New York Civil Law

New Blawg for Young Attorneys -- Learning to Litigate

Advice for the Young Lawyer: Learning to Litigate is a new blawg on, what else, tips for the young litigation attorney.  Frank Ramos writes substantive posts on such topics as deposition techniques, expert research, and tips on litigating certain types of cases.

Posts Resume When My Home Computer Comes Back to Life

What a way to start off 2008.  Not even finished with the first month of 2008 and my posts have been lagging.  Unfortunately, my home computer's OS completely quit on me and, therefore, I cannot analyze cases or post about them until I bring Microsoft XP (and my computer in general) back to life.

Please hang in there; 2008 is going to be a great year of posts.

See you next week -- hopefully.

New Addition to New York's Blawgosphere -- Medical Devices: Law, Trends and Oddities

New York Civil Law is delighted to start off its 2008 posts by announcing a new addition to New York's blawgosphere -- Medical Devices: Law, Trends and Oddities.  This blawg is one of the first to concentrate solely on medical devices.   The posts are well written and frequently updated, so you can be sure to keep current on all things medical devices.  My partner Mike Shalhoub writes "Medical Devices: Law, Trends and Oddities."

Please help me welcome Mike to the blawgosphere.

Happy New Year

bouI want to wish everyone a very Happy and Safe New Year.

Posts return tomorrow.

Posts Resume Next Week

I've got some great cases to write about, but work and other obligations prevent me from doing so this week.  Posts will resume next week.  Have a Happy Halloween and a great week.  Below I provide some ideas for a great Halloween in lieu of reading my blawg.

Top 5 New York Civil Law Halloween costumes:

5. Eric Dinallo -- Superintendent of the New York Department of Insurance;

4. an apple muffin - New York's Official State Muffin (we have an official state muffin?);

3. Helen Palsgraf -- the unsuccessful plaintiff in one of New York's most famous tort cases;

2. a No-Fault fraud perpetrator -- drive around with 6 of your friends and stage accidents throughout your neighborhood (Tip: don't trick or treat with anyone who is wearing an Eric Dinallo, Howard Mills or Greg Serio costume); and

1.  the ghost of Lochner -- United States Supreme Court decision Lochner v. New York by our very own Rufus Wheeler Peckham.

Since they'll be a mad rush at New York costume stores for these costumes, please feel free to post some of your own New York Civil Law ideas in the comments section below.

 

Nominations for Best New York Blawg and Blawger

Nikki at Sui Generis is hosting a contest for Best New York Blawg and Best New York Blawger (see post here).  It's great to see that we now have so many blawgs and blawgers to choose from. 

Go visit Sui Generis and rock the vote.

Results of New York Civil Law's Vizu Poll

I finally analyzed the results of a long-standing New York Civil Law poll regarding this question:

When the New York Court of Appeals grants leave to appeal, should it certify the questions that will be addressed on appeal (similar to the Supreme Court of the United States)?

There were 121 votes (the largest sample in NYCL history).  81 percent of the voters stated that the New York Court of Appeals should certify the questions that will be addressed on appeal.  19% voted no to that proposition. 

A certification process (i.e., framing the issues for the appellant and respondent) will likely make for more focused briefs and oral arguments.

Check out the brand new poll on a divisive insurance coverage issue: Should the New York Legislature pass a law requiring insurers to demonstrate prejudice where the insured gives late notice of a claim without a reasonable excuse?

Posts Resume -- New York Civil Law Is Back

After a long break, New York Civil Law is back.  With every break in blogging comes some changes.  Last year, the change was the design of the weblog.  This year, the change is the content and frequency of posts.

The extended break was motivated by the constant tension between providing quality posts that were relevant and time pressures that everyone faces in daily life.  Because New York's blawgosphere has grown (which is a good thing), I am attempting to avoid overlap with other quality weblogs and sites.  This might mean less posts this year, but the trade-off is more in-depth analysis on the cases about which I write. 

I hope you continue to follow and enjoy my posts about New York civil law because I enjoy writing them and hearing from you (especially your opinions on the cases).

It's good to be back.  I hope you had a great summer.

An Obvious Hiatus

For a number of reasons, I will be taking a hiatus from posts until September.  Have a great summer!

Apologies

Apologies for the lack of posting these past few weeks.  Blogging burnout and my work schedule caused the lack of posts.  In the next few weeks, the amount of days between posts will be longer.  I want to keep the quality of content high during this busy time rather than posting surface content on a daily basis.

Thanks for your patience.