On April 21, 2011, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, granted leave for ECBAWM client Laura Blank to appeal its January 2011 decision to the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. That decision had allowed claims brought by Ms. Blank’s ex-husband, Steven Simkin, to redo their 2004 divorce settlement, on the basis that the parties were “mistaken” as to the existence and/or value of his investments with Bernard Madoff, to proceed.

ECBAWM Attorneys Richard D. Emery and Adam R. Pulver argued to the Appellate Division that its earlier decision was erroneous as a matter of law, and had the potential to upset wide-ranging effects for divorcing spouses across New York State. The Appellate Division’s decision had reversed that of Supreme Court Justice Saralee Evans, who, in December 2009, had dismissed Mr. Simkin’s claims against Ms. Blank as a matter of law. As reported in the New York Law Journal, the Court of Appeals will now set a briefing schedule for the case.

“Paul Weiss Partner May Sue Ex-Wife Over Madoff Funds,” Bloomberg News