Legal Decisions…Simplified and Specific.
A distinguished panel of New York co-op/condo attorneys analyze recent NY co-op/condo decisions. Subscribers receive a monthly PDF Digest of these case summaries and takeaways, an Advance Sheet of co-op/condo court cases recently decided, and access to the searchable Tracker database.
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The Specifics of Search Success…
Addressing the specific and unique needs of today’s niche community of New York's co-op and condo professionals, Case Law Tracker does the heavy lifting—combing through and drawing out the cases most relevant to your needs.
Case Summaries
Focusing only on co-op and condo cases, practicing attorneys in this field prepare case summaries and useful takeaways - helping you understand what the case is about so you can quickly determine if it benefits you.
Case View
Our Quick View feature enables you to instantly determine if the case is relevant to your needs and provides you with a fast click to the full details of the case including judges, case history, as well as an active slip op link to related court documents.
Monthly Digest & Monthly Advance Sheet
A pdf Digest of all co-op/condo cases added to the database is emailed monthly to you. Plus, to keep you up to date on what the courts have most recently decided, you'll receive, monthly, an Advance Sheet with case names, decision and docket links, judges, and brief decision excerpts.
Searchable Database
Speeding you to exactly what you need, our robust search offers: a simple quick search; dropdown menus to refine that search; and powerful filtering capability that lets you drill down even further by court, judge, residence, tag, and date.
Advisory Panel
Our experienced advisory committee, comprised of industry-specific experts who truly understand the issues that matter to you, write the case summaries. They know what you need to know and help you get to that information as quickly and easily as possible.
Case Watch
Emailed twice-monthly, Case Watch focus on providing insight on one particularly relevant case—clearly explaining what happened, why it’s important, and what lessons can be learned within. Case Watch reaches two audiences: lawyers who subscribe to the Co-op & Condo Case Law Tracker and Habitat Magazine subscribers (co-op and condo board directors, property managers and other industry professionals).
Case Notes See all
Case Notes provides insight on one particularly relevant co-op or condo case—clearly explaining what happened, why it’s important, and what lessons can be learned within.
First published: Oct 2025
No Unit — No Seat — No CaseTAKEAWAY Allegations of bad faith or breach of fiduciary duty require real evidence, not just dissatisfaction with a board’s actions. Courts are generally reluctant to interfere with decisions made within a board’s authority and in good faith, and the business judgment rule protects boards from having their decisions second-guessed so long as those decisions are rational, honest and serve a legitimate purpose for the building. This case underscores that a board’s careful adherence to its governing documents - coupled with professional advice from attorneys or other experts - provides a strong defense against legal challenges. For unit owners considering litigation, it’s important to remember that courts will defer to a board’s discretion unless there is proof of fraud, self-dealing, or other misconduct. And in this case Zihenni and his LLC had had no proof that the board acted in bad faith or beyond its authority.
Read full articleFirst published: Oct 2025
Was it a Trivial Sidewalk Defect?TAKEAWAY Personal injury cases are a subspecialty of litigation, subject to various rules, doctrines, and standards. Here, the condominium endured discovery, a half dozen motions, and five years of litigation before its attorneys were able to file a motion for summary judgment and dismissal based on the “trivial defect doctrine.” While the motion did not succeed, the litigation path and timing is fairly typical of a personal injury case. Here’s the good news and the takeaway: if this condo had liability insurance, as seems likely, then the litigation costs and defense were not paid by the condo—they were paid by the insurance carrier. The value of having good insurance is not that the carrier will pay out to an injured party, though that is obviously important. The real, practical value is that the carrier has a duty to defend the condo against lawsuits like this; the carrier will select attorneys with suitable expertise from its own “panel” of law firms; and the law firm’s fees will be paid directly by the carrier. As such, a good board will make sure that its condo or co-op community has a solid liability policy issued by a reputable carrier. A really good board will also keep an eye on the sidewalks, because it is easier to fix a tripping hazard than to engage in litigation.
Read full articleFirst published: Sep 2025
The Malfunctioning Overflow DrainTAKEAWAY Courts don’t let insurance companies get away with using overly narrow or confusing policy language to deny coverage. If the wording in an insurance policy is too vague for a condo board or policyholder to reasonably understand, a court may decide the loss should, in fact, be fully covered. That means if a condo disagrees with an insurer’s denial, it’s worth talking to legal counsel and, when necessary, pursuing the issue in court. Also, just because someone admits they caused an accident doesn’t automatically mean they are legally responsible - unless the act was intentional or malicious.
Read full article