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On October 13, 2010, an arbitration panel of the FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. ("FINRA") awarded compensatory damages of $825,000 to a broker, formerly employed by respondent Affinity Investment Services, LLC ("Affinity," "the brokerage firm," or "the firm"), who allegedly was fired after objecting to sales practices she believed were unlawful.  Ford v. Affinity Investment Services, LLC, FINRA Arbitration No. 08-02782…Read More

If both parties to a telephone conversation are located in New York State, then one of the parties to that telephone conversation may record the conversation, without the other party’s consent, for use in the recording party’s lawsuit. This is the case because neither the New York Penal Law nor the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (the “ECPA”) renders it…Read More

On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law, effective July 22, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act,” “Dodd-Frank,” or the “Act”), H.R. 4173. Sections 922 and 929A of the Dodd-Frank strengthen and expand the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) by, among other changes, prohibiting publicly-traded companies’ subsidiaries and affiliates from retaliating against…Read More

A corporation in Manhattan, NYC should observe certain formalities in its formation and operation to keep its status as a corporation with regard to shielding its shareholders from individual liability. Shielding of A Corporation’s Shareholders From Personal Liability In Manhattan, NYC, shareholders generally may not be held personally liable for causes of action against the corporation. Indeed, the New York…Read More

On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act,” “Dodd-Frank,” or the “Act”), H.R. 4173. By January 2011, section 342 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires each of the 30 federal financial agencies and departments, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and all 12 Federal Reserve banks, to establish an Office of…Read More

A corporation in New Jersey must follow certain formalities in its formation and operation to maintain its status as a corporation with respect to protecting its shareholders from personal liability. Protection Of A Corporation's Shareholders From Individual Liability In New Jersey, shareholders generally are not liable for claims against the corporation for amounts greater than their investment in the corporation. …Read More

Periodically, a litigant who is representing himself or herself in court in New York State contacts this author, states that he or she can’t afford to retain an attorney to represent him or her throughout the lawsuit, and asks whether this author, without entering an appearance as counsel of record, will draft or edit certain pleadings for the litigant to…Read More

Last week, in Allen v. V & A Brothers, Inc., No. A-4427-08 (N.J. App. Div. June 23, 2010), New Jersey's Appellate Division held that when a company violates regulations issued under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. §§ 56:8-1 - 56:8-184 (the "Consumer Fraud Act" or the "NJCFA"),  "individuals who were principals or employees of" the company and who…Read More

For a company to prevail in a lawsuit in Manhattan, NYC against a customer or client for posting, on an internet site, comments criticizing the company, the company must prove falsity, malice and special damages. In practice, lawsuits by a business against a person for posting, online, negative comments about the business usually fail, either because the defendants’ comments are protected…Read More

On January 27, 2010, in Nichols v. SG Partners, Index No. 109439/2009 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. County) (Edmead, J.), the New York County Supreme Court denied in most respects the motion to dismiss of the defendant, a financial executive placement company, and held that the plaintiffs, two former executive recruiters at the firm, stated causes of action for breach of oral…Read More