Law firms hiring lateral lawyers should be careful that they are not conflicting themselves out in the process. This is because a lateral lawyer’s conflicts are imputed to the new firm under the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC). This principle...
Law360 published “Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions” , written by partners Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo, on August 30, 2024. You can read the article here (subscription required), or click on the link below.
This article will be published in the August 2024 issue of International Institute of Loss Adjusters (IILA)’s The International Monitor. This July 9, 2024 update was written with the invaluable follow up research and assistance of Mariah Patuel,...
Partner Barry Temkin wrote “Are SEC and FINRA Administrative Hearings Unconstitutional?” which the New York Law Journal published on May 9, 2024. Click below to read the full article.
This article was published in ARIAS-US Quarterly, Q1 2024. In late May 2023, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a detailed and complex decision that demonstrates in unusually lucid fashion that the interconnected worlds of U.S. and U.K....
This article was published in IACP (International Association of Claim Professionals) Declarations 2022-2023 Year in Review, pp.39-43. You can see the article, attached, or download the article here: https://lnkd.in/g98GB-rF On May 23, 2022, California...
In 1996, the London Engineering Group (LEG) first introduced a set of model defects clauses applying to physical loss or damage to insured property caused by defects in material, workmanship, design, plan, or specification, known as LEG 1, LEG 2, and...
Because arbitration is generally considered a more efficient forum for dispute resolution than litigation, insurers may include mandatory arbitration provisions––often with New York law and forum provisions––in their contracts. New York has served as a...
The Surfside collapse and its $1.2 billion class action settlement in 2021 created a pivotal moment for Florida insurance regulations in property losses. Partner Lloyd Gura dives into the legislative response of the state and its efforts to curb the...
“‘Tonoga v. New Hampshire’ and the Applicability of Pollution Exclusions to PFAS” was published in New York Law Journal on October 5, 2022. Partner Hilary Henkind and associate Ananda Zhu analyze the applicability of pollution...
The article, “Fast and Furious: Forum Defendants, Snap Removal and 28 U.S.C. §1441(b)”, was published in New York Law Journal on April 8, 2022. Partner Jeffrey Weinstein and associate Samuel Weiss examine the viability in federal circuit...
This article was published on the PLUS (Professional Liability Underwriting Society) Blog on March 14, 2022. Partner Barry Temkin and Robert Usinger, Esq. co-authored “Choice of Counsel and Policy Erosion for Professional Liability Policies Under...
It is well-settled that the mysterious disappearance exclusion in an all-risk policy does not exclude from coverage the loss of property caused by theft[1]; rather, it precludes coverage for missing property where there is no physical evidence to show...
Partner Amy Kallal and Special Counsel Andrea Fort discuss recent cases involving the efforts to obtain access to arbitration awards which are filed as part of petitions to confirm or vacate. Some courts have allowed third-party access to awards just...
A domestic corporation is a citizen of its state of incorporation and principal place of business for purposes of diversity jurisdiction.[1] By contrast, the citizenship of other “unincorporated” domestic business entities (such as limited liability...
Does An Insurer Have An Entitlement to Recoup Defense Costs When No Duty to Indemnify Exists? In a case of first impression for the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, the court chose not to follow prior decisions of its...
The Case of Cadre v. Proassurance Casualty Company Rule 1:21-1B of the New Jersey Rules of Court governs the practice of law as a limited liability company, and provides in relevant part that “[a]ttorneys may engage in the practice of law as limited...
The New York Law Journal published “NY Prompt Pay Act for Construction Contractors,” written by partner Barry Temkin and coauthor Ken Eccleston, on August 10, 2021. This article provides an in-depth discussion of New York’s Prompt Pay Act,...
William Wilson published new book, NJ Insurance Coverage Litigation – A Practitioners Guide (2021), 3rd ed. With co-author Frank DeAngelis, they provide a broad overview of insurance coverage litigation in NJ involving the enforcement and interpretation...
The Indiana Supreme Court Weighs In With the proliferation of computer crime these days, cyber insurance has become a must for businesses. There are many different types of cyber coverage available on the market, and the coverage that an insured...
Maintaining Confidentiality When Petitioning for Relief in Court A long-running dispute between Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company and one of its reinsurers, Everest Reinsurance Company, recently culminated in the unsealing of an...
This article was published on Law360 (subscription required) on June 10, 2021, in Insurance Authority, and in the daily Insurance newsletter. It was written by partner Amy Kallal, Special Counsel Andrea Fort, and associate Andrew Romano. On June 9, El...
