How Some Important Exceptions to NY’s Statute of Frauds Can Sustain a Breach of Contract Action

In a Westchester County case that was reported upon in today’s New York Law Journal,  HP Hood, LLC v. Diamond D Realty, Inc., the plaintiff sought to recover over $1.5 million owed by the defendant for dairy products (in legalese, “goods”) that were supplied – but not paid for – from January through December of [...]

When NY Employers Condition Receipt of Post-Employment Benefits on a Non-Compete

As you may be aware, it has become increasingly common for employers to condition their employees’ receipt of post-employment benefits upon the employees’ agreement to abide by a strict non-compete clause.  So here’s the question (which, unfortunately, occurs altogether too frequently): what if the non-compete is unreasonably and unduly restrictive (i.e., prevents you from [...]

How Disclaimers in a Contract Can Defeat a Breach of Implied Warranty Claim Under NY Law

I was recently confronted with an interesting question: an old acquaintance of mine paid for an exclusive license to market and sell a certain technology that was patented.
There was one “small” problem, however: the technology didn’t work.
So, you would think that my acquaintance should have no problem recovering his downpayment for the exclusive license fee [...]

How to Win the Breach of a Severance Agreement Case in New York

It seems to me that many people are under the impression that your hands are completely tied, and you have no immediate recourse to the New York State courts if your former employer breaches your severance agreement. While in many cases, e.g., where the severance plan is governed by ERISA (in which case a common [...]

If You Have a Written Contract, You Can’t Pursue Unjust Enrichment Claim, Says NY Court

Although, in the legal world, you can generally pursue different theories – even if they are inherently at odds with each other – to try and recover your losses, there are some exceptions to that rule. And the realm of breach of contract – at least in New York – is precisely one circumstances. You [...]

At What Point Does a Contract Become Enforceable Under NY Law? (It’s Not What You Think)

Although you might think that the answer to this question is really simple – it’s when both sides have a fully signed agreement – you’d be terribly mistaken.
So, here’s the rule, as recently summarized by a New York County trial court:
“The requirements for formation of an enforceable contract are:
(1) at least two parties with [...]

One Way to Prove a Fraudulent Concealment Claim Under NY Law – Even in the Face of a Disclaimer

In my earlier blog post “Why Fraudulent Concealment Claims Are So Tough to Win in New York,” I pointed out that one of the challenges of these claims is posed by contractual language that the purchaser signs stating that they didn’t rely on any representations by the seller. As a New York trial court recently [...]

Why Fraudulent Concealment Claims Are So Tough to Win in New York

Under New York law, when a seller deliberately hides information that is critical to the buyer’s decision to invest or not to invest, this is generally referred to as “fraudulent concealment.” A word of caution is in order, however: this type of claim is particularly challenging because in addition to the traditional elements of proof [...]

Despite Leaving Client Unnecessarily Exposed to Harm, Bad Faith Claim Against NY Insurer Is Dismissed

In a recent decision, New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department showed once again just how powerful New York’s insurance lobby is, and how, under the current structure of the law in New York, an insurer has almost no incentive to protect its clients – the insureds – by negotiating claims in good faith. Quite the [...]

NY County Court Allows Party to Break its Settlement Agreement

Every once in a while, I come across a case that really burns me, particularly when it involves a party (or his attorney) not keeping his word – and getting away with it.
In 175 Mulberry Realty v. Kam Cheung Construction, the parties had apparently agreed to settle their long-standing breach of contract action. The only [...]