Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 297: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 2 - Beneficiaries)
Cases requiring non-signatories to an arbitration agreement to arbitrate are not uncommon. Cases compelling subrogees to arbitrate, not because of an insurance policy but because of another contract, are less common. In...more
In Stagen v. Neu, 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 06105 (1st Dept. Nov. 28, 2023), the Appellate Division, First Department addressed an issue of contract interpretation involving a word in a settlement agreement that most readers would...more
On complex construction projects, there may be multiple contractors, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and sub-subcontractors working along side one another. With various entities working parallel there are substantial...more
In BCD Associates., LLC v. Crown Bank, CA No. N15c-11-062 (Super. Ct. Del, May 2, 2022), the trial court found that when a bank pays a contractor directly, it can create a legally binding relationship subject to the terms of...more
Insured gets sued. Insurer hires defense counsel to represent insured. Defense counsel takes over the case, and eventually, the case ends. Most of the time, the carrier and its insured will be satisfied with the result. There...more
Addressing a range of trademark licensing issues, including discretionary approval, exculpatory contract clauses and third party beneficiary standing, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower court’s...more
As a general rule, parties cannot be forced to arbitrate a dispute unless they signed a clear and binding agreement to arbitrate. However, a recent decision issued by New York County Commercial Division Judge Barry Ostrager...more
A familiar dispute between a carrier and a third party involves the third party’s attacking the language of the insurance contract and arguing in favor of an interpretation not reflected by the plain meaning of the text. But...more
With the New Year comes new medical staff leaders and a new set of growing pains. Contrary to what many of us believe, some simple steps can lessen the pain. ...more
Foreclosure can often have tricky impacts on lease rights... See Eviction After Foreclosure: California Supreme Court Weighs In and When a Lender Forecloses on a Leasehold Interest…. An opinion recently published by...more
This month’s key California employment law cases involve reporting time pay and potential liability of payroll companies for wage and hour violations. ...more
On February 7, 2019, the Supreme Court of California issued its decision in Goonewardene v. ADP, LLC, holding that employees may not sue their employers’ payroll companies for wage claims in connection with their employment....more
On February 7, 2019, the California Supreme Court determined that an employee cannot sue a payroll company for breach of contract under the third party beneficiary doctrine, and that it is inappropriate to impose a tort duty...more
On Feb. 7, 2019, the California Supreme Court struck a decisive victory in favor of payroll companies, issuing a unanimous opinion that an employee is not a third-party beneficiary of the contract between her employer and its...more
Last week, the California State Supreme Court struck a decisive victory in favor of payroll companies, issuing a unanimous opinion that an employee is not a third-party beneficiary of the contract between her employer and its...more
• The California Supreme Court recently held that an employee could not pursue contract and tort claims against a payroll service provider for unpaid wages. • The Court found that (1) an employee was not a “third-party...more
On February 7, 2019, the California Supreme Court unanimously held in Goonewardene v. ADP, Inc., S238941 that a payroll service provider cannot be held liable for errors it makes in issuing paychecks to workers of companies...more
Dormitory Auth. of the State of NY v. Samson Constr. Co., 2018 N.Y. Lexis 218 (February 15, 2018) - The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (“DASNY”) undertook, as project manager, to construct a facility for the...more
Reference to setting up a separate segregated client account in a letter of instruction from a customer to the bank (the terms of which envisaged that an account would be opened and operated in a particular manner) would have...more
In Steer Wealth Mgmt., LLC v. Denson, Denson, in her individual capacity and as executor of her husband’s estate, sued Steer Wealth Management, LLC, for causes of action including breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract...more
You are selling properties. The buyer thinks you own the deep rights but you know your long-time partner owns them. You attend the closing. You don’t tell the buyer that he’s got the ownership wrong. You are protected by a...more
J.C. Penney Props. v. Hiram LL, LLC, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8027 (N.D. Ga. Jan. 25, 2016) - In January 2008, Hiram LL, LLC (“Hiram”) leased property to J.C. Penney Properties, Inc. (“J.C. Penney”) for the construction and...more
A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion charts potential new pathways for claims for damages resulting from portfolio losses by mutual fund shareholders against both a fund’s trustees and its investment adviser....more
In Lilley v. JPMorgan Chase, et al, 748 UT Adv. Rpt. 48, 213 Utah App. 285, Nov. 20, 2013, the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed an order of the District Court dismissing the Plaintiffs’ breach of contract action against an...more