Publications

In the wake of criticism of the National Football League (NFL) and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, over the handling of domestic violence issues, there is an opportunity for the league to establish clearer, more uniform standards of player discipline. Emerging from the recent owners' meetings in New York, Commissioner Goode...

Volume is a great teacher. Nothing could have fully prepared me for the bench even though I tried many cases in private practice and spent a great deal of time in the courthouse. The sheer number of cases and the decisions that had to be made in a day dwarfed any type of previous experience. Much in the same way the sheer nu...

In a decision issued this past March in the case of Kaplan v. Park South Tenants Corp., 2014 WL 1092445 (N.Y. Sup.), Justice Arthur F. Engoron issued a preliminary injunction which permitted a cooperative tenant/shareholder (plaintiff) to perform certain renovations even though the co-op board had not approved his renovation...

New York's historic preference for arbitration was recently upheld in a strongly-worded decision issued by Judge Anil Singh of the New York County Supreme Court. In Pupiales v. Building Management Company, et al., the Court issued an Order compelling arbitration under CPLR 7503 in a dispute between Plaintiff Pupiales and Def...

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to preside over numerous commercial arbitrations of all types. I have done so as the sole arbitrator and also as a member of a tri-panel. The decision to use a single arbitrator versus a tri-panel is a critical one. The decision as to the use of a single arbitrator or a tri-panel...

For many years, the courts have discussed the issues which arise when a sponsor/holder of unsold shares (hereafter, "sponsor") in a cooperative apartment corporation seeks to vote its shares at elections for the board of directors after the statutory period of permitted sponsor control has expired. Justice Ellen J. Coin, rec...

During the course of the private breakout sessions with the parties, the mediator is able to engage in a more candid discussion with counsel with respect to their case and their belief as to its strengths/weaknesses, and how they will likely address the opposing party's case at the time of trial. It also gives the parties th...

Recognizing the unquestionable value of mediating commercial disputes, the New York Supreme Court, New York County, launched a pilot project by which certain cases assigned to the Commercial Division are automatically referred to mandatory mediation. Because it has been just a short while since the pilot project became effec...

As issues concerning Electronically Stored Information ("ESI") and E-Discovery are becoming more prevalent and increasingly complex, litigants are beginning to hear phrases such as "E-Mediation" or "ESI Mediation." Mediating E-Discovery issues allows litigants to control what is being requested, what is being produced, and h...

I have been privileged, on two separate occasions, to be retained as a legal consultant for a program sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program was designed to assist local authorities in strengthening the legal system in the Republic of Macedonia. In that capacity, I provided i...