Bite-Sized Business Law
Looking for the latest in legal business news?
Get a breakdown of the top stories in business law from industry leaders on the front lines with Bite-Sized Business Law. Host Amy Martella takes a closer look at the latest corporate happenings through interviews with the attorneys, legal experts, public figures, and scholars behind the news to distill business law’s biggest stories into bite-sized portions.
This is your chance to go further into the world of business law and stay up to date with legal cases and industry trends.
Corporations impact us all, leading changes that extend far beyond business to shape the economy, public policy, technology, and beyond. Looking at the big picture, Amy discusses not only the underlying issues in business ethics and legal cases leading the biggest stories but also sparks thought-provoking discussions on where the law should be headed.
Amy is the Executive Director of the Corporate Law Center at Fordham University School of Law. Her background ranges from big law to government to tech startups, allowing her to offer an insider’s perspective of the issues that shape corporate actions, large and small. Covering crypto regulation to securities fraud, AI’s impact to Elon Musk’s pay package, Bite-Sized Business Law covers it all with guests of varying viewpoints to provide the nuanced analysis needed to tackle complex problems.
Whether you're looking for the latest in legal insight on intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, business ethics or legal cases in the business law world, you’ll find it here. Enjoying a thoughtful perspective on the news stories of the moment, Bite-Sized Business Law examines big issues and delivers them in small doses.
Bite-Sized Business Law is a project by the Corporate Law Center at Fordham Law. The Center serves as a hub for scholars, professionals, policymakers, and students to engage in the study, discussion, and debate of current issues in corporate law. The Center focuses on aspects of corporate law, corporate compliance, antitrust law, and securities regulation. Through initiatives like the Mergers and Acquisitions seminar and the Securities Litigation and Arbitration Clinic, students actively engage in real-world research and cases, bridging the gap between classroom learning and practical application in the legal field.
Bite-Sized Business Law
Inside the New York Commercial Division, Where Big Business Litigates
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The New York Commercial Division has become a premier forum for resolving complex business disputes at the center of the world’s financial capital. Today we speak with James Catterson, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop and former associate justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, who also served as a trial judge and now sits on the Commercial Division Advisory Council. Learn why the Commercial Division was created to keep high-value corporate disputes in New York and how federal-level developments contributed to that migration. Jim sheds light on the Commercial Division assignment criteria, the distinctions between practicing in the Commercial Division and in federal district courts, and how the court ultimately benefits both litigants and the state of New York. Jim also discusses the role of the Advisory Council, current issues facing the Commercial Division, and Jim’s perspective on growing competition among states for business courts. Listeners will come away with a clearer understanding of how the Commercial Division operates and what litigators, in-house counsel, and business leaders should know about this influential forum, along with Jim’s practical advice for young lawyers.
Key Points From This Episode:
- An introduction to our guest, James Catterson, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop.
- From the trial bench to years on the Appellate Division, First Department, and now the Commercial Division Advisory Committee.
- Jim sheds light on the migration of commercial issues away from the Southern District of New York to the New York State Commercial Division.
- How developments at the federal level contributed to that migration.
- Jim outlines the New York Commercial Division and the criteria for assignment.
- How appeals get from the Commercial Division to the Appellate Division.
- The big distinctions between practicing in the Commercial Division vs the federal district courts.
- He sheds light on how much of his practice emanates from the Commercial Division.
- How the Commercial Division benefits both litigants and the state of New York.
- Jim explains how the Delaware Chancery Court has streamlined their operations.
- The selection process for Commercial Division judges.
- How appellate division judges are appointed.
- Jim talks about the Commercial Division’s advisory council and its mission.
- The push to advocate for more judgeships.
- Jim shares his thoughts on Dexit and the competition among states for business courts.
- His advice to recent graduates and young lawyers interested in business law.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
The New York Commercial Division
Commercial Division Advisory Council
Appellate Division, First Judicial Department
Fordham University School of Law Corporate Law Center