doctrine”

Blog: The Westchester Litigator

For real estate developers, the issuance of a building permit should be cause for celebration at the end of an oft arduous application process.  By definition, a “permit” means the developer has the right to proceed with the project.  Going further, New York’s “vested rights doctrine” enables a developer to […]

When is a Case Big and Expensive Enough? The “Exceptional Circumstances” Prong of a Motion for an Interlocutory Appeal Under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b)

Blog: The Westchester Litigator

As experienced New York appellate practitioners, we are often struck by the federal and state courts near opposite approaches to interlocutory appeals (i.e., appeals from an interim trial court decision as opposed to a final judgment).  Whereas New York state courts permit an interlocutory appeal of the majority of trial […]