Litigation

In a practice that prizes in-person meetings, virtual communication has become commonplace.

With big data and the resulting explosion of electronic documents, texts, images and voicemails that are subject to discovery, the cost burden was increasing at a pace that required firms to reconsider their recovery approach. This is why in 2019, Mattern conducted its first deep dive into e-discovery and litigation support cost recovery in the 2020 e-Discovery and Litigation Support Cost Recovery Survey. Some of the results were surprising.

This article examines asset protection and pre-bankruptcy planning and its impact on a debtor's discharge through Bankruptcy Code §727(a)(2)(A).

This article covers the pricing of construction management agreements (CMAs), including the fee of the construction manager, general conditions costs, subcontract costs, contingency and insurance. Note: Where appropriate, we will make distinctions between "cost-plus" and guaranteed maximum price (GMP) CMAs.

Tenant Entitled to Relief from Failure to Timely Exercise Renewal Option Neighbor Has Standing to Seek Damages for Violation of Zoning Ordinance

This article discusses the standard for ordering a bill of particulars in the Second Circuit, drawing a comparison with the standard for civil fraud claims, and then describes a recent decision ordering a bill of particulars in the high-profile prosecution growing out of the Theranos blood-testing scandal. The decision in that case highlights the importance of seeking bills of particulars in fraud cases.

One of the provisions of the Small Business Reorganization Act amends the language of Bankruptcy Code Section 547 — which gives trustees and debtors in possession the right to seek to recover a payment to a third party in the 90-day period prior to the commencement of a bankruptcy case as a "preference" — to add a due diligence requirement. Though the intent behind the added language seems clear, it may not have its intended effect.

Second and Eleventh Circuit rulings are likely to expand refuge to discovery in the U.S., even for international litigation and arbitrations that don't ordinarily include discovery rights.