State and federal courts across the country are grappling with insurance coverage litigation, as insureds who suffered business losses due to government-mandated shutdowns look to their property insurers for relief. These cases present the following key...
Barry Temkin co-authored “ABA Remote Work Guide Raises Bar For Atty Tech Know-How” in Law360 (subscription required) with Jennifer Goldsmith, vice president of professional liability claims at Ironshore, discussing ABA Ethics Opinion 498, a...
This article was published on Liberty Mutual’s website. You can access it here. This article will consider potential future claims against design professionals that are expected to arise from the Covid-19 pandemic and offer recommendations for how...
This article was published in the New York Law Journal on January 15, 2021. In addition to a 2018 ABA ethics opinion which outlines when law firms are ethically obligated to notify clients of data breaches jeopardizing the security of their confidential...
This article was reprinted with permission from Business Law Today. Much has been written in recent years about lawyers’ duties to preserve the confidentiality of client information under the rules of professional conduct and to take reasonable...
Alternative investments are back in the news. The Massachusetts Securities Division has announced an investigation of brokerdealers selling oil and gas and car dealership limited partnerships, and has issued subpoenas to sixty-three firms selling the...
This article was originally published in the New York Law Journal on July 20, 2020. Expert Opinion The SEC and U.S. Justice Department are investigating suspicious stock trades made by U.S. Senator Richard Burr in February 2020, which might have been...
This article was reprinted with permission from Business Law Today, May 12, 2020. On June 30, 2020 registered securities broker-dealers must begin their compliance with new SEC Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS Relationship Summary/Form ADV Part 3,...
A showdown is looming next month in a federal appeals court in New York on the enforceability of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new Regulation Best Interest, which is scheduled to go into effect on June 30. The raging coronavirus pandemic is...
Partner Matthew Lasky’s article, “Data Protection: Harmonizing Tensions Between the NAIC’s ‘Insurance Data Security Law’ & Traditional Access-To-Records Provisions” was published in the Journal of Reinsurance 2020,...
A guide to avoiding negligent design claims arising from attempts to collect project fees. Every design professional likes to get paid promptly. While it is not the only reason you are in business, getting paid certainly beats the alternatives. But did...
Partner Barry Temkin’s article about the SEC’s new regulation governing broker-dealers, Regulation Best Interest (Reg. BI), “New ‘Regulation Best Interest’ Becomes Effective for Broker Dealers,” was published in the New York Law...
Cyber Attacks: What Are They? Broadly speaking, cyber attacks are socially or politically motivated attacks carried out through the Internet, targeting individuals, corporations, governments, or the general population.[1] They can be categorized into...
Suppose a pipe bursts in a hotel, causing water damage to an entire floor, and requiring the replacement of that floor’s carpeting. As it turns out, however, that style and pattern of carpeting is no longer available anywhere. The hotel insists that...
If only Clair Huxtable, Esq. were willing to take on Cliff Huxtable’s cases pro bono, maybe William “Bill” Cosby could have avoided the extended legal battle with American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”) over whether it was obligated to defend Mr....
Is money “tangible property”? What about checks? These questions recently were answered in the negative by a New Jersey Appellate Court in Estate of Keppel v. Angela’s Angels Home Healthcare, LLC, 2019 WL 2060285 (May 9, 2019). Donna Thomas was a home...
A life insurance policy is valid only if the insured has an “insurable interest” in the person covered by the policy at the time it is issued. Where no insurable interest exists, the policy is void and the policyholder has no right to recovery. The...
The article, co-authored with Brenda Dorsett, is about ethical concerns for lawyers who use Amazon Echo and other voice-activated digital assistants. It was published on Friday, May 24, 2019, as an Expert Analysis. Click here to download and read. Click...
This article “Lawyers’ Digital Assistants Raise Ethics, Privacy Concerns” was originally published on Law360, May 23, 2019 Is my Amazon Alexa spying on me? Recent years have witnessed the growth and proliferation of voice-activated...
Let’s say an instant oatmeal product incorporates a dried milk ingredient that has been manufactured in a facility with unsanitary conditions and that the milk ingredient may be contaminated with Salmonella as a result. The instant oatmeal product then...
The article, “America Has An Opioid Problem: Who’s Going To Pay To Fix It?,” is available in the AIRROC Matters 2019 Spring Issue and The Society of Actuaries. You can read the article here.
Partner Lloyd Gura and special counsel Andrea Fort’s article, “Automatization of Underwriting and the Future of the Reinsurance Relationship,” was published in the March 2019 Journal of Reinsurance. New technology and artificial...
