Law Commons^™

Interpretive Divergence In The New York Court Of Appeals, Ethan J. Leib

Journal of Legislation

This Article focuses attention on the New York Court of Appeals, which is decidedly formalist about contract interpretation but decidedly contextualist about statutory interpretation. It explores some recent exemplary cases to show where the New York Court of Appeals tends to land in what turns out to be, for this court at least, two different battlefields in the law of interpretation. Finding that there is “interpretive divergence” between statutory and contract cases, the Article then reflects on the practice of divergence more generally, revisiting assumptions about why anyone might have thought harmonization was sensible in the first place.

Contracts And The Constitution In Conflict: Why Judicial Deference To Religious Upbringing Clauses Infringes On The First Amendment, Elica Zadeh

Pepperdine Law Review

When a Hasidic person files for divorce under New York law, either party to the marriage may invoke a declaratory judgment action to establish certain rights in a settlement agreement. If children are involved, such an agreement may include a religious upbringing clause, dictating that the child is to be raised in accordance with their then-existing religion—Hasidism. Deviation from the contract risks removal from the aberrant parent who intentionally or unwittingly allows the child to wane into secularism. Although the child’s best interest is the cornerstone of custodial analysis, a problem emerges when his or her best interest is couched …

Caveat Emptor: Real Property Law’S “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card V. The Property Condition Disclosure Act, Alessandra E. Albano

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

On The Proposed Legalization Of Commercial Surrogacy: I Thought We Had Abolished The Sale Of Human Beings, Phyllis Chesler

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Mommy Dearest: Determining Parental Rights And Enforceability Of Surrogacy Agreements, William J. Giacomo, Angela Dibiasi

Pace Law Review

The governing law in this area is new and evolving and, as such, the allocation of the legal rights and responsibilities depend on which state has jurisdiction over the matter. This article will discuss the basic types of surrogacy agreements and examine the legal distinctions of their enforceability under New York and California law.

Principles Of Contract Law Applied To Entertainment And Sports Contracts: A Model For Balancing The Rights Of The Industry With Protecting The Interests Of Minors, John H. Shannon, Richard J. Hunter Jr.

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

This Article discusses the context of common law and statutory materials dealing with minors who participate in the entertainment and sports fields. The Article describes the changes undertaken as a result of several notorious cases involving prominent child actors, and how the California legislature dealt with issues ranging from set asides of income, approval of contracts by a competent court of jurisdiction, recognition of the legitimate interests of all parties to the contract, to principles under which a minor would be precluded from disaffirming a contract. The Article then applies and extends the principles developed in entertainment contracts to minors …

Legislating Labors Of Love: Revisiting Commercial Surrogacy In New York, Deborah Machalow

Indiana Law Journal

After over twenty years of status quo, the New York Legislature has an opportunity to liberalize its surrogacy laws whether during this legislative session or the next. By adopting the proposals with the suggested changes, the Legislature would simultaneously bring the law into conformity with the desires of many New Yorkers and recognize important technological developments. The proposals are marked improvements on the present prohibitory regime; however, they are not perfect. The legislature should consider further protections for the parties to surrogacy arrangements and amend the proposals accordingly. The legislature’s renewed interest in the topic is refreshing; this interest should …

Sale Of Goods Contract Not To Be Performed Within A Year: Is The Uniform Commercial Code Statute Of Frauds Provision Exclusive?, Sidney Kwestel

Sidney Kwestel

No abstract provided.

Sale Of Goods Contract Not To Be Performed Within A Year: Is The Uniform Commercial Code Statute Of Frauds Provision Exclusive?, Sidney Kwestel

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

A Picture Of The New York Court Of Appeals At The Time Of Wood V. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, Meredith R. Miller

Meredith R. Miller

No abstract provided.

