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Decisions of Interest
Interim Attorney-Fee Order May Be Sign of Trend
Another court has ordered the moneyed spouse in a pending divorce action to pay interim attorney fees to his wife's attorney. Gordon v. Gordon, 202475/06 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty. 7/14/08) (Marber, J.).
Nassau County Supreme Court in August ordered a successful real estate businessman to pay his non-working wife's attorney fees and expert fees, pendente lite, to the tune of $150,500. The order followed the wife's allegation that she had had to borrow $41,298 from her parents to pay her legal bills and still owed her attorney $50,000. She also said that her husband had not been forthcoming about the couple's financial status, so she needed to hire experts and forensic accountants to evaluate his “business and real estate interests, the latter of which are allegedly worth in excess of $100 million.”
This decision follows in the footsteps of the Appellate Division, Second Department's ruling in Prichep v. Prichep, 858 NYS2d 667 (2d Dept., 5/6/08), in which a surgeon who earned about 400 times as much as his wife was ordered to pay her interim attorney fees of $75,000. Prichep, wrote Justice Marber in Gordon, “reiterated and underscored the important purpose underlying Domestic Relations Law '237, the substance of which 'is designed to redress the economic disparity between the monied spouse and the non-monied spouse.'” This is the second court to follow Prichep; in June, Justice Robert A. Ross, the supervising judge of Nassau's Matrimonial Center, invoked the case in ordering a securities trader to pay his wife's interim attorney fees of $30,000, as the wife was unemployed. Cohen v. Cohen, 6/24/2008 N.Y.L.J. 28, (col. 1).
Following the ruling, the husband's attorney, Kenneth Koopersmith of Garden City, said that paying the amount ordered would work a hardship on his client, whose assets are not liquid. “The decision is a perfect example of how much more efficacious it would be if these awards were made at the conclusion of the case, when the court has the power to direct the sale of the property,” said Koopersmith said, in an interview.
Interim Attorney-Fee Order May Be Sign of Trend
Another court has ordered the moneyed spouse in a pending divorce action to pay interim attorney fees to his wife's attorney. Gordon v. Gordon, 202475/06 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Cty. 7/14/08) (Marber, J.).
Nassau County Supreme Court in August ordered a successful real estate businessman to pay his non-working wife's attorney fees and expert fees, pendente lite, to the tune of $150,500. The order followed the wife's allegation that she had had to borrow $41,298 from her parents to pay her legal bills and still owed her attorney $50,000. She also said that her husband had not been forthcoming about the couple's financial status, so she needed to hire experts and forensic accountants to evaluate his “business and real estate interests, the latter of which are allegedly worth in excess of $100 million.”
This decision follows in the footsteps of the
Following the ruling, the husband's attorney, Kenneth Koopersmith of Garden City, said that paying the amount ordered would work a hardship on his client, whose assets are not liquid. “The decision is a perfect example of how much more efficacious it would be if these awards were made at the conclusion of the case, when the court has the power to direct the sale of the property,” said Koopersmith said, in an interview.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.