The Cardozo Law Review has published a special issue, inspired by a 2016 essay from Judge Marrero entitled The Costs of Rules, the Rule of Costs, focusing on the way modern practice and procedure have needlessly made litigation so expensive and slow.  The special issue includes (among other things) a follow up article from Judge Marrero entitled Motion to Dismiss: A Dismissal of Rule 12(b)(6) and the Retirement of Twonbly/Iqbal, proposing various reforms, including severely limiting motions to dismiss that are aimed at the factual sufficiency of the allegations (as opposed to dispositive legal theories).  Judge Marrero argues that the wastefulness that inspired the adoption of the Federal Rules in 1938 (which ushered in the simple, notice pleading standard) has reappeared in a different form in today’s practice:
Continue Reading Cardozo Law Review Publishes Special Issue On Litigation Costs, Inspired by Judge Marrero Essay

In an opinion today, Judge Preska dismissed the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) from an action after finding that, because the CFPB’s structure was unconstitutional, it lacked the authority to bring claims under the Consumer Finance Protection Act (“CFPA”).

The CFPB and the New York Attorney General had originally brought claims against companies that

Yesterday, Judge Preska dismissed a suit seeking to reclaim Picasso’s “The Actor” from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The suit alleged that the painting was sold under duress in the 1930s after its owner at the time, a German Jew, fled the Nazi regime (see our original coverage here).  While the opinion details the plight of the Leffmann family as they fled from Germany to Italy, Switzerland, and eventually Brazil to escape the Nazis, ultimately, the complaint did not adequately allege a claim against the Met.
Continue Reading Judge Preska: Disputed Picasso Will Stay at the Met

Today, Judge Preska granted summary judgment in favor of Steven Cohen on fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims brought by his former wife, Patricia Cohen.  The case was originally filed in 2009 (see our previous coverage here) against Steven Cohen, the former head of SAC Capital Advisors.  In the complaint, Patricia Cohen claimed that Steven Cohen had defrauded her during their divorce in the late 1980s by hiding assets using a Queens real estate investment.
Continue Reading Judge Preska Grants Steven Cohen Summary Judgment in Long-Running Case Brought by Former Wife

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Presksa granted judgment to the creator of a play called “3C” that parodies the 70’s TV show “Three’s Company.”  She found that the play fell within the bounds of “fair use” because (among other reasons) it was “transformative”:
Continue Reading Judge Preska Rejects Copyright Challenge to Play Parodying “Three’s Company”