Blog Posts in September, 2013

Contractual Indemnity Provisions

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of Gell-Tejada v. Macy’s Retail Holdings. This case explores the intersection of negligence law with breach of contract law from a different angle than cases we have previously examined. Recall that the most recent line of New York cases on the subject say that mere breach of contract cannot amount to negligence – however ...

Delays Amounting To Breach Insurance Contracts

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of Upgrade Construction Co. v. Aspen Specialty Insurance Company. Although complex, the relevant portions of the case boiled down to the idea that sometimes an unreasonable delay can amount to a breach of contract. There are a wide variety of contracts, involving different industries and practice areas, and as we will see, ...

Arbitration in Breach of Contract

The Supreme Court of Kings County (Brooklyn) recently heard the case of Chelsea Auctions v. South Shore Alarms. This case involved interpretation of contractual language in the context of a provision for arbitration. Arbitration is another common real-world issue that crops up frequently in contractual disputes but that has not undergone much discussion in our ongoing series of posts about breach ...

Breach of A Brokerage Contract Analyzing the Dif

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of Miron v. Eberli. This case is a wonderful educational tool for our purposes – illustrating basic tenants of contract interpretation and the often convoluted logic a court may follow. However, even more significantly, the case illustrates the important of following the different ‘hats’ the parties may wear and how that ...

Putting It All Together a Multifaceted Breach Of

The Supreme Court of Queens County recently heard the case of Silone v. Doric Construction Corporation . This case involved a great many of the issues we have discussed previously in the construction contract sphere and provides an educational look at the types of issues and defenses that may arise together in the same fact pattern. Both parties seem to have very experienced and knowledgeable ...

Statute of Limitations and Breach of Contract

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department recently heard the case of DeLuca v. Pecoraro . This case involved a somewhat unusual set of circumstances not typically encountered in the breach of contract context – yet it was a great illustration of the interconnectedness of various areas of the law and also served as yet another in our long list of cautionary tales ...

Breach of Contract Covenant of Fair Dealing

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of 534 East 11th Street HDFC v. Hendrick . This case, yet another lawsuit over Manhattan real estate, is interesting because one of the main issues is the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, an implied covenant or condition of any contract. Background of the Case The plaintiff owns a co-op apartment building at 534 ...

Induced Breach of Contract Tortious Interference

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of Giglietti v. Bottalico . This somewhat unusual and complex case takes place in the context of a railway employee (the plaintiff) engaged in a dispute with his employer Metro-North Railroad (one of the defendants). Bottalico is the chairman of ACRE, another named defendant, which is the Union that the plaintiff belongs ...

Contract Interpretation Legal Standards

The Supreme Court of New York County recently issued a decision in the case of Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority v. County of Nassau . This case was in part unusual and in part very familiar. The unusual aspect of the case was the fact that both plaintiff and defendant were public entities – in other words part of the local government of this particular area of New York. The familiar portion of ...