Mark A Berman

May 06, 2010 | Corporate Counsel

Blogs and personal web pages, such as on Facebook, provide a broad stage to spread potentially defamatory statements. Ganfer & Shore partner Mark A. Berman analyzes the cause of action for internet or electronic defamation and the defenses available to it in New York state courts.

By Mark A. Berman

9 minute read

September 22, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Mark A. Berman, a partner at Ganfer & Shore, writes that because it has become so easy to allege the wrongful use of ESI, courts are requiring evidentiary support to justify the granting of injunctive relief on such basis and bloggers should be aware that their right to free speech comes with the same responsibilities to others as does ordinary speech or the written word; the veil of anonymity conferred by the internet may disappear when a defamation claim is brought.

By Mark A. Berman

10 minute read

July 28, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Mark A. Berman, a partner at Ganfer & Shore, writes that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act should not be overlooked when drafting a complaint alleging improper conduct by a former employee, where there is a concern that she improperly accessed the firm's computer network. However, the statute is exacting and state courts narrowly construe its provisions. Nevertheless, the CFAA remains a powerful tool with a built-in provision providing for injunctive and equitable relief that may be useful when a business is threatened by loss of critical data and information.

By Mark A. Berman

9 minute read

June 14, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Mark A. Berman, a partner at Ganfer & Shore, and Hal N. Beerman, an associate at the firm, write that spoliation of evidence applications are becoming increasingly common and, when granted, sanctions can range from directing a monetary payment to the preclusion of evidence or even to the drastic result of striking a pleading.

By Mark A. Berman and Hal N. Beerman

15 minute read

May 01, 2006 | Law.com

E-mail headers contain a potential gold mine of information for attorneys. Determining the identity of the unknown or anonymous person who sent a specific e-mail can be critical in various types of litigation, including defamation and tortious interference cases, and cases in which a person is deliberately using an e-mail address "confusingly" similar to a company's address for fraudulent purposes. Attorneys Mark A. Berman and Aaron Zerykier analyze several cases in which e-mail headers played a key role.

By Mark A. Berman and Aaron Zerykier

9 minute read

October 07, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Mark A. Berman, a partner of Ganfer & Shore, and Aaron Zerykier, an associate at the firm, review decisions that illustrate the concerns courts have raised regarding "private" e-mails maintained on a company's computer, stored on a corporate e-mail system or reviewed with company resources, concluding that no privacy right exists if the transmission of the e-mail was via a corporate address, but e-mails transmitted over a personal e-mail account may be viewed differently.

By Mark A. Berman and Aaron Zerykier

11 minute read

January 09, 2006 | New Jersey Law Journal

Determining the identity of the unknown or anonymous person that sent a specific e-mail can be critical in various types of litigation.

By Mark A. Berman and Aaron Zerykier

7 minute read

October 29, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Mark A. Berman, a partner at Ganfer & Shore, and Hal N. Beeman, an associate at the firm, write that electronic discovery, even more so than traditional paper discovery, offers the opportunity to burden unduly an opposing party with overbroad discovery requests, and three recent New York State court decisions have addressed over-reaching document requests seeking electronically stored information.

By Mark A. Berman and Hal N. Beerman

12 minute read

June 19, 2008 | Law.com

E-mails can be your best friend or worst enemy. New York courts have issued a series of decisions, since the beginning of the year, finding that e-mails, when specific enough, may set forth the terms of a writing sufficient to satisfy New York's Statute of Frauds. E-mail service of a summons and complaint recently has been authorized under the CPLR where, among other things, prior communications between the parties had been electronic and plaintiff, after due diligence, had been unable to obtain a physical address of the defendant for purposes of service.

By Mark A. Berman

11 minute read

September 08, 2011 | Legaltech News

It is critical for counsel and their clients to think through e-discovery strategy during the initial phases of litigation so that appropriate metadata is requested early on, suggests Ganfer & Shore's Mark A. Berman. He explains that failing to request appropriate metadata, and to review it early, could result in a disadvantageous litigation position.

By Mark A. Berman

11 minute read