Upcoming arguments in the New York Court of Appeals that might be of interest to commercial litigators include:
Adar Bays v GeneSYS ID, CQ 2020-5: To be argued on Tuesday, August 31, 2021:
Actions—Second Circuit Court of Appeals certified the following questions: 1) Whether a stock
conversion option that permits a lender, in its sole discretion, to convert any outstanding balance
to shares of stock at a fixed discount should be treated as interest for the purpose of determining
whether the transaction violates N.Y. Penal Law § 190.40, the criminal usury law; and 2) If the
interest charged on a loan is determined to be criminally usurious under N.Y. Penal Law §
190.40, whether the contract is void ab initio pursuant to N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 5-511.
Aybar v Aybar; Ford Motor Company. APL 2019-239: To be argued on Wednesday, September 1, 2021:
Courts—Jurisdiction–Whether the Appellate Division improperly ignored this Court’s ruling in
Bagdon v Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Co. (217 NY 432 [1916]) and the United State
Supreme Court’s ruling in Neirbo Co. v Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. (308 US 165 [1939]), by
holding that a foreign corporation’s voluntary registration to do business in New York and its
designation of New York’s Secretary of State as its agent for the service of process was
insufficient as a consent to general jurisdiction in New York.