A Matter of Electronic Jurisprudence

The law relating to electronic communications continues to evolve daily, not only with respect to the ubiquitous issues concerning the preservation and production of electronic discovery, but also as to substantive legal issues. Commentators have recently addressed how the courts have considered the effect of electronic communications on the statute of frauds, service of processand criminal law violations.[FOOTNOTE 1]

Adding to this evolving electronic jurisprudence is a March decision by Justice Stephen A. Bucaria of the Commercial Division, Nassau County Supreme Court, JSO Associates Inc. v. Price, 2008 WL 904703 (N.Y. Sup.), 2008 N.Y. Slip Op. 30862 (U). The case involved the effect of e-mail on personal jurisdiction and the statute of frauds.

Justice Bucaria placed significant weight upon e-mail communications from an individual defendant to provide the basis for long-arm jurisdiction over two foreign corporations with which the individual was affiliated. The court also ruled that the e-mail exchanged between the parties satisfied the statute of frauds.

In JSO Associates, the plaintiff, a "food broker," sought to recover a finder's fee from two individuals and two foreign corporations. The individual and corporate plaintiffs alleged they introduced defendants to a Canadian corporation that, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, ultimately acquired the stock of one of the defendant companies and the assets of the other corporate defendant. Plaintiffs sought "to recover a finder's fee for promoting the transactions and allege[d] that the reasonable value of their services [was] at least $500,000."

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Source: Law.com
By Kevin Schlosser