Our Partner William Wilson will be speaking this Wednesday, November 6, at the DRI Complex Coverage Forum taking place in the Hilton Hartford Downtown, 315 Trumbull Street, Hartford, CT. For more information please click the link below....
The S.O. Beach Corp. v. Great American Insurance Company of New York, 791 Fed. Appx. 106 (11th Cir. Oct. 31, 2019) In this case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Great American...
Newly Discovered Evidence
Luna v. Ponce Funeral Homes, Inc., 176 A.D.3d 1193 (2019) This case concerned an action for damages for breach of contract and negligence against a funeral home as the result of alleged mishandling of the remains of the plaintiff’s deceased spouse. The...
Congratulations to our partner, Costantino Suriano, for co-chairing a panel of industry leaders in the St. John’s University School of Risk Management annual conference, Regulatory Risk in Uncertain Times on October 23, 2019.
West Hudson Sub Acute Care Center, LLC v. Chubb Group of Insurance Companies and Federal Insurance Company, No. HUD-L-2042-17 (N.J. Super. Ct., Law Div., Oct. 17, 2019) In this case, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Federal Insurance...
Our partner, Costantino Suriano, is co-chairing a panel of industry leaders in the St. John’s University School of Risk Management annual conference, Regulatory Risk in Uncertain Times on October 23, 2019, which will be held at the Yale Club in New York...
Suit Limitations Provision
Niagara Bottling, LLC v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. EDCV19113PAKKX, 2019 WL 6729756 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 5, 2019) This suit arose out of Niagara’s $20 million loss from its recall and destruction of bottled water after a test at the water’s source came back...
Enforcement of Appraisal Procedure
Fed. Ins. Co. v. Anderson, No. 18-CV-06920-JST, 2019 WL 8128570 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 27, 2019) In this case, the insurer successfully moved to compel an appraisal to establish disputed valuations under its insurance policy. The insureds had purchased a...
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....
Joseph v. New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association, Index. No. 21862/2015 (NY Sup. Ct. Suffolk Co. 2019) The court granted New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association’s (NYPIUA) summary judgment on an alleged vandalism claim filed...
Partner Costantino Suriano will present at the Loss Executives Association’s 4th Annual Young Professionals Day on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at the St. John’s School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Sciences. Please click the link...
Enforcement of Arbitration Agreement
Gold Coast Prop. Mgmt. Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, No. 18-CV-23693, 2019 WL 2482058, (S.D. Fla. June 14, 2019), appeal dismissed sub nom. Gold Coast Prop. Mgmt., Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London, No. 19-12720-EE,...
Danino v. Fairmont Insurance Brokers, Index No. 157059/2018 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. Sept. 6, 2019) This litigation involved a first-party property insurance claim for interior water damage. The applicable policy allowed the broker to add properties if...
MCWG’s 6th Annual NYC Reinsurance Conference is on Thursday, September 19 at the New York City Bar Association. This conference, chaired by Lloyd Gura, qualifies for CE/CLE credit. The Panel Moderators this year are Ann Field, Gregg Hirsch,...
Dismissal for Failure to Appear
Valdiviezo v. Tower Ins. Co. of NY, Index No. 150596/2017 (New York Co. Sup. Ct., July 5, 2019) This case involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which the insurer denied a claim for fire damage to a multi-family building. The policy at...
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...
Pre-Inception Property Damage, Collapse and Late Notice
Pars Bronx Realty, LLC v. Wesco Ins. Co., Index No. 450191/2017 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. June 20, 2019) In this dispute involving a commercial building, the insured sought $2.5 million for property damage and $2.5 million for bad faith. Wesco Insurance...
Congratulations to Jack Bove! On June 12, 2019, he received the Network of Bar Leaders Presidents’ Award as President of the Managing Attorneys and Clerks Association at the Annual Presidents’ Dinner. The featured speaker was Letitia James, NYS Attorney...
V & D Properties, LLC v. Security National Ins. Co., Index EFC-2017-1805 (Oswego Co. Sup. Ct. June 7, 2019) This case involved an insurance claim for water damage that occurred in a commercial building located in Oswego, New York, caused by an...
An-Jung v. Rower LLC, Index No. 152694/18 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. 2018), rev’d 173 A.D.3d 488 (1st Dep’t 2019) In this negligence and breach of contract action, plaintiff sought damages arising out of alleged excessive and improper billing by defendants...
