Joel Stashenko

May 09, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A rock escarpment in a state park is not a "building or structure" for purposes of a job-related injury that a man sustained while rappelling down the cliff during a work assignment, a state Court of Claims judge determined.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

May 09, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A new trial was ordered for a man serving up to 39 years in prison on drug and weapons charges because the trial judge was found to have improperly handled a note from jurors.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

May 06, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A Third Department panel decided Thursday that the tax-curbing statutes are "rationally related to the legitimate government interest of restraining crippling property tax increases" and rejected the plaintiff's claims of substantive due process violations.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

May 06, 2016 | New York Law Journal

The Court of Appeals, validating designer Kenneth Cole's $279 million bid to gain complete control over his eponymous company, ruled unanimously that lower courts should apply a blended approach when considering shareholder challenges to so-called going-private mergers.

By Joel Stashenko

7 minute read

May 05, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A man prohibited under an order of protection from contacting his ex-girlfriend may be charged with contempt for asking to follow her Instagram page, a judge ruled.

By Joel Stashenko

4 minute read

May 05, 2016 | New York Law Journal

State Supreme Court Justice Molly Reynolds Fitzgerald has been designated as the new administrative judge for the state's Sixth Judicial District, succeeding Justice Robert Mulvey, who was recently appointed to the Third Department.

By Joel Stashenko

1 minute read

May 05, 2016 | New York Law Journal

New York's solicitor general insisted this week that the state's civil fraud case against Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and another former American International Group executive remains viable, despite settlements reached in federal court with AIG and its shareholders in 2013.

By Joel Stashenko

6 minute read

May 04, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A formula used by General Motors to determine if dealers are selling enough GM vehicles in local franchise areas violates a 2008 statute designed to prohibit abusive business practices by auto manufacturers against their franchisees, the state Court of Appeals determined Tuesday, responding to a question certified to it by the Second Circuit.

By Joel Stashenko

6 minute read

May 04, 2016 | New York Law Journal

The state Court of Appeals upheld a driver's conviction for illegal possession of a gravity knife Tuesday, ruling that the defendant's argument that he did not know of the knife's illegal features did not invalidate his conviction.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read

May 04, 2016 | New York Law Journal

A criminal defendant is entitled to a new trial because the trial judge granted jurors' request to have the prosecution's closing statement read back to them, but denied the defense's request that the defense summation also be read back, an appeals court said.

By Joel Stashenko

2 minute read