Current Events

The Second Edition of the New York State Bar Association Commercial Leasing Manual is due out soon! The Partners of Itkowitz & Harwood have updated their chapter entitled "Overview of Lease Enforcement", adding more text and charts. The New York State Bar Association Commercial Leasing Manual is a wonderful resource, edited by Joshua Stein, Esq., of Latham & Watkins. The manual is written from the perspectives of both the landlord and the tenant. It contains numerous checklists, model leases, forms and contracts; and it covers everything from the basics to the "hidden" issues that can arise. To order the book click here.

Itkowitz and Harwood just won a hard fought series of motions in a construction defect case that became an instant landmark in the area of e-discovery and sanctions. The decision, which received significant press coverage, extended concepts in e-discovery, which are well settled in federal court, to New York law. Essentially, the court held that the obligation of a party to a lawsuit to preserve electronic evidence begins at the time litigation is commenced or reasonably anticipated. It further held that the failure to so preserve evidence constitutes "gross negligence" and can result in sanctions against the party failing to preserve evidence. Here, it was established that Corcoran, a party defendant, negligently permitted the destruction of relevant emails after the commencement of litigation. As one newspaper article reported, the "e" in "email" stands for "evidence." Click here for the full text of the decision and press coverage of it.

Michelle Maratto answered a readers question in the June issue of the Cooperator.

On April 8, 2010, Associate Isaac Tilton was a judge at the Dean Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition at Brooklyn Law School.