FINDLAW: Daily Opinion Summaries for New York Court of Appeals - 3/20/08

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, CIVIL PROCEDURE, GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, TAX LAW

In the Matter of Town of Rye v. NY State Bd. of Real Property Servs., No. 23Dismissal of an action brought by a town and taxpayers challenging defendant-Board’s decision not to establish a segment-special equalization rate for the city is affirmed primarily where: 1) section 1218 of Real Property Tax Law expressly limits those entitled to seek judicial review to directly affected municipalities whose own “rate or rates” were established by the Board; and 2) neither town nor individual taxpayers fell within that class of parties.

BANKING LAW, CIVIL PROCEDURE, DEBT COLLECTION, INTERNATIONAL LAW, JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT

Byblos Bank Europe, S.A. v. Sekerbank Turk Anonym Syrketi, No. 39In a judgment enforcement proceeding, judgment below is affirmed where the Supreme Court properly exercised its discretion under CPLR 5304(b)(5) in denying the recognition of a Belgian judgment which: 1) disregarded and conflicted with a previously rendered Turkish judgment; and 2) in doing so, departed from the generally-accepted principles of res judicata and comity.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE

People v. White, No. 38In circumstances which do not constitute a single continuous chain of events, Mirandized statement are admissible at trial notwithstanding a prior un-warned custodial interrogation.

EDUCATION LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Swiderska v. New York Univ., No. 107In a Labor Law section 240(1) action arising from an injury sustained while performing part of a commercial cleaning contract, summary judgment in favor of defendant on theory that activity in which plaintiff was engaged constituted routine maintenance not covered by section 240(1) is reversed on the issue of liability as the underlying activity was comparable to one held to be encompassed within section 240(1) inBroggy v. Rockefeller Group, Inc., 8 N.Y. 3d 675 (2007).

GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, REMEDIES

McCurdy v. New York, No. 34Proper measure of damages to award in a case where condemnor takes a temporary easement that encumbers a vacant parcel’s entire highway frontage should be in line with the formula set out in Village of Highland Falls v. State of New York, 44 N.Y.2d 505 (1978).

INJURY AND TORT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW, WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

Fleming v. Graham, No. 41An employee who sustained multiple facial injuries resulting in scars on his forehead and right upper eyelid during a work-related car accident did not sustain a “permanent and severe facial disfigurement” for purposes of qualifying as a “grave injury” under Workers’ Compensation Law section 11 as: 1) “permanency” is negated by defendant’s expert reports indicating revisions were possible; and 2) resulting injuries did not rise to the level of “severe” disfigurement. 

NYLJ: Free Limited Access

The New York Law Journal

Registering for free limited access to New York Law Journal gives you:

Daily Legal Alert emails

Full access to Judge’s Part Rules

Articles from select featured columnists

Highlighted Judge’s Profile

Select daily news stories

Select Decisions of Interest

Highlighted articles from our Special Reports

Select articles from ‘The Back Page’

 

Happ-eee with her Eee PC

Happ-eee with my Eee PC | LLRX.com

***Bette Dengel has written a short, pithy review of this mini laptop with maxi potential. She loves it.***

Asus Eee 4G-Galaxy 7″ PC Mobile Internet Device (512 MB RAM, 4 GB Hard Drive, Webcam, Linux PreloadeBinding: Personal Computers List price: $399.99 USD Amazon price: $408.00 USD***

 

 

FINDLAW: Daily Opinion Summaries for New York Court of Appeals - 03/18/08

CONSTRUCTION, CONTRACTS, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, REMEDIES

Watral & Sons, Inc. v. OC Riverhead 58, LLC, No. 32In an action to foreclose upon a mechanic’s lien against defendant-landowner’s property, the Court of Appeals finds counterclaiming landowner is not entitled to contractual indemnification for damages which exceed the scope of indemnification

CONTRACTS, DISPUTE RESOLUTION & ARBITRATION, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW

In the Matter of Henneberry v. ING Capital Advisers, LLC, No. 28Denial of an application to vacate an arbitrator’s award in an action involving termination of employment is affirmed where: 1) an employment agreement contained an arbitration clause that provided for dispute resolution by arbitrator of the underlying situation; and 2) the arbitrator’s decision was neither irrational nor did it exceed a specifically enumerated limitation on his power.

CORP. GOVERNANCE, CORPORATION & ENTERPRISE LAW, M&A

Appleton Acquisition, LLC v. Nat’l Housing P’ship, No. 36A limited partner who objects to a merger with another entity under Partnership Law section 121-1102 on the grounds that a transaction was premised on fraudulent or illegal acts by the general partner must raise them in an appraisal proceeding under the Partnership Law.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, SENTENCING

People v. Taveras, No. 30, 31 In appeals from convictions and sentences imposed “in absentia”, dismissal of defendants’ appeals following their capture after years of absence is affirmed where there was no abuse of discretion as the government established that it would suffer prejudice due to the absences, particularly in locating key witnesses to crimes and retrying the cases.

 

INJURY AND TORT LAW

Bernstein v. Penny Whistle Toys, Inc., No. 43In a dog bite case, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where: 1) there was no evidence that the dog’s owner had any knowledge of its “vicious propensities”; and 2) for purposes of claims against third-party defendant, there was no evidence that third-party defendant was negligent.