Product Contamination: When The Spices Kick It Up a Notch, Who Will Respond? A notification rings and the insured sees an urgent email from its spice supplier. The email states, in bold capital letters: ”RECALL! Spices Contaminated With Salmonella.”...
Technology keeps progressing in leaps and bounds. We read that robots or the much- awaited (or dreaded) artificial intelligence are going to take over property claims work in the All Things Internet New World. Unfortunately, there is a “dark side” that...
A. Introduction From causes of action sounding in breach of contract, to improperly earned commissions, to allegations of violations of real estate specific statutes, buyers and sellers have continued to assert claims against real estate professionals,...
Court decisions concerning flood zones designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) often seem to be like someone is reciting the alphabet. “A,” “AE,” “B,” “C,” “D,” “V,” “X,” to name a few. (What happened to E through U are questions...
Medidata Solutions, Inc. provides cloud-based services to scientists conducting research in clinical trials and uses Google’s Gmail as a platform for the company’s emails. While the emails are routed through Google’s computer servers, which also process...
The Supreme Court of Ohio recently issued a decision that bucked the dominant trend among U.S. courts when it comes to CGL coverage for construction defects. In Ohio Northern University v. Charles Construction Services, Inc. — N.E.3d —-,...
In Gen. Re Life Corp. v. Lincoln Nat’l Life Ins. Co., No. 17-2496-CV, 2018 WL 6186078, — F.3d. — (2d Cir. Nov. 28, 2018), the Second Circuit, for the first time, recognized “an exception to functus offico where an arbitration award is...
What is a four-wheel passenger auto? That was a question that recently was answered by the New Jersey Appellate Division in Starner v. Haemmerle, No. A-0153-17T2, 2018 WL 5273995 (N.J. App. Div. Oct. 24, 2018). Specifically, the issue before the court...
An insurer typically has two distinct, albeit related, obligations under a third-party policy: the duty to defend the insured in connection with potentially covered claims asserted against the insured and the duty to pay any judgments against the...
This article was written by Sanjit Shah.[1] According to Business Insider, thirty states currently allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and nine permit the recreational use of marijuana.[2] Seven years ago, medical marijuana was allowed in...
This article was originally published on Professional Liability Insurance Newsletter, American Bar Association, Fall 2018. On June 11, 2018, news broke that the local and federal law enforcement officials had arrested 74 people, including nearly 30 in...
Introduction “When will it end?” is a refrain that must be on many liability insurers’ minds when it comes to liability under commercial general liability policies issued decades ago. Many such policies contain anti-assignment clauses, the purpose of...
Introduction When will it end is a refrain that must be on many liability insurers’ minds when it comes to liability under commercial general liability policies issued decades ago. Many such policies contain anti-assignment clauses, the purpose of...
In a recent case, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that an insured had no duty to defend an insured accused of falsely advertising the origin of its product. Albion Engineering Company, a New Jersey company, was sued...
In a recent case, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey held that an insured had no duty to defend an insured accused of falsely advertising the origin of its product. Albion Engineering Company, a New Jersey company, was sued...
Liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for injuries resulting from conduct that is “particularly reprehensible.” As a general rule, coverage is barred where the insured had an intent to injure. In most circumstances, courts apply a...
Liability insurance policies do not provide coverage for injuries resulting from conduct that is “particularly reprehensible.” As a general rule, coverage is barred where the insured had an intent to injure. In most circumstances, courts apply a...
On Jan. 17, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on the capital murder conviction of Robert McCoy, who was sentenced to death by a Louisiana court after his own lawyer told the jury he was guilty of a triple homicide. According to The New...
Cybersecurity events, including hacking, are on the rise at law firms. A major professional liability insurer estimates that as many as 80% of the largest law firms in the U.S. have experienced data breaches recently.[1] Nor is external hacking the only...
In October 2017, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a National Public Health Emergency. Three months later, it was confirmed that drug overdose deaths had increased significantly in 2016 to more than 63,600, with more than 42,200 attributed to...
In an unusual and noteworthy publicly-reported discovery battle between a cedant and reinsurer, the cedant sought to protect almost twenty years of historical reserving information relating to late notice of asbestos claims against its insured, on...
The state of the law across the U.S. regarding insurance for construction defects under commercial general liability (CGL) coverage is an ever-changing landscape. Although numerous coverage issues continue to be debated, including the fundamental issue...
This article,”Tips For Handling Workplace Substance Abuse Under ADA,” was updated and reprinted with permission from Law360, October 11, 2017. The opioid crisis has focused attention on workplace substance abuse like never before. In August,...
