LJN Newsletters

A look at recent rulings important to you and your practice.

An in-depth look at recent rulings.

In Cerniglia v. Church of the Holy Name of Mary, decided on April 20, the Second Department confronted an argument about the scope of New York's "stranger to the deed" rule.

A guide to the contents of this issue.

'Intimate Relationship' Gives Family Court Jurisdiction over Birth Mother In a case involving a birth mother who allegedly went too far in trying to get her children back from their adoptive mother, Nassau Family Court Judge Julianne S. Eisman determined that Family Court had jurisdiction over the birth mother because her threatening actions constituted a "family offense." M.F. v. K.G. (Family Court, Nassau Cty. 4/1/10) (Eisman, J.). …

What's going on in neighboring states.

In last month's issue, we discussed a decision in in which a Supreme Court judge in Manhattan dismissed a divorced man's suit to recover from his ex-wife half of what he lost by taking investments in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme in their divorce settlement. The discussion concludes herein.

In two recent Second Department cases decided within 30 days of each other, the facts appear similar, yet one case gets the law right, the other gets it completely wrong. While bad law was corrected by the former, it was perpetuated by the latter.