FINDLAW:Daily Opinion Summaries for U.S. Supreme Court - 03/18/08

CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, ELECTIONS, GOVERNMENT LAW

Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, No. 06-713, 06-730

Contrary to the Ninth Circuit’s holding below, a 2004 initiative passed by Washington voters changing the state’s primary election system is facially constitutional. The initiative, I-872, provided that: 1) candidates must be identified on the primary ballot by their self-designated party preference; 2) voters may vote for any candidate; and 3) the two top votegetters for each office, regardless of party preference, advance to the general election.

Library of Congress Webcasts

The Library of Congress is posting dozens of speeches and other presentations on all sorts of issues, in topics including biography, performing arts, education, government, law, poetry and literature, religion, and technology.***Thanks to Tom Mighell & his Internet Legal Research Weekly.

True Knowledge

[true knowledge]™ - home

True Knowledge is an internet search company based in Cambridge, England. Their unique technology represents general knowledge in a form that computers can understand and process.

They are using it to build a repository of the world’s knowledge that can be used to directly answer questions from humans and other computers.

Think of this as a Wikipedia-type search engine, just starting up. It should be interesting to watch the growth. Will it become a phenomenon like Wikipedia or will it fizzle. If you enjoy sharing your knowledge, legal and otherwise, with others, try the beta.

ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ Page

ABA TECHSHOW BUZZ

At ABA TECHSHOW 2008, they’re going “social” in a big way! They’re harnessing the power of the Internet to help their conference attendees communicate and network better with each other. This ABA TECHSHOW Buzz page will be a place where you can read blog posts, see pictures from the conference, follow updates from attendees, or even check out some of the websites being talked about at the show - all for free!

TECHSHOW BUZZ Page, its almost like being there–but cheaper.

***

Thanks to Robert Ambrogi.

FINDLAW: Daily Opinion Summaries for New York Court of Appeals - 3/13/08

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, GOVERNMENT LAW, LANDLORD TENANT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE

In the Matter of Schorr v. N.Y. City Dep’t of Housing Preservation & Dev., No. 33In a CPLR article 78 proceeding seeking to annul an eviction determination by the Department of Housing and Preservation Development (HPD), a decision annulling the determination is reversed where: 1) petitioner did not meet the eligibility requirements for succession rights to the apartment and was, therefore, an illegal tenant; and 2) thus, invoking estoppel against HPD and owner would impermissibly prevent HPD from executing its statutory duty to provide Mitchell-Lama housing only to individuals who meet the specified eligibility requirements.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CONTRACTS, INSURANCE LAW, SECURITIES LAW

Vigilant Ins. Co. v. Bear Sterns Cos., Inc., No. 25In an insurance dispute, denial of summary judgment for insurers is reversed where the insured-financial services firm breached a policy provision obligating it to obtain the consent of its liability carriers before settling claims in excess of $5 million.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE

People v. Urbaez, No. 35A conviction and sentence for misdemeanor offenses, arising after defendant placed a telephone call to the mother of his two teenage boys in which he threatened to withhold payment of child support and physically harm her, is affirmed over a claim that he was wrongfully stripped of his right to a jury as a result of the prosecutor’s motion to reduce the original charge, an A misdemeanor, to attempted aggravated harassment in the second degree, a B misdemeanor.

EVIDENCE, INJURY AND TORT LAW, MANUFACTURING, PRODUCT LIABILITY

Ramos v. Howard Indus., Inc., No. 26In a products liability action involving a transformer, denial of summary judgment for defendant-manufacturer is reversed where defendant met its initial burden by presenting competent evidence that its product was not defective and plaintiff failed to create an issue of fact excluding all other causes for the product’s failure not attributable to defendant.

FAMILY LAW, PROBATE, TRUSTS & ESTATES

In the Matter of the Accounting by Fleet Bank, No. 27Relying on strong policy considerations that applied in Matter of Best, 66 N.Y.2d 151 (1985), the Court of Appeals finds that a child adopted out of a family by strangers does not share in the proceeds of class gifts to the biological parent’s issue created by 1926 and 1963 irrevocable trusts.

GOVERNMENT LAW, PROPERTY LAW & REAL ESTATE, TAX LAW

In the Matter of Adult Home at Erie Station, Inc. v. Assessor & Bd. of Assessment Review of City of Middletown, No. 21, 22Two owners’ properties in the City of Middletown are used for “charitable” purposes and so, contrary to the city’s claim, are exempt from real property tax. 

Scripting for Lawyers - Boss Around Your Apps

Larry Staton is a lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina who scripts everything. He is available for consulting. Here is his description of his new blog:

“Scripting for Lawyers is a weblog that will explore all facets of scripting. From learning about the various scripting languages to writing our own scripts to digging into the guts of the operating system, together we will attempt to understand the ways that our computers can make you more efficient, more productive, and more profitable.

As the name of this weblog suggests, I’ll focus on how lawyers, especially those lawyers who use Macs, can use scripts to boss around their applications and data. Although scripts often operate on their own, many scripts can be used in connection with databases, text editors, word processors, calendars, and e-mail applications. As such, we’ll also look at setting up a database and using scripts to push that data into the other applications. 

ll also explore how to access Web services to grab data to put into your application.”