For more information: Current Ethical Issues for In-House Counsel & Those Who Advise Them: Litigation Perspectives...
Bylykbashi v. Public Service Ins. Co., Docket No. 16-6071062 (Conn. Sup. Ct., June 3, 2019) Plaintiff sought $200,000 in damages based on his allegation that the insured premises sustained water damage as a result of roof leaks. Public Service Insurance...
Enforcement of Arbitration Agreement
White Eagle Prop. Grp., LLC v. Amrisc, LLC, No. 619CV335ORL31DCI, 2019 WL 2337005 (M.D. Fla. June 3, 2019) This matter involved the arbitration of a claim for alleged damage to a residential rental complex in Winter Springs, Florida caused by Hurricane...
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...
The 2019 Annual Loss Executives Association Conference was hosted in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from January 30 to February 1, 2019.
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...
Failure to Allow Inspection of Premises
Williams v. New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association, New York Co. Index No. 151083/2014 (NY Sup. Ct. New York Co. 2019) This case involved the failure of the insured to allow an inspection of his premises. The insured requested an increase...
Enforcement of Appraisal Award
Peter Max v. Great American Security Insurance Company, No. BER-L-7136-18 (N.J. Super. Ct., Law Div., May 21, 2019) In this summary action, the insureds sought judicial review of the terms of an appraisal award that established the amount of loss they...
First-Party Wear and Tear Exclusion
200 Court Street LLC v. Wesco Ins. Co., 2019 WL 3207539, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 31945(U) (Queens Co. Sup. Ct. May 20, 2019) This case involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which Wesco Insurance Company denied a claim for wind damage to the...
Coverage for “Residence Premises”
Canale v. Castlepoint Ins. Co., 64 Misc.3d 1208(A), 116 N.Y.S.3d 861 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2019) This case involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which Castlepoint Insurance Company denied a claim for fire damage to a dwelling configured as...
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...
First Party Collapse Claim
Bronx 13 Properties LLC v. Wesco Ins. Co., Index No. 161411/2015 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. Apr. 4, 2019) In this case the insured landlord sought coverage for the collapse of a bathroom floor that allegedly caused damage to several other floors of an...
Jonathan Chernow’s lecture, “But is it real? Addressing fakes and forgeries in the art market from an insurance coverage and risk management perspective,” addressed recent scandals in the news; how to spot forgeries and fakes before they are...
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.
Duty in Tort to Third Parties
Georgoulis & Associates, PLLC v. Air Seal Insulation Systems, Inc. and Boorom Facilities Solutions, LLC, Case No. 51983/12, N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Co. (May 8, 2019) A New York trial court dismissed all claims against CNC Coatings Corp. i/s/h/a Air Seal...
Arbitrator Qualifications
Park Shore Resort Condominium Association, Inc. v. General Security Insurance Company of Arizona, 2:19-cv-125-Ftm-38MRM (M.D. Fla. May 8, 2019) This matter concerned an arbitration regarding a multi-story condominium resort in Naples. While the...
Mr. Temkin’s presentation of “The Trump Bubble: What Happens When the Longest Bull Market in U.S. History Hiccups?,” was chosen to be included in the 2019 PLDF Annual Meeting. This will take place at the W Lakeshore – Chicago, located at 644 N...
Mr. Lasky will speak about Privacy, Confidentiality, Data Protection and Sanctions Clauses, on Tuesday, July 23rd, from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m The RAA’s Re Contracts Course: The Art of Designing Reinsurance Contracts and Programs will be conducted on Tuesday,...
Commercial General Liability Pollution Exclusion
National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA. v. Burlington Ins. Co., Supreme Court New York, New York County, Index No. 155114/2013 (April 27, 2018) The insured, Mayore Estates, owned a building in Manhattan next to the World Trade Center. In 2005,...
Costantino Suriano was a speaker on behalf of The Loss Executives Association at St. John’s University’s Best and Brightest Students, hosted by Allied World Assurance Holdings in Bermuda on March 29, 2019. For more information please visit:...
For more information please visit:...
Inwood Security Inc. v. Wesco Ins. Co., Index No. 30443/2017E (Bronx Co. Sup. Ct. Apr. 15, 2019) In this property insurance dispute, while the insured and insurer resided in New York County, and the loss allegedly occurred in New York County, the...
