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A corporate or individual litigant is usually responsible for the payment of its own attorneys’ fees and costs in a lawsuit in the New York courts. Manhattan, NYC follows the so-called “American Rule” that a litigant is “not . . . allow[ed] . . . to recover damages for the amounts expended in the successful prosecution or defense of its rights.” Mighty Midgets,…Read More

In general, no. In the courts of the State of New York, adult individuals may prosecute or defend a civil action in person, but a corporation or association may do so only through an attorney. N.Y. C.P.L.R. 321(a). So, too, a limited liability company must appear in a lawsuit by an attorney. However, New York’s First Department and the Second Department each have held that an individual…Read More

New Jersey's entire controversy doctrine generally requires that a defendant assert in the same lawsuit any claims arising out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the subject of an adversary's lawsuit.  If a defendant fails to assert related counterclaims in an adversary's lawsuit, the defendant's inaction "shall result in the preclusion of the omitted claims."  N.J. Ct. R.…Read More

In general, a business in Manhattan, NYC may lawfully refuse to provide service to a particular individual for any reason or no reason, as long as the business does not refuse service because the individual belongs to a member of a class protected by statute. Classes protected under the New York State Human Rights Law include any person’s race, creed, color, national origin,…Read More

In New Jersey, on-call time is considered hours worked when calls are so frequent or the on-call conditions so restrictive that the employees are not really free to use the intervening periods effectively for their own benefit. On-call time is not considered hours worked when employees are not required to remain on the employer's premises and are free to engage in their own…Read More

In Wells Fargo Investments v. Shaffer, FINRA Arbitration No. 10-00773 (Jan. 18, 2011), claimant/counter-respondent Wells Fargo Investments, LLC (“Wells Fargo,” the “brokerage firm,” or the “firm”) had made to respondent/counter-claimant Kenneth C. Shaffer (“Mr. Shaffer,” the “respondent employee,” or the “employee”) a forgivable loan when he began employment with the brokerage firm. In January 2008, the respondent employee had signed a promissory note apparently stating that if Wells Fargo terminated…Read More

If a company in Manhattan, NYC receives a subpoena demanding documents — also known as a “subpoena duces tecum” — in a lawsuit to which the company is not a party, the company should, among other actions: determine whether the subpoena was properly served on it; serve objection(s) within 20 days of receipt of the subpoena, unless a written stipulation is obtained extending the time to…Read More

In October 2010, an arbitration panel of the FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) in Manhattan, NY awarded compensatory damages of $715,000, plus interest and costs, to an investment banker, formerly employed by respondent Barclays Capital Inc. (“Barclays”), for breach of an implied contract to pay the investment banker a bonus for 2008. Whalen v. Barclays Capital Inc., Case No. 09-03587 (Oct.…Read More

On October 27, 2010, in Hazen v. Hill, Betts & Nash, LLP, Case No. 10114676 (N.Y. State Div. of Human Rights Oct. 27, 2010), the New York State Division of Human Rights (the “Division of Human Rights” or the “Division”), by a Notice and Final Order (the “Order”) amending and adopting the recommendation of an administrative law judge (the “ALJ”),…Read More

In Manhattan NYC, the rate of interest upon the loan or forbearance of any money, goods, or things in action may not exceed 16% per year. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-501(1); N.Y. Banking Law § 14-a(1). That is, in Manhattan, charging interest of more than 16% per year is civil usury. N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-511 renders void…Read More