On behalf of its sophisticated financial services client, Pastore & Dailey LLC recently defeated a Motion to Stay a New York Supreme Court action pending resolution of an ongoing arbitration. In denying the defendants’ motion for a stay, the court agreed with P&D’s arguments that the corporate defendants’ conduct in choosing not to participate in the arbitration, thus creating a complete separation of identity between the defendants in the court case and the respondents in the arbitration, could not be used as an excuse to stop the court proceedings until the arbitration was resolved.
Category: News
Defeated Emergency Appeal to NYS Appellate Division
Pastore & Dailey recently defeated an emergency appeal to NYS Appellate Division (1st Dept.) by a client’s competitor in the financial services industry (including a FINRA member firm) on the trial court’s denial of its motion to stay our client’s lawsuit in NYS Supreme Court (New York County) against the competitor and its principals while a related FINRA arbitration was in process. (Our client is suing the competitor and its principals for tortiously interfering with our client’s contracts with its ex-employees, among other things.)
Enforcing Texas Judgement in New York for International Clients
The attorneys at Pastore & Dailey recently claimed a victory with respect to opposing a joint motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment in New York Supreme Court (Kings County). In that matter, Pastore & Dailey’s clients successfully secured a judgment for the client (a limited liability company whose members reside in Israel) in excess of $4MM in a Texas state court against a now defunct company. Our attorneys successfully domesticated that judgment in the New York Supreme Court and commenced an action against a party who owes money to the judgment debtor (the defunct company). After the commencement of the action, our attorneys successfully negotiated that a large sum of money be held in escrow by the defendant while the New York action was pending. Said funds came out of the sale of commercial property in New York City, which funds our clients claim to be entitled to as the judgment creditor. The defendant simultaneously moved to dismiss and for summary judgment claiming that Article 52 of the New York CPLR was the exclusive method to collect on a prior judgment and because the sale of the property did not create a cause of action for unjust enrichment and the creation of a constructive trust. While Article 52 is the primary means to collect on a judgment, our attorneys successfully argued that Article 52 is not the exclusive means upon which to collection on a judgment and furthermore successfully argued that the sale of the property created a colorable cause of action for unjust enrichment as the enhancement of value of the property was created, in part, by the investment of the judgment debtor. Therefore, the judgment creditor (our client) will be able to pursue its claims against the defendant for money that is owed to the judgment debtor.
Summary Judgement Win
Successfully represented a software development company in the motion for summary judgment phase of litigation pending in the Southern District of New York, in which the court determined that the Firm’s client could seek in excess to $15 million in damages at trial on its primary claim against a Fortune 500 company.
B. Riley & Co., LLC – Investor Conference
Pastore & Dailey LLC proudly sponsored the 16th Annual B. Riley Investor Conference in Los Angeles on May 12 to the 14. Along with several other national law firms, Pastore & Dailey helped B. Riley facilitate a dialogue between issuers and investors from around the country, and helped B. Riley raise money for the Sugar Ray Leonard Foundation.
California FINRA Aribitration
The attorneys at Pastore & Dailey LLC successfully represented Los Angeles based broker-dealer in the prosecution of a FINRA arbitration in California seeking the collection of a contractually earned broker dealer’s investment banking fee. The issuer represented by our client claimed that the investment banking fee was not owed, but ultimately satisfied the fee obligations by transferring equity in the company to the broker-dealer as payment.
National Law Firm Pastore & Dailey Expands to Space Coast
Pastore & Dailey’s new Melbourne office, located at 7827 N. Wickham Road in Suntree, is led by attorney Rob Manning, a Brevard County native. Manning holds an AV-Preeminent Peer Review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. “I am grateful for this opportunity to return to Brevard County, and to bring my experience and Pastore & Dailey’s resources to serve my hometown,” Manning said.
Brevard County’s growing and diversified economy made it a prime market for Pastore & Dailey’s expansion. “When Pastore & Dailey considered expansion opportunities in Florida, the Spacecoast was at the top of the list with its growing, diverse economy, ” said Pastore & Dailey’s managing partner Joseph M. Pastore, III.
Contact Rob Manning at 321.684.7144 and via email at RManning@psdlaw.net.
Pastore & Dailey LLC is a national law firm with offices in Stamford, CT, New York, NY, Glastonbury, CT, Gainesville, FL and Melbourne, FL. Visit the firm’s website at www.psdlaw.net.
American Lawyer’s Top Rated Attorneys
Pastore & Dailey has been named to the American Lawyer’s Top Rated Attorneys for 2015 for Commercial Litigation, and Labor and Employment. This is the Second Year in a row the Firm has received such an award.
Motion to Strike Successful
Pastore & Dailey recently brought a successful motion to strike in Connecticut Superior Court against a former employee of a client (a major world-wide insurance company). The Court’s decision included a finding that the former employee failed to articulate facts sufficient to support a claim of a fiduciary duty by an employer to an employee for a long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”).
PROCEDURE – The former employee sued the client over a year ago for further payments pursuant to the LTIP (the employee had already received several years of payments under the LTIP). Pastore & Dailey first sent the former employee’s counsel a Request to Revise the Complaint, as we perceived the pleadings to be legally insufficient as written. Opposing counsel for the former employee objected to the Request to Revise, but the Court overruled all of same, agreeing with Pastore & Dailey that the former employee needed to revise the Complaint per Pastore & Dailey’s Request to Revise.
The former employee’s counsel then revised the Complaint, but Pastore & Dailey filed a Motion to Strike with the court, again alleging that the pleadings in the Complaint were legally insufficient, as revised. The parties had oral argument with the court a few months ago.
RESULT – Just recently, the court issued its decision, striking one of the counts per Pastore & Dailey’s motion, and indicating that another count is likely to fail, if Connecticut state law is found to apply.
In the count that was stricken, the Court stated that a mere “conclusory allegation” that the employer owed the employee a fiduciary duty under the LTIP was insufficient to overcome the Motion to Strike that count in the Complaint.
Regarding the count for an allegation of breach by the employer of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, the Court stated such claim would also fail, should the Court ultimately determine that Connecticut law is the applicable law in this case. (The Court stated that the choice of law question was not yet “ripe” at this stage of the proceedings. But both the client and the employee are domiciled in Connecticut.)
Only a breach of contract claim otherwise remains in the Complaint.
Florida Gators Retake Top Spot in Law School Rankings
Mr. Two Bits Would be Proud.
Florida Gators Retake Top Spot in Law School Rankings
Julie Kay, Daily Business Review
University of Florida’s Levin College of Law was ranked Florida’s best law school by U.S. News & World Report, taking back the position it lost last year to Florida State University.
The Gainesville law school was ranked 24th among public law schools and 47th overall. Additionally, its law school tax program ranked first among public law schools and tied with Georgetown University for second place overall.
UF interim law dean George Dawson was pleased that the school regained its longtime position as Florida’s top law school.
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