Civil Procedure

NDNY: No Interpleader Jurisdiction Where Investment Manager Previously Distributed Disputed Funds

Posted on August 8, 2014

I recently represented USAA Investment Management Company in the matter of USAA Investment Management Company v. John Connell et al., 2014 WL 2176283 (N.D.N.Y. 2014), an interesting case concerning interpleader jurisdiction.  In general, interpleader jurisdiction permits a party in possession of property to which multiple other parties have laid claim to initiate a suit in federal court whereby the Court and the claimants will adjudicate the ownership claims.  Interpleader offers protection for the party in possession (referred to as the “stakeholder”), whoRead More→

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Book Review: Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, Third Edition, editor-in-chief Robert L. Haig, Esq.

Posted on July 5, 2012

Recently, West Publishing released a new third edition of the premier treatise on commercial litigation in the New York State courts.  I was asked by the book’s editor-in-chief and by the Saratoga County Bar Association to review it.  Click the link for the review, which appeared in the May-June 2012 issue of the SCBA’s Law Notes publication: Book Review: Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts

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Appellate Division Ruling Holds Bank Lacks Standing to Foreclose on Residential Mortgage Loan

Posted on October 11, 2011

Bank of New York v. Silverberg et al., 86 AD3d 274 (2d Dept. 2011) On June 7, 2011, the Appellate Division, Second Department, dismissed a mortgage foreclosure proceeding based on payment default after holding that the plaintiff bank lacked standing to sue because it could not prove it was the owner of the underlying mortgage note.  The Bank obtained its interest in the mortgage as an assignment from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (“MERS”), a national mortgage registry used byRead More→

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NY Supreme Court Decision Highlights Creditors’ Ability to Obtain Quick Judgments Against Defaulting Debtors

Posted on September 29, 2011

In Pollack v. Haberman, 2011 NY Slip Op 32508(U), September 22, 2011, the New York County Supreme Court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Pollack following defendant Haberman’s failure to repay the principal amounts due under two promissory notes executed by Haberman in conjunction with $300,000 worth of loans provided to him by Pollack. The case is unremarkable except as a reminder that creditors can often significantly speed up the process of obtaining judgments against defaulting debtors by initiatingRead More→

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