Court of Appeals Arguments of Interest for the Week of September 7, 2015

Upcoming oral arguments in the Court of Appeals that may be of interest to commercial litigators include:

Cal. No. 122: Nomura Asset Capital Corp. v. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, LLP (to be argued Tuesday, September 8, 2015) ("Action against law firm alleging failure to provide appropriate legal advice and the rendering of a legal opinion without performing the necessary due diligence, in connection with the securitization of a pool of commercial mortgage loans; Summary judgment.") See our blog post on the First Department’s decision here.
Cal. No. 129: Remet Corp. v. Estate of Pyne (to be argued Wednesday, September 9, 2015) ("New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) letter identifying plaintiff as a potentially responsible party, requesting plaintiff to develop, implement and finance a remedial program for a hazardous waste site, and stating that, if plaintiff did not act, DEC would perform the remediation and seek recovery from plaintiff--Whether the Appellate Division correctly held that DEC's letter did not require plaintiff to take action and, thus, that plaintiff was not entitled to indemnification pursuant to an agreement that limits indemnification to losses arising out of or resulting from actions that plaintiff 'is required to take under or in connection with any environmental law or environmental permit.'") See the Fourth Department’s decision here.
Cal. No. 131: The Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Bd. v. Snow (to be argued Thursday, September 10, 2015) ("Whether a governing-law provision that states that the contract will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, in a contract not consummated pursuant to New York General Obligations Law section 5-1401, requires the application of New York Estates, Powers & Trusts Law section 3-5.1(b)(2), a New York statute that may, in turn, require application of the law of another state? If so, whether a person's entitlement to proceeds under a death benefit or retirement plan, paid upon the death of the person making the designation, constitutes 'personal property . . . not disposed of by will' within the meaning of New York Estates, Powers & Trusts Law section 3-5.1(b)(2)?") See the Second Circuit’s decision certifying the questions to the Court of Appeals here.