Michael Riccardi

June 07, 1999 | Law.com

A $2 million verdict must be molded down to conform with Penn.'s $250,000 statutory cap on state agency and municipal government liability, the state Supreme Court has ruled. Under the cap, the state can be assessed only $250,000 per plaintiff in damages.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

September 10, 1999 | Law.com

In an issue that has splintered federal courts in New York, an Eastern District judge ruled Thursday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may not issue early right-to-sue letters in discrimination cases. In so holding, District Judge Arthur D. Spatt said that the EEOC must wait for the entire statutory period of 180 days before telling complainants that they may file suit.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

September 02, 1999 | Law.com

Out-of-state media buyers may routinely be subject to the long-arm jurisdiction of New York state courts, according to an unsigned opinion of the Appellate Division, First Department. The five-judge panel, reversing the trial court, held that a California company with no presence in New York could be sued in Supreme Court here in a lawsuit over its alleged failure to pay for advertising time it purchased on behalf of a client on a cable television network based in New York.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

September 07, 1999 | Law.com

An investor will have to fend off a civil suit for libel over a letter he wrote to a would-be buyer of a New Jersey steelmaker suggesting that the acquisition target had ties to organized crime. The libel case stems from a takeover bid by the defendant investor's company for the steel manufacturer. Defendant Gary Lutin, the head of the investor group behind the takeover, wrote a letter to the parent company's controlling shareholder, alleging involvement with organized crime figures.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

June 07, 1999 | Law.com

A murder prosecution that could not be filed until evidence surfaced as a result of the victim's exhumation was dismissed yesterday when a state Superior Court panel ruled that the passage of 18 years from the fatal shooting to the arrest created prejudice to the accused. The state's frontline appeals court adopted the approach of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in holding that the Commonwealth may have been negligent in failing to probe the case in a reasonably diligent fashion.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

August 26, 1999 | Law.com

A Manhattan judge yesterday ordered a mental health care provider to turn over to the City records of its treatment of Andrew Goldstein, who allegedly pushed Kendra Webdale off a subway platform, causing her death. Justice Richard F. Braun said that the interests of justice in the case "outweigh any need for confidentiality," and that Goldstein's doctors must produce the records to City mental health agencies conducting an investigation into the circumstances of Webdale's death.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

August 23, 1999 | Law.com

Arbitration should not be delayed because one of the parties is invoking its Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in a related criminal investigation, a Manhattan Supreme Court justice has ruled in a case of first impression. Justice Nicholas Figueroa also ruled that the court -- not an arbitrator -- must determine whether the settlement of a related civil case affects the arbitration clause at issue.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

January 26, 2000 | Law.com

Metropolitan Life Insurance was left to defend itself in 19 cases alleging it engaged in negligent supervision of independent agents selling its insurance, following a ruling by a New York judge. The dispute arose when Westchester Fire Insurance Co. and two other companies declined coverage to Met Life in 19 cases where Met Life was accused of negligently supervising its agents.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

September 16, 1999 | Law.com

A family court judge has overturned a six-month-old New York law that automatically disqualifies persons with criminal records of violent felonies from adopting children. The judge said that a Brooklyn woman is entitled to a chance to prove herself fit to adopt four girls for whom she had been caring as a foster parent. Under the law, would-be adoptive parent's petition would have been automatically denied, since the woman pleaded guilty to manslaughter for killing an abusive boyfriend 21 years ago.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

August 25, 1999 | Law.com

A man who pointed a gun at a woman in front of her 5-year-old daughter and announced he would kill the adult can be charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a judge in New York has ruled. The charge was leveled even though the defendant did not inflict physical harm on the child. The judge held that a child who was old enough to understand the incident unfolding in front of her, and likely to be affected by it, could be viewed as endangered by witnessing threats of violence against a parent.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read