Legal Blog of Attorney Greg Curry

In November, 2014, plaintiff and defendant agreed that the plaintiff would loan the defendant $200,000, and the defendant would pay him back in 4 installments of $50,000 over the next year. The defendant made the first 3 payments (totaling $150,000), but not the last payment. The plaintiff then sued for breach of contract for the remaining $50,000. There was nothing in writing, just an oral agreement. It appears that as soon as the defendant served his "Answer" to the "Complaint", the plaintiff moved for summary judgment (a kind of mini-trial on paper). The evidence included the cancelled check for $200,000 and the records of payments totaling $150,000. The appeals court held that, although there was nothing in writing, the oral agreement was enforceable as a contract and held that the plaintiff had proven his breach of contract claim.  The defendant had argued it was too early in the case to decide such a motion, that more evidence needed to be gathered (called...

When you operate a restaurant or a bar, etc., sometimes customers get attacked by other customers/patrons--for whatever reason. So when can the restaurant be held liable in situations like that? In what is a horrible story, in 2010, an 8-year-old boy was at a Dave & Buster’s with his family at The Source Mall in Westbury. The boy was playing a game when he was suddenly attacked and stabbed 5 times in the back by a 23-year-old man who testified in the case that he went there to stab someone.  [The man plead guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 14 years in prison .] The boy (through his parents) sued the attacker (who has no money, I assume), Dave & Buster’s, and the Mall. The boy alleged Dave & Buster’s failed to provide adequate security, which would have prevented the attack. Dave & Buster’s got the case dismissed against them at the trial court level, and the boy appealed. In a recent decision, the Second Department affirmed that...

So held New York's highest court on February 13, 2018 . The case involved personal injuries. The plaintiff alleges she fell off a horse owned by the defendant, which caused the plaintiff severe spinal and brain injuries. She claims she now has trouble writing emails and forming coherent sentences, among other cognitive problems. The plaintiff testified at a deposition that she had had a Facebook account in the past, which contained lots of "private" photos (of her) and posts and messages before and after the accident. But she deleted the account six months after the accident. Defendant's attorneys wanted an authorization to see her entire Facebook account (photos, posts, messages, everything), so they could compare her quality of life before and after the accident. But she refused to give the defendant access to her account. After motions and appeals, the Court of Appeals has now ordered the plaintiff to turn over (1) all private Facebook photos taken before the...

Interesting case from New York County Civil Court (a kind of small claims court). I don't have access to the court filings (none of them were e-filed), just a short summary from the New York Law Journal (pay wall). But based on that short article, this appears to be what happened: dealer/jeweler Choraria sells Rolex watches. In 2007, the subject watch was stolen from him. At some point between 2007 and 2017, another dealer/jeweler, Jeffrey Bouvier, bought the watch (from somebody). I assume Bouvier didn't know the watch had been stolen, and we have no idea how many times it passed hands before it was eventually sold to Bouvier. Thus, Bouvier would be a "good faith" purchaser. It turns out the watch was damaged. So, Bouvier innocently enough sends the watch off to Rolex to be repaired. Rolex runs a search of the watch's serial number and learns it had been reported stolen back in 2007. Choraria says the watch belongs to him because it had been stolen. Bouvie...

Informative article from Bloomberg about Wall Street's inevitable move towards automation. It's widely accepted that "low-skill" jobs will be the easiest to automate, such as many fast food jobs. But what about fancy Wall Street traders with their Harvard MBA's and all? It appears they aren't safe, either. This isn't exactly news. The majority of stock trading today is done by computer algorithms. And it has long seemed to me that, if any job were ripe to be replaced by robots, it would be stock traders, money managers, and similar jobs. Some quotes from the article: Yet in interviews, about a dozen Wall Street executives and consultants responsible for deploying technologies -- and steeped in their capabilities -- were more bearish on humans. Machines will take over task after task, they said, and banks simply won’t need nearly as many people. ... It’s time for senior managers to stop sugarcoating, said Simon Moss, who has been advising bank...

In December, I blogged  about the minimum wage hikes starting on December 31, 2017, as all areas across New York State move towards a $15.00/hour minimum wage over the next few years. And as of January 1, 2018, minimum wages went up in 18 states and 20 cities  across the country. For most businesses, and especially small businesses, their greatest cost is labor--paying workers. So if state and local governments force business owners to pay their workers more, the businesses can either (1) raise prices (and risk losing customers/sales); (2) cut back workers' hours (which could hurt productivity and reduce revenue); or (3) simply get rid of people and make the remaining workers do more. Smart people on both sides of the issue disagree about the effect minimum wage hikes will have on jobs. Supporters  say there has been no real impact on jobs in areas that have raised minimum wages. But  critics  say that the "fight for 15" will end up hurting the very people i...

For most employers, the cost of labor is the biggest expense in producing their goods or services. Over the next few years, the minimum wage for non-government workers on Long Island, in Westchester County, and in New York City will be rising to $15.00/hour. The increase will take longer in counties north of Westchester. As labor costs rise, and margins get squeezed, do employers cut employees, cut hours, or raise prices on their goods or services (and possibly lose customers)? Or even go out of business? The table below sets out the minimum wage increases for most employees and is taken from New York's Department of Labor website (because I can't improve on it): Upcoming Minimum Wage Increases The Minimum Wage rates are scheduled to increase each year on 12/31 until they reach $15.00 per hour. Employers must post a Minimum Wage Information poster in their establishment. Location 12/31/16 12/31/17 12/31/18 12/31/19 ...