The 2019 New York Commercial Division Practice Guide (the Guide), edited by Stephen P. Younger and Muhammad U. Faridi of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, is the tool kit that all New York commercial litigators need. The Guide is updated for 2019 and is part of the Litigation Practice Portfolio Series from Bloomberg Law and is available through Bloomberg Law’s Portfolio Series. One of the new additions is a section on the newly created Commercial Division in Bronx County. The Guide, footnoted to authorities through 2019, also contains forewords by former Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, former Appellate Division and Commercial Division Justice Steven C. Crane and former Commercial Division Justice Eileen Bransten. It is an essential guide, for both the less experienced litigator who does not often appear in the Commercial Division as well as the more experienced litigator, as it provides nuanced “practice tips” for appearing in that court. Significantly, the Guide’s chapters provide “examples,” “practice tips” and “comments” to the text, which, along with its model forms, are really the Guide’s true strength.

The Guide contains the updated rules of the Commercial Division and provides detailed commentary on each rule. For instance, the Guide discusses new Rule 9-a, which provides litigants an opportunity to accelerate the resolution of Commercial Division cases by encouraging them to move for immediate trial or for a pre-trial evidentiary hearing on, for instance, spoliation of evidence, statutes of limitation, jurisdictional issues, and class certification. The Guide also addresses new Rule 11-e, which encourages parties to use appropriate technology-assisted document review mechanisms. Crucial footnotes include references to the Commercial Division Advisory Council’s memoranda, which provides the rationale behind many of the Commercial Division’s rules. The Guide also provides a case roadmap, noting the critical deadlines that need to be followed in order to seek to have a case assigned to the Commercial Division.