Morrison Cohen Secures Dismissal of Claims in New York Commercial Division

On March 24, 2026, in CRI Holdings Inc. et al. v. Est4te Four Capital LLC, et al., the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Commercial Division (Masley, J.) granted Morrison Cohen’s motion to dismiss, and dismissed all claims against firm clients Churchill Real Estate Holdings LLC, JGIAP RH 160 LLC, Churchill 160 Imlay Lender LLC, and individuals Sorabh Maheshwari and Justin Ehrlich.

The dispute arose out of a real estate development project at 160 Imlay Street in Brooklyn, where plaintiffs—an advisory firm and its principal—were retained to assist with project operations during a period of financial strain. After the project was refinanced, plaintiffs claimed they were improperly terminated. They subsequently brought breach of contract claims against project lenders JGIAP RH 160 LLC and Churchill 160 Imlay Lender LLC (the “Churchill Lenders”), alleging that the Churchill Lenders had assumed the project sponsor’s contractual obligations by virtue of the lenders’ security interests in the project. 

Plaintiffs further alleged that the Churchill Lenders had filed a frivolous action against Plaintiffs and thus asserted a malicious prosecution cause of action. Plaintiffs named Churchill Real Estate Holdings, Mr. Maheshwari, and Mr. Ehrlich as Defendants allegedly as related entities to the Churchill Lenders.

The Court rejected Plaintiffs’ dangerous attempts to saddle the Churchill Lenders with the project sponsor’s alleged contractual obligations. As the Court explained, the relevant loan security assignments “explicitly state that [the lender] ‘shall not be obligated to perform or discharge… any obligation, duty or liability’” under the project agreements, and therefore that the Churchill Lenders could not be held liable for any alleged breach of those underlying agreements. The Court further dismissed Plaintiffs’ malicious prosecution cause of action, finding Plaintiffs’ allegations contradicted by the record.

The Morrison Cohen team is led by Y. David Scharf and Gayle Pollack.