Index
November 30, 2003
A comprehensive list of key cases discussed in this issue.
Adult Use Amendments Held Unconstitutional
November 30, 2003
<i>Ten's Cabaret, Inc. v. City of New York,</i> decided last month (NYLJ 9/16/03, p. 18, col. 1), represents the latest skirmish in the long-term battle between the City of New York and owners of adult establishments over the city's efforts to regulate the location (and ultimately the number) of adult uses in the city. In <i>Ten's Cabaret</i>, Justice York of New York County Supreme Court held that the city's 2001 amendment to its zoning resolution &mdash enacted to counteract evasion of the provisions in the then-existing ordinance &mdash failed to pass constitutional muster because the city had not conducted any studies to demonstrate the need for the amendment.
Real Property Law
November 30, 2003
Recent decisions of importance to you and your practice.
Landlord & Tenant
November 30, 2003
Recent decisions of importance to you and your practice.
Litigation
November 30, 2003
Recent rulings of importance to your practice.
The Marital Estate: Stock Options and Restricted Stock
November 30, 2003
Stock options became a large part of many marital estates involved in marriage dissolution during the "bubble" of the late 1990s. As one would expect, the courts struggled with the issues this new situation presented, primarily what options were to be included in the marital estate.
Hearsay Exception Used in Abuse Case
November 30, 2003
A child who is too young to testify against her alleged abuser may speak through her mother, under an unusual application of an exception to the hearsay rule. A judge in upstate New York has ruled that the mother of a 3-year-old girl can testify about what the child told her in complaining that the mother's boyfriend had fondled her. The child had awakened her mother to tell her of the assault.
How to Get Paid for Your Services and Enjoy Practicing Family Law
November 30, 2003
The practice of family law can be fulfilling and profitable if you ensure that your clients pay you. If you are paid for your work, your practice will be successful and you will be happy; if you are not paid for your services, you will abhor family law.
Term Life Insurance in Divorce Cases: A New Deal
November 30, 2003
As circumstances change, matrimonial practitioners must review the law in certain areas to see if those laws need to be amended to keep pace with changing times. For example, the onset of AIDS has created almost a new class of terminally ill people. These people who are involved in divorce cases may find themselves in a legal conundrum when it comes to term life insurance benefits. Traditionally, under prior law in some states, only cash surrender value was deemed property. <i>See, e.g., In re Marriage of Mullins</i>, 121 Ill.App.3d 86, 458 N.E.2d 1360 (Ill. 4th Dist. 1984). Historically, term policies, therefore, had no value in divorce proceedings. Those cases, however, may be distinguishable where the insured was not terminally ill, and the proceeds therefore become much less speculative.
