Category: News

Motion to Strike Successful

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Pastore & Dailey recently brought a successful motion to strike in Connecticut Superior Court against a former employee of a client (a major world-wide insurance company).  The Court’s decision included a finding that the former employee failed to articulate facts sufficient to support a claim of a fiduciary duty by an employer to an employee for a long-term incentive plan (“LTIP”).

PROCEDURE – The former employee sued the client over a year ago for further payments pursuant to the LTIP (the employee had already received several years of payments under the LTIP).  Pastore & Dailey first sent the former employee’s counsel a Request to Revise the Complaint, as we perceived the pleadings to be legally insufficient as written.  Opposing counsel for the former employee objected to the Request to Revise, but the Court overruled all of same, agreeing with Pastore & Dailey that the former employee needed to revise the Complaint per Pastore & Dailey’s Request to Revise.

The former employee’s counsel then revised the Complaint, but Pastore & Dailey filed a Motion to Strike with the court, again alleging that the pleadings in the Complaint were legally insufficient, as revised.  The parties had oral argument with the court a few months ago.

RESULT – Just recently, the court issued its decision, striking one of the counts per Pastore & Dailey’s motion, and indicating that another count is likely to fail, if Connecticut state law is found to apply.

In the count that was stricken, the Court stated that a mere “conclusory allegation” that the employer owed the employee a fiduciary duty under the LTIP was insufficient to overcome the Motion to Strike that count in the Complaint.

Regarding the count for an allegation of breach by the employer of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, the Court stated such claim would also fail, should the Court ultimately determine that Connecticut law is the applicable law in this case.  (The Court stated that the choice of law question was not yet “ripe” at this stage of the proceedings.  But both the client and the employee are domiciled in Connecticut.)

Only a breach of contract claim otherwise remains in the Complaint.

Florida Gators Retake Top Spot in Law School Rankings

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Mr. Two Bits Would be Proud.

Florida Gators Retake Top Spot in Law School Rankings

Julie Kay, Daily Business Review

University of Florida’s Levin College of Law was ranked Florida’s best law school by U.S. News & World Report, taking back the position it lost last year to Florida State University.

The Gainesville law school was ranked 24th among public law schools and 47th overall. Additionally, its law school tax program ranked first among public law schools and tied with Georgetown University for second place overall.

UF interim law dean George Dawson was pleased that the school regained its longtime position as Florida’s top law school.

To continue reading the rest of the article click here.

Defeated Emergency Motion to Stay

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Pastore & Dailey recently defeated an emergency motion by a client’s competitor in the financial services industry (including a FINRA member firm) to stay our client’s lawsuit in NYS Supreme Court (New York County) against the competitor and its principals while a related FINRA arbitration was in process.  (Our client is suing the competitor and its principals for tortiously interfering with our client’s contracts with its ex-employees, among other things.)

Pastore Appointed to Pace Board of Visitors

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Joseph M. Pastore III has been appointed to the Pace University School of Law Board of Visitors by the unanimous vote of that board.  Similarly, Susan Bysiewicz, the former Secretary of State of Connecticut and a former U.S. Senate candidate who leads the Firm’s Glastonbury office, has served on the Duke University Board of Visitors for the past year.  The Pace University School of Law Board of Visitors already includes among its many distinguished members Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.  Pastore & Dailey is honored to have two of its leading attorneys serving the law school community in such an important and vibrant way.

Mr. Pastore is a 1991 graduate of Pace University School of Law, where he served as the Managing Editor of one of the school’s distinguished Law Reviews.  He attended the law school on a Law Trustee Scholarship, and had the great privilege of learning from the school’s world class faculty, including at the time the former Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York.

Pastore & Dailey is honored to serve both Duke and Pace Law Schools.  Mr. Pastore has been named a Super Lawyer for New York and New England for the past several years and a top national attorney by a leading law firm publication. Pastore & Dailey is growing national law firm, founded in 2012, with offices in New York, Connecticut and Florida.

Pastore & Dailey LLC Secures Over $60 Million for Clients

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Pastore & Dailey LLC is pleased to announce that the Firm has, to date, secured over $60 Million in grants and low-interest loans for Connecticut businesses through various programs with the State of Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

Through the work of Attorney Susan Bysiewicz, a former Secretary of the State of Connecticut and former candidate for the United States Senate, the Firm has enabled Connecticut business owners to create over 425 private-sector jobs in manufacturing, precision engineering, green and renewable energy, and many other industries.

Pastore & Dailey LLC credits these successes to the Firm’s client-centered approach and comprehensive application process. To date, all clients that have applied for assistance through these programs have received funding. Assistance packages range from $60,000 to $48 Million. Loan packages include various levels of loan-forgiveness and carry interest rates as low as 2%.

For more information, contact Atty. Susan Bysiewicz in the Firm’s Glastonbury office: 860.266.6870 or by email, sbysiewicz@psdlaw.net.

Nathan Zezula Joins Pastore & Dailey LLC

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Pastore & Dailey LLC welcomes Nathan Zezula as Counsel in the Firm’s Stamford and Glastonbury offices. Nathan is well-versed in commercial litigation, including breach of contract claims, unfair trade practice claims, real estate disputes, and fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims. Nathan has extensive experience in securing pre-judgment relief, including temporary injunctions and restraining orders. He has represented clients in federal patent infringement disputes and bankruptcy adversarial proceedings.

Nathan has been named a “Rising Star” by Connecticut Super Lawyers, and is a veteran of the United States Army, having spent four years on active duty in Germany and Kosovo, leaving with the rank of Captain. He is a 2007 graduate of Pace Law School, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude while working as managing editor of the Pace Law Review.

Motion to Strike Victory

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

Pastore & Dailey recently succeeded in defending their client’s claims against a motion to strike in Connecticut Superior Court.  Pastore & Dailey was successful on the majority of their counts, including fraud, multiple counts for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, CUTPA and breach of fiduciary duty.  While most of Pastore & Dailey’s successful rulings came from the bench, the Judge did issue a written opinion as to the breach of fiduciary duty claims.  Pastore & Dailey prevailed in arguing that their client,  a co-owner and co-manager of a successful hedge fund, was in fact owed a fiduciary duty by the other co-owner/manager, despite their equal ownership interests.  The court agreed with Pastore & Dailey’s arguments that the existence of a fiduciary relationship depends on several factors and simply because there is equal ownership does not preclude one party from operating as a fiduciary to the other in their management and control.  Thus, the court allowed the breach of fiduciary duty claim to survive the motion to strike and remain a valid cause of action in the case along with the majority of their claims, including their most important claims.

Pro Bono Victory

Posted on by Liam Mennitt

The attorneys at Pastore & Dailey LLC represented a federal prisoner in a case against the United States of America on a pro bono basis.  The firm was asked to represent the client (who had been acting on a pro se basis) by a Connecticut District Court Judge.  The matter involved complex issues of medical malpractice and wrongful death.  Overcoming the Government’s sovereign immunity challenges, Pastore & Dailey LLC was able to secure a very significant settlement for its client.