Litigation

Interest on Loan Tolled When Mortgagee Delayed In Filing Request for Judicial Intervention
Court Dismisses Tortious Interference Claim By Holder of First Refusal
Easement Enforceable Despite City Register's Failure to Index the Easement Against Newly Created Lot

Liquidated Damages Provision Not an Unenforceable Penalty
Occupant Established Succession Right Despite Absence of Sexual or Blood Relationship
Rent Stabilization Provision Lost When Tenant Executed Lease In Corporate Name
Predecessor Landlord Waived Prohibition on Subleases and Assignments

Legislature Considers Publicity Law Update

Ruling in a matter of first impression, New York's high court dismissed suits filed by Lindsay Lohan and the daughter of ex-mobster Sammy “The Bull” Gravano against the makers of Grand Theft Auto V, by disagreeing with the plaintiff's claims that characters in the game were intended to be their look-alikes.

The Supreme Court of Indiana accepted a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit involving the interpretation of the state's right-of-publicity statute.

Only a small fraction of television news broadcasts are made available online. For a party to monitor and view all news coverage of an event, it would essentially have to watch and record all news broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That's exactly what media-monitoring service TVEyes did. Fox News filed suit against TVEyes, claiming copyright infringement of 19 of its hour-long programs and alleging that TVEyes would divert Fox News's viewership and its ability to license its news clips to third parties.

The health care industry continues to hold great potential for private equity (PE) firms, but it also carries with it significant risks and potential exposure to liability. As the pressure to find opportunities has increased, there appears to be a greater appetite for riskier investments including into portfolio companies that experienced or are experiencing compliance challenges.

The Appellate Division, Second Department, recently decided Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. Suffolk County Legislature, an important case that pitted the interests of farmers and conservationists against a local advocacy group focused on open space and water quality.

The California Court of Appeal created some First Amendment breathing room for the creators of docudramas — at the expense of legendary actress Olivia de Havilland — when the court ordered her suit against FX Networks over its Emmy Award-winning miniseries Feud be stricken under California's anti-SLAPP law, even if it did play a little fast-and-loose with de Havilland's character.