Andrea Masley
How Judge Masley decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
She reads exhaustion and 'follow form' clauses in excess-insurance policies literally, holding that an excess carrier's coverage obligation does not attach until the underlying primary policy limit has actually been paid out -- not merely exceeded by unpaid costs -- so a plaintiff cannot force early advancement of excess defense costs.
“Affording the language employed in the policies their plain meaning, Chubb's obligation to provide excess coverage does not attach until all underlying primary policy limits have been exhausted by payment of a claim or claims, riot by incurring costs or expenses that may exceed primary policy limits but have not yet been paid.”
In arbitration-scope disputes she will read a narrow carve-out clause broadly enough to reach every claim sharing the same factual predicate as the covered dispute, including fraud claims, rather than parsing the clause's own limiting language too literally.
“The balance of Huntsman's fraud claims, which share the same factual predicate as the breach of contract claims, go to the heart of the transaction: the material misrepresentations giving rise to the underlying transaction. They must also be arbitrated”
On corporate-standing questions she applies U.S. Supreme Court ERISA standing reasoning to New York public pension litigation even without a controlling New York precedent on point, holding that participants in a 'defined benefit' plan whose payments do not fluctuate with investment performance lack a concrete, particularized injury from a challenged investment decision.
“Just like the plaintiffs in Thole, plaintiffs here have not, and will not, suffer any monetary losses based upon defendants' investment decisions.”
Procedural preferences
She enforces the strict issue-joinder sequencing of CPLR 3212, treating a summary-judgment motion filed before an answer as premature and denying it outright without reaching the merits.
“That branch of Ms. K.'s motion seeking summary judgment is denied without prejudice. Without an answer, the motion is premature.”
On motions to seal she carefully separates genuinely competitive or security-sensitive business information -- which she will seal or redact -- from a party's mere general desire for privacy or fear of embarrassment, which she treats as insufficient 'good cause' even for sensitive material like medical disclosures.
“Good cause does not exist to redact the parties' phone numbers. Neither Guberman, nor West, articulates in an affidavit any reason to seal this information other than a general desire for privacy. This general desire for privacy does not constitute good cause to seal court records.”
When a spoliation motion asks for a severe litigation-ending sanction (striking an answer or foreclosing a party's evidence), she calibrates down to a narrower remedy -- a limited adverse inference -- once the movant fails to show that the loss actually crippled its ability to prove its case.
“Dantzig has not articulated or shown that the destruction of the ESI has deprived him of any means of establishing a prima facie case. ... Accordingly, the most appropriate sanction here, as proposed by Dantzig, is an adverse inference”
She is comfortable finding a genuine ambiguity in an undefined operating-agreement term to defeat a motion to dismiss, rather than resolving the ambiguity against the non-moving party at the pleading stage.
“While the term "withdraw" is not defined in the OA, it is only feasible for a member to withdraw its membership interest from Point 128 in certain limited ways ... the lack of a definition for the term "withdraw" would otherwise create an ambiguity and render this prong of defendants' motion unfit for disposition on a motion to dismiss.”
Cautions
In enforcing a large money judgment through a receivership, she will grant the receiver access to a judgment debtor's privileged attorney-client communications where the debtor's own conduct -- refusing to satisfy the judgment and obstructing the receiver -- made that access necessary, a broader reach into privilege than in an ordinary discovery dispute.
“the receiver has presented a valid basis for reviewing a precisely defined list of materials in defendants' former counsel's files, including those subject to attorney-client privilege”
She will impose a substantial civil-contempt fine on a non-party corporate officer who assists a judgment debtor in disobeying a turnover order, even though the Appellate Division later narrowed the ruling to strike joint-and-several liability for defendants who had not themselves been named in the contempt motion.
“Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Andrea Masley, J.), entered December 21, 2021, which granted plaintiffs' motion for contempt and held nonparty Preetha Pulusani in civil contempt, fined her $1.13 million”
She treats a litigant's repeated misrepresentation about the availability of discoverable evidence as sanctionable frivolous conduct warranting both a fee award and a separate monetary sanction, not merely a discovery-compliance order.
“Plaintiff, among other things, repeatedly represented to defendants and the court that it could not produce the requested discovery because its server had died and been discarded, even though the server was in its possession the entire time”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“the motion of defendants Federal Insurance Company and Chubb Insurance (China) Company Limited to dismiss the complaint as to defendant Federal Insurance Company is GRANTED, with prejudice”
“the motion of defendants Federal Insurance Company and Chubb Insurance (China) Company Limited to dismiss the complaint as to defendant Chubb Insurance (China) Company Limited with respect to plaintiff's cause of action for breach of contract is granted, without prejudice”
“This motion is denied as redundant of motion 08 which was held in abeyance pending a hearing on plaintiff's standing.”
“the Albemarle Defendants' motion to compel arbitration and to stay this action is granted”
“the Individual Defendants may join the arbitration”
“defendant, his agents, servants, employees and all other persons ... are enjoined and restrained, during the pendency of this action ... from using, disclosing, or transferring Eastmore's algorithms”
“the cross-motion of defendant Suman Gunta to dismiss the complaint is granted insofar as only the third cause of action for disgorgement of the complaint is dismissed”
“the most appropriate sanction here, as proposed by Dantzig, is an adverse inference that the destroyed ESI would not contradict Dantzig's evidence at trial. The motion is granted to the extent set forth above.”
“defendants Law Offices of Bart J. Eagle PLLC, Fischer Porter Thomas & Reinfeld, P.C., and Joel Reinfeld, Esq.'s motion to dismiss the complaint herein is granted and the complaint is dismissed in its entirety as against these defendants”
“Ms. K.'s motion to vacate is granted and the order and judgment are vacated. Ms. K. is directed to file an answer.”
“That branch of Ms. K.'s motion seeking summary judgment is denied without prejudice. Without an answer, the motion is premature.”
“defendants Reset Partners, LLC, Mostly Dune Holdings, LLC and Jason Liebman's motion for leave to reargue certain portions of this court's August 9, 2019 decision and order is denied”
“plaintiff JHAC LLC's cross motion for leave to reargue is denied”
“defendants Reset Partners, LLC, Mostly Dune Holdings, LLC and Jason Liebman's motion for leave to reargue certain portions of this court's August 9, 2019 decision and order is denied”
“plaintiff Vincent V Hodes Family Irrevocable Trust's cross motion for leave to reargue is denied”
“plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment is granted as to their cause of action for breach of contract”
“plaintiffs' motion is denied as to their cause of action for unjust enrichment, and that claim is dismissed”
“Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Andrea Masley, J.), entered December 21, 2021, which granted plaintiffs' motion for contempt and held nonparty Preetha Pulusani in civil contempt, fined her $1.13 million ... unanimously modified, on the law, to strike the parts of the order holding defendants jointly and severally liable and requiring production of the communications, and otherwise affirmed”
“Orders, Supreme Court, New York County (Andrea Masley, J.), entered on or about July 18, 2024, directing the turnover of assets pursuant to CPLR 5225 (a), and appointing a receiver pursuant to CPLR 5228 (a), unanimously affirmed, with costs.”
Put Judge Masley's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Masley actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Masley's own signed orders and cites them.