Sharon M Porcellio

April 17, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, writes that the judges of the Western District of New York have recently tackled substantive and procedural issues in a series of motions by a party seeking to invoke insurance companies' duty to defend in an environmental contamination situation and in a case seemingly of first impression in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dealing with discrimination and retaliation claims based on delay in promotion.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

11 minute read

July 30, 2008 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, writes that Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson recently resolved a discovery dispute over attorney work product that raised an issue on which there was no Second Circuit authority in an action by plaintiff and all similarly situated individuals who claimed they did not receive overtime pay after working more than 40 hours a week.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

10 minute read

January 22, 2010 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Ward Norris Heller & Reidy, analyzes recent rulings, including an evaluation of allegations of disability and sexual discrimination against Monroe County and the Monroe County District Attorney's Office.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

11 minute read

June 04, 2002 | New York Law Journal

T his quarterly update discusses two recent decisions from the Western District of New York (Buffalo and Rochester) one case analyzes the factors relevant for transfer of venue and another case both finds that the police power exception to the automatic bankruptcy stay allows certain claims to proceed and recommends a course of action to a bankruptcy court judge in another district.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

12 minute read

July 28, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Ward Norris Heller & Reidy, reports on a recent decision which analyzed the doctrine of fraudulent joinder where defendants claimed that one party was fraudulently joined for the purpose of defeating federal jurisdiction. The court, she says, found that there was fraudulent joinder because there was no possibility of recovering against the non-diverse party.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

11 minute read

October 15, 2010 | New York Law Journal

In her Western District Roundup, Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy partner Sharon M. Porcellio reviews recent cases where the court considered the conflicting pleading standards set forth in the forms annexed to FRCP Rule 84 and the holdings in Twombly and Iqbal and discussed the reach of the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

13 minute read

March 18, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Ward Norris Heller & Reidy, writes that upstate federal courts recently examined the standard for deposing an adversary's in-house counsel. It also, she notes, reached differing results in two cases addressing the admissibility of party testimony used to establish causation in civil rights claims alleging use of excessive force.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

11 minute read

December 21, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, analyzes recent rulings on First Amendment claims by a high school student, a product liability wrongful death claim by a husband convicted of murdering his wife and interesting issues involving payment for interrupted lunch and travel time.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

9 minute read

July 18, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman, analyzes interesting questions in one case in Rochester regarding removal, remand and exercise of supplemental jurisdiction and the attempted creative use of joinder to force remand in a case in Buffalo.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

9 minute read

January 29, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Sharon M. Porcellio, a partner at Ward Norris Heller & Reidy, wrtites that as the new year began, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, in post-trial motions, addressed the requirements for pleading a successful Title VII retaliatory discharge claim. It also admonished serial litigants, warning that they might face additional consequences for repetitive reassertion of their claims.

By Sharon M. Porcellio

10 minute read