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Williams v. Waypoint Resource Group, LLC, No. 18CV4921ARRRML, 2019 WL 1368998 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2019) In this class action lawsuit filed under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, plaintiff alleged that a debt collection letter sent to her violated...
Partner Emilie Baklan-Caplan will speak at the Perrin Conferences’ Natural Disaster Conference on April 2-3, 2019 at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami, FL. This one-and-a-half-day conference will feature thought leaders with varied...
Croxton-Narain v. Sterling & Sterling, Inc., No. B285240, 2019 WL 1069601 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 6, 2019) Plaintiff worked as an executive account assistant for defendant. She suffered an Ischemic attack and missed over a month of work, prior to being...
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...
2416 Newkirk v. Wesco Ins. Co., Kings Co. Index No. 502342 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. Feb. 28, 2019) This case involved insurance claims for a theft that took place in an apartment located at 2416 Newkirk Avenue, Brooklyn, and a separate claim for costs...
Loss to Records/Electronic Data
Orloff v. AmTrust Financial, Index No. CV-032757-18/K1 (Kings Co. Sup. Ct. Feb. 13, 2019); Wesco Ins. Co. v. King & Associates, Index No. 650212 (New York Co. Sup. Ct. Aug. 20, 2019) Plaintiff Jason Orloff brought an action for breach of contract...
The New York-based law firm of Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass LLP announced today that Dustin DuBose will be joining the firm as Resident Partner in its new Houston, Texas office. Dustin, a seasoned litigator and advisor, has represented domestic...
Extra-Contractual Damages
Great American Ins. Co. of NY v. L. Knife & Son, Inc., No. 157164/2013, 2019 WL 529276 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Feb. 11, 2019) In granting Great American Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss L. Knife’s counterclaims for attorneys’ fees and other...
Samuel Weiss as Trustee of the Agi Weiss Insurance Trust v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company of New York, Index No. 035397/2014 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., Rockland Cty, Feb. 14, 2019) In this case, the owner of an $8 million life insurance policy brought a...
Integon Nat’l Ins. Co. v. Chen, 2019 WL 462854, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30286(U) (New York Co. Sup. Ct. Feb 6, 2019) This case involved a third-party liability insurance dispute in which the insureds argued they were entitled to defense and indemnity under...
Misrepresentation and Dwelling Fire
Micle v. MIC Gen. Ins. Corp., 2019 WL 1532685, 2019 NY Slip Op 30840(U) (Queens Co. Sup. Ct. Feb 6, 2019) This case involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which the insurer denied a claim for fire damage to a three-family dwelling. The...
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...
No Violation of Federal Debt Collection Practices Act
Taubenfliegel v. Miller & Malone, P.C., Case No. 1:18-cv-01884-ERK-JO (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2018) Mound Cotton won summary judgment in favor of its client, Miller & Malone, P.C., in an action alleging violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices...
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...
On December 5, 2018, Justice Patrick J. McGrath of the New York Supreme Court, Rensselaer County, issued a decision in the case Black River Partners, et al. v. Adirondack Mechanical Services and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Index No. 252627/2016,...
Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass LLP will be hosting the IRUA/Reinsurance Networking Group Luncheon on Wednesday, January 23rd. The topic of the luncheon presentation will be “Ethics in Arbitration: Is It an Oxymoron? Arbitrator...
First-Party Water Damage Sublimit
Black River Partners, et al. v. Adirondack Mechanical Services and Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., Index No. 252627/2016, New York Supreme Court, Rensselaer County (December 5, 2018) The court held that all the insured’s property damage and resulting business...
Click here to read the full article by Jeffrey Weinstein and Bruce Kaliner!
The program will be offering 7 hours of CLE credit, including one hour of ethics CLE. To register or get more information, visit here.
On November 19, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation New York Division Community Outreach hosted the 16th Annual FBI Citizens’ Academy Graduation Ceremony. Michael R. Koblenz was one of thirty one graduates.
U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” has ranked law firms in 75 national practice areas and 122 metro practice areas for 2019. Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass has been named as a Tier 1 firm in the New York Metropolitan area and in Tier 2...
Dismissal Based on Counsel’s Failure to Appear
New Rainbow Heaven, LLC et al. v. Wesco Ins. Co., N.Y. Co. Index No. 655648/2016 (NY Sup. Ct. NY Co. 2018) This case involved plaintiff-insured’s claim for fire damage to its restaurant. Plaintiff’s counsel sought to withdraw upon the parties’ motions...
