Opinion ID: 770881
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The New York State Court Action

Text: 6 Luckey Platt, a real estate development firm, was a limited partnership consisting of K.N. Investors, Ltd. (KNIL) as sole general partner and Burstin as sole limited partner. Nachum Kalka controlled KNIL. In 1990, Burstin, represented by Kornstein, sued KNIL and Kalka in New York state court for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other tortious conduct relating to KNIL's misconduct as general partner of Luckey Platt. The suit's claims were also brought derivatively for the benefit of Luckey Platt. That is, Luckey Platt was named as a nominal defendant, but the claims in the state court complaint were brought partly for the benefit of the partnership. 7 In March 1996, Burstin recovered a judgment in the state court awarding approximately nine million dollars, removing KNIL as general partner of Luckey Platt, appointing Burstin as receiver of Luckey Platt, and declaring Kalka personally liable for all of Luckey Platt's debts to third-parties. KNIL immediately appealed from this judgment, filing its notice of appeal also on behalf of Luckey Platt, inasmuch as Luckey Platt was a nominal defendant in the action. Luckey Platt, however, asserts that Kornstein actually represented Luckey Platt in the state court action, since Kornstein represented Burstin and Burstin had asserted derivative claims on behalf of Luckey Platt. In any event, the parties briefed the case between June and August 1996. In its briefs, KNIL argued, inter alia, that if a judgment were to be awarded, it should belong to the Luckey Platt partnership, not Burstin. 1 Burstin, through Kornstein, argued in its brief, inter alia, that the judgment in favor of Burstin was proper. 8