Litigation

This is the first in a series of articles discussing how in-house counsel can better manage litigation matters.

The criminal justice process can be arcane, but one term is recognizable to the public. An indictment is a formal accusation by a grand jury that an indicted individual has committed a crime. While damning, the indicted defendant nonetheless has the constitutional right to say to the government, 'Prove it,' and, if the government fails, to be cleared of all criminal wrongdoing. Unlike the defendant who has a right to defend himself, the unindicted co-conspirator is not on trial but confined to a limbo in which vindication is never possible.

In a matter of first impression, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York held that the termination premiums assessed against Oneida Ltd. ('Oneida') as a result of the termination of one of Oneida's pension plans during its Chapter 11 case were prepetition 'claims' (as defined in ' 101(5) of title 11 of the United States Code (the 'Bankruptcy Code')) that were discharged under Oneida's confirmed plan of reorganization.

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.

Important rulings that may affect your practice.

A Manhattan appellate court refused to relinquish jurisdiction over a custody case in which a mother fled with her 5-year-old son to Italy because she thought she was not getting a fair hearing in a New York Family Court. In an unusual ruling in late December 2007, the Appellate Division, First Department, reversed the conclusion of Manhattan Family Court that the case belonged in the Italian courts.

Family lawyers with cases involving application of Section 105(c) of the UCCJEA need to marshal Internet and other resources to determine whether the child custody law of a foreign jurisdiction violates a child's fundamental right to safety and protection. Although Section 105(c) does not provide a broad exception to the otherwise stringent standards of the UCCJEA, in cases where a child's welfare is threatened by deferral of jurisdiction to a foreign tribunal or enforcement of a foreign order, a trial court can invoke Section 105(c) to circumvent application of the UCCJEA's rigorous jurisdictional and enforcement provisions.

Recent rulings you need to know.