WHAT'S NEW IN THE COMMERCIAL DIVISION
In 2012, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman created the Task Force on Commercial Litigation in the 21st Century to provide practical proposals that would have a lasting impact on commercial litigation in New York. The Task Force had an interdisciplinary make up of practitioners, academics and current and retired judges of the Comm...
GETTING THE LANGUAGE OF ADR RIGHT IN EMPLOYMENT ARBITRATION PROVISIONS
Employers who use The Alternative Dispute Resolution process need to review and change their arbitration provisions regularly. Changes in statutes and case law provide a continuing challenge, as a recent ruling indicates. A decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt with the validity of arbitration provisions of...
MAKING THE MOST OF THE JOINT SESSION AT A MEDIATION: 7 DO'S AND DONT'S
Here are some do's and don'ts which lead to a more effective joint session of your mediation: Do engage in a realistic discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of your case. Do not spend time posturing to impress or intimidate. Do recognize that every case is unique. Do not lump your case in with similar matter...
IDENTIFYING CONDITIONS TO SETTLEMENT PRIOR TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF NEGOTIATIONS
Oftentimes, parties come to a Mediation session completely focused on "big picture" issues - their leading claims and defenses and the consequent damages they are seeking to advance or refute. Great time and labor is then invested in the ensuing debate and negotiations relative to these issues. Indeed, significant progress m...
ADR = ALTERNATIVE DISCOVERY RESOLUTION – REVISITED
On a dark and stormy morning in Lenox Massachusetts, the attendees at the New York State Bar Association's spring meeting of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section were greeted by an all-star panel discussing "Alternative Discovery Resolution." Though the panel's topic spoke to resolving "normal" discovery problems, i...
DEMONSTRATING STRENGTH BY ACKNOWLEDGING WEAKNESS IN MEDIATION
Most trial lawyers and insurance company adjusters are "old pros" when it comes to mediating a personal injury case. But, if old dogs can learn something new, then re-thinking the mediation of personal injury cases may prove helpful. Let's assume the following fact pattern: A worker was injured in a fall while descendi...
THE RULES OF THE COMMERCIAL DIVISION – AN OVERVIEW OF CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE LAST DECADE, PART 2
Last month I wrote of changes to the Commercial Division rules over approximately the past eight years. I will now continue with amendments and additions to the rules from the end of 2015 to present. Effective December 1, 2015 an amendment to Rule 11-d, and a new section 11-f were added. Rule 11-d, Limitations on Disco...
THE RULES OF THE COMMERCIAL DIVISION – AN OVERVIEW OF CHANGES THROUGHOUT THE LAST DECADE, PART 1
The Rules of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court were first formally created as of January 17, 2006. The earliest amendments enacted in 2007, 2009 and 2010 concerned the monetary threshold amounts. In July 2010, a change was made to Rule 1, specifically Rule 1 (b) requiring a lawyer's familiarity with its clients te...
Construction Defect Claims: A Mediator's Perspective
Most trial lawyers and insurance company adjusters are "old pros" when it comes to mediating a personal injury case. But, if old dogs can learn something new, then re-thinking the mediation of personal injury cases may prove helpful. Let's assume the following fact pattern: A worker was injured in a fall while descendi...
WHEN DRAFTING AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE, SPECIFICITY MATTERS
The purpose of placing an arbitration clause in a contract is to streamline the resolution of any disputes under the agreement. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) avoids the time, cost and uncertainty of litigating in court when a dispute arises. In drafting an arbitration clause, the goal is make the clause itself clear a...