CORDERO CASE RECAP

Patrick Hindert at Independent Life did an excellent three-part blog post on the Cordero Case that was argued before the New York Court of Appeals earlier this year. Part One sets out the facts of Mr. Cordero’s case, and outlines the question that was certified to the New York Court of Appeals:

Does a plaintiff sufficiently allege a breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under New York law if he pleads that the defendant drastically undermined a fundamental objective of the party’s contract, even when the underlying duty at issue was not explicitly referred to in the writing?

Part Two explains the question that was reformulated by the New York Court of Appeals,

Does a plaintiff sufficiently allege a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing under New York law by pleading that (1) an issuer or obligor failed to object to plaintiff’s sale of periodic payments in a SSPA proceeding, where the underlying agreements contain anti-assignment provisions, and (2) the sale approved by the SSPA court was not in plaintiff’s best interest?

Ultimately, the Court of Appeals answered this question in the negative, finding that Cordero (or any other similarly situated plaintiff) “would not be justified in believing, at the time the agreements were made, that the anti-assignment provisions required the issuer and obligor to object to any attempt the plaintiff made to execute prohibited assignments as part of an SSPA proceeding in which the court is charged with determining whether the transfer is ‘in the best interest of the payee.”

Part Three recaps the Society of Settlement Planners webinar from June 27, 2023, moderated by Patrick Hindert, where yours truly, Edward Stone of Edward Stone Law P.C., and Stephen Harris, Esq. discussed the Cordero Case. You’ll need to scroll down a bit to get to the correct webinar recording.