A recent New York federal appellate decision — Calcano v. Swarovski North America Limited— may alter the playing field in what has become the unfortunately exploitative litigation setting known as “drive-by” lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A drive-by ADA lawsuit often involves the same plaintiff filing court complaints against numerous commercial properties within a given radius claiming that the plaintiff was unable to access each property due to certain architectural barriers. Typically, the complaints feature copied-and-pasted boilerplate language, with only slight alterations. These suits often come as a surprise to unsuspecting owners and tenants, who will have no record or recollection of the plaintiff ever trying to access the relevant property.