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On June 26, 2014, Simpson Thacher won a unanimous decision in the New York Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Division and reinstating Simpson client Norex’s lawsuit, which had been dismissed as time-barred.  Simpson Thacher filed suit on behalf of Norex in June 2011, alleging that Defendants, including two billionaire Russian expatriates living in New York, their New York companies, and BP, conspired to wrest away Norex’s majority interest in a Russian oil company worth over a billion dollars.

In a matter of first impression, the Court of Appeals addressed the interplay of CPLR 205(a), New York’s  savings statute, and CPLR 202 New York’s borrowing statute.  The Court held that a nonresident plaintiff like Norex who filed a timely action in a New York federal court may refile claims arising from the same transaction in state court within six months of the federal action’s non-merits termination.  In doing so, the Court re-affirmed the vitality of New York’s savings statute, holding that its broad and liberal purpose is not to be frittered away by any narrow construction.

The Simpson Thacher team consisted of Barry Ostrager, who argued the appeal in the Court of Appeals, Mary Kay Vyskocil, Jonathan Weiss, who argued the appeal in the Appellate Division, Hiral Mehta and Matt Cave.