The Courts Have Spoken: The Lessons of the Covid-19 Force Majeure Cases

Summary

The majestic New York State Supreme Court Building in Lower Manhattan has stood in regal watch over the tumult of the past century, a silent witness to every shade of humanity—from the disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who was convicted there in 2020, to the revered jurist Benjamin Cardozo, who attended its dedication in 1927. It has been a critical player in countless films and television programs featuring characters that, just as in real life, span the spectrum of vice and virtue—from the mobster Barzini, who was shot on its steps in The Godfather, to Santa Claus himself, who stood trial there in the original Miracle on 34th Street. Courtroom 228 was the scene of the trial in the great morality play 12 Angry Men.