Winning a dismissal of a family feud
In 2017, a woman commenced a lawsuit against her sister, a Missouri resident, in Kings County Supreme Court. She wanted to recover damages for the alleged wrongful taking of funds by her sister, in violation of her alleged rights to those funds. We set out to win a dismissal in this family feud.
In her complaint, the plaintiff alleged that at various times in 2016 and 2017 our client, her sister, wrongfully obtained funds belonging to her from a trust that was established by the sisters’ parents for the benefit of both sisters. (And you thought you had family issues).
Wasser & Russ’s client denied her sister’s specious claims in their entirety.
Following an investigation of the facts, Wasser & Russ filed a pre-discovery motion to dismiss the verified complaint because the Court lacked personal jurisdiction over their client, the wrongfully accused sister.
The Plaintiff cross-moved for an order granting leave to conduct discovery on the issue of jurisdiction, arguing that discovery would demonstrate the existence of sufficient facts for the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant.
Wasser & Russ successfully argued that their client did not reside in or otherwise have any contacts with New York, and did not own or possess any real property there.
Case Dismissed
The Court dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction and denied Plaintiff’s cross-motion seeking discovery.
Adam H. Russ and Isaac Alony represented the wrongfully accused sister.