A Picture Of The New York Court Of Appeals At The Time Of Wood V. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, Meredith R. Miller

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of International Practice On The Revision Of Article 5 Of The Ucc, James J. White

Articles

The topic of this symposium is the influence that international law has had on domestic law of the United States. I believe that the story of the revision of Article 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code fits here, but some might dispute that. Although it is certainly fair to say that international practice-in a sense international law-was a powerful influence on the revision of Article 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code, that practice, and the way in which that influence was exerted were almost entirely sui generis to the letter of credit law, practice and history.

Due Process

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Delaware River Basin: Courts, Compacts And Commissions, R. Timothy Weston

Boundaries and Water: Allocation and Use of a Shared Resource (Summer Conference, June 5-7)

112 pages (includes illustrations and 1 map).

Contains references.

Surrogate Parenting After Baby M: The Ball Moves To The Legislature’S Court, John R. Dunne, Gregory V. Serio

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Contractual Disclaimer And Limitation Of Liability Under The Law Of New York, James Brook

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

New York's Plain English Law, Rosemary Moukad

Fordham Urban Law Journal

New York was the first state to pass a law requiring that contracts governing consumer transactions be written in plain English, as opposed to legalese. This Note examines the effect of New York's Plain English Law on consumer transactions as well as the Law's reception by lawyers and consumers.

Reletting The Abandoned Or Defaulted Public Works Project In New York- To Bid Or Not To Bid?, Bruce J. Bergman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The general requirement that contracts for public works be let pursuant to advertisements for bids to the lowest responsible bidder has long been the law in New York and other jurisdictions. After determining that the mandatory statutory pronouncements apply to a particular contract, there is an entire "second level" problem of the propriety of bids and the awarding of the contract pursuant thereto. Suppose a contractor has defaulted or abandoned a valid public works contract. Must the public entity now readvertise for bids for the completion of the work? The answer in most instances is "no," and this raises the …

Contracts-Proposals For Legislation Abrogating The Requirement Of Consideration In Whole Or In Part, Charles B. Blackmar S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Consideration is the test evolved by our law for separating enforceable informal promises from those that are unenforceable. The doctrine of consideration has frequently been criticized, but it is so firmly established that most of the recent proposals for change have been addressed to the legislatures. The purpose of this discussion is to consider proposed legislation both as to its possible operation and as to the future effect of the proposals on the basic doctrine of consideration.

Public Contract--Third Party Beneficiary Clauses In New York State, Ira Schlusselberg

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - Due Process Limitations On Statutes Regulating Extrastate Contracts, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, reciprocal insurance associations which insure against fire and related risks, and whose attorneys-in-fact are located in Illinois, brought a declaratory judgment action in New York state courts for a determination of the applicability to them of the New York law requiring that such co-operative insurance associations obtain a license, or be prohibited from doing "any act which effects, aids or promotes the doing of an insurance business" in New York. As a condition of the license, submission to the New York regulations is required. The activities of the associations within the state of New York include investigation by engineers …

Contracts - Statute Of Frauds - Promise To Answer For Debt Of Another, Mary Jane Morris

Michigan Law Review

The defendants owned stock in a corporation and controlled its affairs. The corporation purchased paper needed in its production of periodicals from the plaintiffs. The defendants prepared a budget showing that the corporation would incur a deficit over a six-month period in connection with the publication of a newly acquired magazine. They then informed the plaintiffs that they would place the corporation "in funds" to enable it to "finance the anticipated deficit" and requested the plaintiffs to extend credit not to exceed ninety days so as to allow the defendants more time to consider in what manner "to advance" the …

Election Of Remedies- Contracts Induced By Fraud, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

In 1939, plaintiff brought an action alleging in his complaint that defendant became indebted to him on December 17, 1928, for $13,400, for money had and received by defendant to the use of plaintiff. In a bill of particulars plaintiff pointed out that the indebtedness arose from the purchase of certain bonds and the subsequent rescission of the contract of purchase prior to the commencement of this action, basing his right to rescind upon misrepresentations made by, and the fraud of, defendant in inducing the purchase of said bonds. When defendant moved for a summary judgment on the ground that …

