Out of the mouths of deponents

In Telfeyan v. NYC Transit Auth., the Third Department held that a Plaintiff who testified at her deposition that "I really don't know what happened, honestly," could not defeat summary judgment by submitting an affidavit that contradicted her deposition testimony. The Court also held that Plaintiff's expert's testimony was inadmissible because it was based on Plaintiff's affidavit (i.e., what her attorney wished she had said at the deposition).

Additional commentary about the case can be found at http://www.judicialreports.com/archives/2007/05/post_47.php

Research suggests that messy desks are efficient

Goodbye Tony Blair

Tony Blair is stepping down after 10 years as England's PM. Reminds me of a conversation I had with a barrister who asked "what do Americans think of Tony Blair." My response was NOT my instant reaction: Sadly, how many Americans know or care who he is? I thought of stories about the number of U.S. school children who do not know our founding leaders. We can likely name more 007 actors than British PM's. ABL will try:

Craig something
Roger Moore
Sean Connery
Tim Dalton
Pierce Brosnan
Bonds = 4.5

Tony Blair
Margaret Thatcher
Winston Churchill
Neville Chamberlin
PM's = 4

Bonds win.

Life's little pleasures

ABL loves doing a Westlaw search of allfeds resulting in 10 hits, the first of which is an on-point Second Cirucit Court of Appeals decision.

Competition is no defense to tortious interference

In White Plains Coat & Apron v. Cintas Corp., --- N.E.2d ----, 8 N.Y.3d 422, 2007 WL 1213688 (2007), the NYCOA held that economic competition is not a defense to a claim of tortious interference with an existing contract -- distinguishing a line of cases where a party had a right to protect an economic interest/stake that it had in the breaching party's business. The Court noted, however, that "regular advertising and soliciting business in the normal course does not constitute inducement of breach of contract [and that a] competitor's ultimate liability will depend on a showing that the inducement exceeded 'a minimum level of ethical behavior in the marketplace.'" What is a "minimum level of ethical behavior in the marketplace"? We cannot define it, but we know it when we see it.

The 2d Cir. COA certified this issue to the NYCOA (which appears to happen more frequently these days).