New York Civil Law

New York Court of Appeals Will Hear Duty of Care Issue

The New York Court of Appeals in Clementoni v. Consolidated Rail Co. will hear oral arguments this Session concerning interesting duty of care and proximate cause issues.   An automobile driver brought an action against a railroad, the estate of deceased owners of private road, and owners of property abutting railroad tracks and a private road, based on injuries he sustained when his vehicle collided with a train.  The motorist claimed that the owners of the private road owed him a duty to warn or protect him from the dangers of the railroad crossing.  Notably, the motorist stated his deposition that he had passed over the railroad crossing on that day three times before.  The Majority of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department dismissed the claim against the property owners, holding that they did not owe the motorist a duty to erect a gate and, in any event, the lack of protections were not the proximate cause of the accident.

New York Court of Appeals Considers Certified Questions Regarding Contract Issue

During this upcoming Session, the New York Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in White Plains Coat & Apron Co., Inc. v. Cintas Corp. regarding this certified question from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Whether a generalized economic interest in soliciting business for profit can constitute a defense to a claim of tortious interference with an existing contract for an alleged tortfeasor with no previous economic relationship with the breaching party.

The plaintiff rents napkins, tablecloths, and other laundered articles to bars, restaurants, and other businesses.  The plaintiff executes signed contracts with the 2 majority of its customers.  In these form contracts, a plaintiff customer typically “agrees to rent from [the plaintiff] exclusively during the term of [the] Agreement, all of Customer’s requirements for laundered articles.”  The plaintiff accused the breaching party of soliciting its customers and encouraging them to breach the service contracts with the plaintiff.  The alleged breaching party argued that it had no knowledge of the agreements with the plaintiff and hat it had not induced any breaches.

The open issue is whether the defense to the tortious interference claim applies where the alleged breaching party only has a general economic interest in an entity.  The defense holds that where a third party has an “economic interest” in an entity and interferes with an existing contractual relationship between the plaintiff and that entity, such interference is considered privileged and the plaintiff must show malice or illegality to establish a tortious interference claim.

Some Resources I Did Not Mention During My Presentation

For those who attended the CLE today at the New York City Bar, I am posting some resources that I discussed but were not in the handouts.

1.    Google Cheat Sheet;

2.    Yahoo Cheat Sheet:

3.    Ten Minute Mentor (podcasts from the Texas Bar Association);

4.    The Internet Wayback Machine (where do old webpages go?);

5.    Google Scholar (for those who want to research their expert's publications);

6.    Firefox Internet Browser Download;

7.    Firefox Extensions (soup up your Internet browser);

8.     Wex (Cornell's legal wikipedia);

here's some cites I didn't mention and think you should know about

9.    vLex (free access to law journal and more) (thanks Lenny); and

10. RSS Tutorial (here [thanks Imke] and here).

If you were unable to attend the CLE, but are interested some other cites I discussed, or if you attended and have some questions, please feel free to email me.

Chief Judge Judith Kaye Reappointed to New York Court of Appeals

Yesterday marked another first for New Yorkers and Chief Judge Judith Kaye.  The Senate confirmed the Chief's nomination for a second term as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.  That marks the first two-term Chief Judge in history, a fitting honor for New York's first female Court of Appeals Judge (and later Chief Judge).  See this article in The Ithaca Journal here and the Albany Times-Union here.

Appellate Division, Second Department Addresses Interesting Labor Law Question

What is the liability of a company that supplied a crane to a contractor and acted as a conduit to supply a crane operator, but had no presence on the worksite and did not act negligently in connection with work who fell off the crane's boom?  The Appellate Division, Second Department recently held in Mahoney v. Turner Constr. Inc. that the crane company was not negligent and enforced the indemnity contract between the company and the contractor.  The plaintiff was injured when he fell from the crane's boom when it suddenly moved.  The Court addresses numerous issues that arise in these types of Labor Law disputes.

New Service that Summarizes New York Case Law

New York bloggers have some competition.  CasePrepPlus offers weekly summaries of New York appellate case law sent directly to your email inbox.  The summaries are quick and dirty  descriptions of the cases and holdings, with links to the cases.

New York Blawg Covers Real Estate and Landlord/Tenant Law

Anastasios Pardalis has filled an important niche in the New York blawgosphere.  Anastasios writes New York Real Estate and Landlord Tenant Law -- "an online resource devoted to New York City Real Estate and Landlord Tenant Issues."  Please help me to welcome Anastasios to New York's blawgosphere.

Piece of New York Court of Appeals Trivia

The New York Court of Appeals currently has a majority of women on the Bench: Chief Judge Kaye and Associate Judges Ciparick, Graffeo, and Read.  However, this technically is not the first time a female majority has occurred.  In 2001, the Court enjoyed a female majority in Ulster Home Care, Inc. v. Vacco.  Chief Judge Kaye, Associate Judges Ciparick and Graffeo were on the Bench, as well as Justice Miriam Altman.  Justice Altman was designated to sit for that particular case.