On May 23, 2024, the United States Supreme Court held that if parties’ agreements conflict as to whether a dispute is subject to arbitration, then a court (not an arbitrator) must decide which contract controls. Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, --- S.Ct. ----, 2024 WL 2333424 (2024).

On June 2, 2020, Judge Donald R. Cassling of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that a state executive order suspending dine-in services to address the COVID-19 pandemic (the “Executive Order”) constituted a force majeure event that partially excused performance under the applicable lease agreement.  In re Hitz Restaurant Group, No. 20-B-05012, 2020 WL 2924523 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. June 2, 2020).  The creditor, a property management company, sought to enforce the obligation of the debtor, a restaurant group that leased property from the creditor and filed for bankruptcy, to pay post-petition rent under Section 365(d)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code.  11 U.S.C. §§ 365(d)(3).  Applying contract principles under Illinois law, the Court held that the force majeure clause of the lease agreement excused the debtor’s lease payments, but only to the extent the debtor’s operations were impacted by the Executive Order. 
 

On May 20, 2020, in light of evolving circumstances with respect to the COVID-19 health emergency, the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts issued a Memorandum lifting some of the restrictions previously put in place concerning court filings and other activities in New York State trial courts.  The most significant change is that certain electronic filings will now be permitted again.
 

On May 22, 2020, Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a complaint asserting claims under state blue-sky laws as well as common-law claims against financial institutions that acted as arrangers on syndicated Term Loan B notes (“TLBs”), holding that the notes at issue are not “securities.”  See Kirschner v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 17-cv-6334 (PGG) (May 22, 2020).  This is an important decision in that it is the first case of which we are aware to address whether TLBs are securities.  Plaintiff was granted leave to amend, although the basis for an amendment is not apparent.
 

On April 30, 2020, the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Courts issued a Memorandum lifting some of the prior restrictions put in place concerning court filings and other activities in New York State trial courts, in light of evolving circumstances with respect to the COVID-19 health emergency.  The most significant change is that certain electronic filings will now be permitted again.
 

On March 6, 2020, the Alternative Rate Reference Committee (ARRC), the Federal Reserve’s LIBOR-transition working group comprised of private-sector entities and industry regulators, issued a press release of its New York State legislative proposal for amending financial contracts that lack adequate fallback language.  The proposed New York law would apply to certain LIBOR-based financial contracts executed prior to LIBOR’s discontinuation and amend them, by operation of law, to include ARRC’s recommended fallback rate plus a spread adjustment.  ARRC drafted the law to provide legal certainty and to minimize the potentially adverse economic consequences associated with the industry’s transition away from LIBOR.