Commercial Litigation
Commercial Litigation
A business refuses to pay for services. A prospective software vendor violates a non-disclosure agreement. An employee leaves the company with a client list. A Web site developer builds a site that’s not to specification and does not work. A parked page monetization service provider fails to provide required reporting and fails to pay required contractual guarantees. Purchasers of a franchise violate the terms of the purchase agreement.
Our clients are domain name registrars, Web sites, search engines, corporations, individuals, small businesses, an investment fund, staffing agencies, and others. Lewis & Hand litigators have helped clients in a broad range of industries settle disputes and attain favorable results in the federal and state courts of New York, and through alternate dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation, throughout the United States.
With a comprehensive practice in Internet law and technology licensing, as well as extensive experience handling brick and mortar disputes, Lewis & Hand, LLP litigators are experienced in protecting the interests of small businesses, new media, software, Internet companies, and individuals in litigation matters involving unfair competition, breach of contract, trade secrets, trade dress, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, commercial litigation, licensing disputes, deceptive trade practices, fraud, tortious interference with contractual relations, defamation, issues arising under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Communications Decency Act, the Lanham Act, the Copyright Act, the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), among others.
Frequently Asked Questions
• Should I file a litigation?
• What is a Complaint?
• I got served with a Complaint. What should I do?
• What is motion practice?
• What is discovery?
• Should I mediate?
• What’s the difference between mediation and arbitration?
Our Team
Lewis & Hand litigation attorney Brett E. Lewis began his career clerking for the Hon. David. G. Trager in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Lewis’s clerkship experience informs every aspect of how he evaluates and litigates cases. After clerking, Mr. Lewis worked as an associate in the litigation and intellectual property departments at the Winthrop Stimson Putnam & Roberts (now, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP). Following his time at Winthrop Stimson, Mr. Lewis worked for Register.com, where he was Associate General Counsel in charge of litigation.
Litigation attorney Jeremy Manning, Of Counsel, began his career at the venerable law firm Winston & Strawn, LLP before taking a position at the highly regarded IP boutique, Kenyon & Kenyon. Prior to law school, Mr. Manning worked at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in the Neurosurgery Department where he employed DNA assay techniques to study the chemosensitivity of brain tumors. He later was the first manager of the Innocence Project, a non-profit working to free the wrongfully convicted using DNA forensic technology.
Lewis & Hand litigation attorney Dina Leytes joined Lewis & Hand, LLP in March 2008. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center in Geneva, Switzerland.
To file or not to file. That often is the question. Our litigation attorneys can assist you to evaluate your situation and to decide on the best course of action under the circumstances. Does the extent of the harm suffered exceed the projected costs of litigation? Does the law recognize a claim or a defense to a particular claim? What are the possible outcomes? Is there a danger of irreparable injury to the company? When it comes time to file, our litigation attorneys have extensive experience drafting and filing complaints in New York’s state and federal courts.
A complaint is the pleading that sets forth the factual and legal basis for the causes of action in a litigation. The allegations contained in a complaint, by rule, must have a basis in fact and in law. We will not file a complaint that fails to meet that standard.
I got served with a Complaint. What should I do?
Talk to an attorney right away. Depending upon how the complaint was served, and in which court it was filed, you have an obligation to file a response to the complaint within a certain number of days. The response can be an answer or a motion to dismiss.
The parties to a litigation may file various motions during the course of a litigation. These can include motions to dismiss, for a preliminary injunction, for lack of personal jurisdiction, for improper service, for failure to state a cause of action, for summary judgment, to compel discovery, and others. Our litigation attorneys have extensive experience at motion practice and can help to guide you through the process of deciding when to file, and of drafting and filing, a motion.
Discovery is the phase of a litigation where the parties make requests for documents, pose written questions called interrogatories, and take depositions. Discovery is the stage of a litigation where the parties gather information about the case from their adversaries and third parties. Discovery serves the purpose of narrowing the issues of dispute between the parties, and can provide the evidence needed to prevail on a summary judgment motion or at trial, or provide a basis for reassessing claims and defenses. Many cases settle during discovery.
Some agreements contain a mediation clause, and some courts require and others encourage the parties to mediate their disputes. Mediation is a confidential, non-binding process, with a high overall rate of success in guiding the parties to settlement. Much depends on the specific facts of the case, but mediation can provide a cost effective alternative to litigation in many cases.
What’s the difference between mediation and arbitration?
Mediation is non-binding. In an arbitration, the arbitrator, who is usually a retired judge or experienced practitioner, hears evidence, takes testimony, and issues a binding ruling. Arbitration decisions cannot be appealed from, and are generally enforced by the courts. Arbitration does, however, provide a less costly forum for resolving certain types of disputes.
If you wish to discuss your commercial litigation needs, contact Lewis & Hand, LLP today.