Since passage of the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the momentum has been towards adoption of a uniform fiduciary standard for all financial advisers, whether registered representatives or registered investment...
Insurance policies commonly contain an exclusion for losses caused by “earth movement” or “subsidence.” Such exclusions typically exclude coverage for losses caused by earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, and earth sinking or shifting. Absent language...
Insurance policies commonly contain an exclusion for losses caused by “earth movement” or “subsidence.” Such exclusions typically exclude coverage for losses caused by earthquakes, landslides, mudflows, and earth sinking or shifting. Absent language...
Introduction Two commonly used third-party discovery mechanisms available to parties in FINRA arbitrations are the subpoena and the order of production. While the functional purpose of these tools is the same and the procedure to obtain them is similar,...
This article, “Understanding Insurance Issues in Securities Arbitration and Mediation,” was reprinted with permission from the New York Law Journal, Volume 258—NO. 37 Wednesday, August 22, 2017. Insurance issues often influence the outcome...
An updated and expanded version of New Jersey Insurance Coverage Litigation – A Practitioner’s Guide, the book I co-authored, is now available. It has been over two years since the first edition of this book was published. In this second edition, my...
Leases of real property often require the tenant to obtain liability insurance covering the premises and to name the landlord as an additional insured under the policy. The extent to which the landlord is entitled to coverage depends, at least in the...
This article was published in Law360 on June 23, 2017 by partners Philip Silverberg, William Wilson, and former associate Andrew Rice. This is part 2 of this article. You can find the first part here. On March 25, 2015, the district court issued an...
This article was published in Law360 on June 22, 2017 by partners Philip Silverberg, William Wilson, and former associate Andrew Rice. Corrosion exclusions have been commonplace in first-party property insurance policies for decades, as evidenced by the...
If you could count on anything, it would be that our partner, Dan Markewich, would spend at least a few minutes at each monthly partner meeting talking about the Mound Cotton Newsletter. The Newsletter was something he took pride in, often reminding the...
Following the financial crisis of 2008, the role of Chief Compliance Officer for financial institutions has been redefined, most notably by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. A review of recent regulatory enforcement...
Property insurance policies, like other insurance policies, contain an overall limit of liability, which is the maximum amount that the insurance company will pay for any given loss. In addition to an overall limit, policies may also contain “sublimits”...
This article was originally published by Bloomberg Law on May 17, 2017. Lawyers who maintain active social media presences should be aware of two recent opinions by ethics committees in New York discussing the extent to which lawyers’ postings on the...
This article was originally published by Business Insurance on March 6, 2017. As more businesses come to realize that cyber attacks pose a serious threat to business operations, revenue streams and contingency planning, the market is starting to expand...
This article accompanied a presentation Partner Jonathan Gross gave at the Defense Research Institute’s “Insurance Coverage and Claims Institute Seminar” on April 7, 2016 in Chicago. To read the full article, please click below. The article was also...
Lawyers who represent insurance companies, banks, insurance agents and other financial institutions in New York should be aware of new Department of Financial Services (DFS) cybersecurity regulations that become effective January 1, 2017. The new DFS...
MCWG partners Costantino Suriano, Deanna Manzo, and associate Kelly Cheverko authored a White Paper on Fort McMurray Wildfires: “WHO IS THE CBI WINNER? An Oil-Producing City Evacuated Must Mean a CBI Claim is Coming to Some Insurer.” The...
Mound Cotton’s partner Jeffrey Weinstein and associate Jared Markowitz co-authored “REBUTTAL: When Insurance Policies Are Enforced As Written.” The article was published by Law360 on January 26, 2016. It is reprinted with...
In most duty to defend policies, the insurance carrier has the right to control the defense, including the appointment of counsel. Insurance carriers typically designate panels of approved law firms to defend policyholders in duty to defend cases, often...
The question presented is whether it is ethical for a lawyer to make a campaign contribution to a judge before whom the lawyer’s firm sometimes appears, or before whom the lawyer is appearing in a pending case. A related question is whether the lawyer...
NYCLA’s Ethics Hotline provides free, confidential advice to members concerning ethics questions that may arise in the course of their practice. The Hotline is staffed on a voluntary, rotating basis by members of the NYCLA Professional Ethics Committee,...
Since the 1987 decision of the United States Supreme Court in Shearson/American Express Inc. v. McMahon,[1] upholding the enforceability of an arbitration agreement in a securities fraud claim, the overwhelming majority of securities industry customer...