Contracts - Wills - Third Party Beneficiary Contract As Testamentary Disposition, Harold M. Street

Michigan Law Review

The defendant executed a bond and mortgage to one Catherine McCarthy Jackman. Subsequently the parties entered into an extension agreement wherein it was provided that in the event of the death of the mortgagee prior to the .maturity of the mortgage, the interest and principal were to be paid one-half to a brother of the mortgagee and one-half to the heirs of a deceased sister. After the death of the mortgagee prior to the maturity of the mortgage, the plaintiffs (the brother and heirs of the deceased sister) claimed a right to the payment of interest as third party beneficiaries. …

The Vendee's Lien- On Land And Chattels

Michigan Law Review

The vendee's lien is now firmly established as an equitable device to insure full restitution to the purchaser of land on his rescission for the vendor's fraud or default. It first appeared in a dictum in an early English case where it was suggested as a possible analogy to the implied vendor's lien for the purchase money. But it was 1855 before the question was presented squarely to an English court of record, and 1860 when the House of Lords definitely approved it. Long before this, however, courts of equity in the United States had begun to μse this device …

Contracts - Fraud -Tests Of Materiality In Deceit And On Rescission For Fraud

Michigan Law Review

Current decisions abundantly show the usefulness and efficiency of remedies based on rescission in contracts induced by fraud, as compared with damage remedies. Modern improvements in the rescission remedies go far to explain their popularity. On the other hand, the tests for "materiality" of misrepresentations that are unavoidably connected with the action of deceit have restricted its utility. Both the advantages of rescission and the disadvantages of damage remedies appear most clearly in a period of rapidly fluctuating and uncertain values. These considerations seem to justify a comparative study of the tests of "materiality" evolved by recent decisions in actions …

National Industrial Recovery Act - President's Re-Employment Agreement - Injunction By Labor Union

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a Wisconsin labor union, was granted a temporary injunction restraining defendant shoe company, a party to the President's Re-employment Agreement, from "further interference with the right of its employes to organize into unions of their own free will and choice" and from "interfering with . . . the freedom of its employes in the designation of representatives of their own choice for the purpose of bargaining collectively" with the company. The court decided that defendant had violated its agreement with the President to comply with section 7 (a) of the National Industrial Recovery Act. This last was based on …

Bills And Notes - Estoppel As Against Bona Fide Purchaser Of Non-Negotiable Chose

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs bought some interim certificates (at that time non-negotiable in New York), and delivery was made to them. Because of inability to make payment that day, they asked the vendor to send a runner for the certificates, and when a person appeared asking for the amount due the vendor, plaintiffs' cashier gave him the certificates. Shortly thereafter the proper runner arrived, and plaintiff's at once gave notice of the theft in newspapers and otherwise. Some of the stolen certificates were pledged with defendant who acted in good faith in taking them. The defense to this suit for recovery of the …

Equity-Power To Reform-Effect Of Statute Of Frauds

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff made an oral contract to sell certain shares of stock to the defendant at a price of $1,160 a share, as a result of a telephone conversation. On the same day the plaintiff sent the defendant a written confirmation of the sale, in which the price of $1,060 a share was inserted by mistake. The New York Statute of Frauds makes such a contract unenforceable unless a note or memorandum thereof be in writing. Held, that although the parties intended to make a memorandum of the oral contract which they had made, the memorandum was of a …

Deeds-Side Of Lake As Boundary-Presumption That Grantee Takes To Center

Michigan Law Review

ln a conveyance of land adjoining a lake, the description read in part, "thence running northerly * * * to the Rockland Lake thence westwardly along the south side of the Rockland Lake." Held, that the grantee took to the center of the lake. White v. Knickerbocker Ice Co. et al. (N. Y. 1930) 172 N.E. 452.