Suit Limitation and Late Notice
Brenner v. Hermitage Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 32667(U), 2018 WL 5261037 (NY Co. Sup. Ct., October 16, 2018) The Brenner case involved a first-party property dispute in which the insured landlord made a claim under his policy following vandalism damage...
Misrepresentation in Property Insurance Application
Perez v. Castlepoint Ins. Co. et al., 2018 N.Y. Slip Op 32668, 2018 WL 5283415 (NY Sup. Ct., Queens Co. October 19, 2018) This litigation involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which the plaintiff-insureds claimed coverage for damages to...
Gregg Hirsch moderated the panel, “The Life Deal Market,” as part of “The Art of the Runoff Deal” sessions at AIRROC’s 2018 NJ 2018 Commutations & Networking Forum on October 15, held at The Westin Jersey City...
Consigned Goods Not Covered Property
Talisman Services, Inc. v. Hermitage Ins. Co., 2018 WL 3859692 (N.Y.Sup.), 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 31955(U) (New York Co. Sup. Ct., Aug 14, 2018) Talisman involved a first-party property insurance dispute where the insured claimed coverage for water damage...
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...
Waiver of Appraisal Right
Versailles Sur La Mer Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., No. 6:18-cv-1125-Orl-37TBS (U.S. District Court, Middle District Florida, July 24, 2018) The firm obtained an order denying plaintiff’s motion to compel Lexington Insurance Company to...
MCWG’s 5th Annual NYC Reinsurance Conference is on Thursday, September 13 at the New York City Bar Association. This conference, chaired by Lloyd Gura, qualifies for CE/CLE credit. For more information or to register, please email...
Barry Temkin discussed whether Michael Cohen committed a crime under New York law when he recorded phone calls he had with President Trump in secret in Law360, “Cohen Tapes Show Broken Attorney-Client Relationship.” (subscription required) ...
To learn more about the Defense Research Institute (DRI), click here.
For more information about the program, please click here. This program offers 4.0 NJ CLE credits (including 1.0 ethics/professionalism credit).
Protective Safeguards Provision
Illinois Union Ins. Co. v. Grandview Palace Condominiums Assoc. Corp., 155 A.D.3d 459 (1st Dep’t 2017), lv denied, 31 N.Y.3d 912 (2018) In this case the New York Court of Appeals denied defendant-insured’s motion for leave to appeal a decision by the...
Earth Movement Exclusion and Lack of Privity
Sebmar LLC v. AmTrust Financial Svcs. et al., New York Supreme Court, Kings County, Index No. 505707/17 (2018) The Sebmar case involved an insurance claim for damage to an apartment building located in Brooklyn. The damage was reportedly caused when...
2416 Newkirk v. Wesco Ins. Co. et al., Kings Co Index No 502342 (NY Sup. Ct. June 15, 2018) This first-party insurance litigation involved insurance claims for a theft that occurred in an apartment building located at 2416 Newkirk Avenue, Brooklyn, and...
Appraisal and First-Party Bad-faith Claim
Greenbrier Hotel Corporation, et al., v. Lexington Insurance Company, et al., Civ. Action No.: 5:14-cv-15201 (S.D. W. Va. June 11, 2018) The district court affirmed an appraisal award in favor of Mound Cotton’s clients, finding that the insurers timely...
For more information, visit here.
MCWG 5th Annual NYC Reinsurance Conference will be taking place on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at the New York Bar Association. This conference is a one-day educational and networking conference for experienced industry professionals. This...
Airport Runway Collapse Claim
Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority, Inc. v. Triad Engineering, Inc., (West Virginia Circuit Court, Mass Litigation Panel, May 2018) The firm obtained an order granting summary judgment in favor of its client, New Hampshire Insurance...
No Private Cause of Action under Unfair Claim Settlement Act
Petrilli v. Adirondack Ins. Exchange, 2018 WL 2322773 (N.Y.Sup.), 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 30941(U) (NY Sup. Ct., Nassau Co., May 16, 2018) This decision involves a first-party property insurance dispute in which plaintiff-insureds claimed their building...
On May 10, 2018, the judges of the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel granted summary judgment in favor of New Hampshire Insurance Company on a $30 million claim arising from the March 2015 collapse of an airport runway extension. New Hampshire was the...
For more information, visit here
Third-Party Bad-Faith Claim
Paul Evert’s RV World et al. v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 720 Fed. Appx. 412 (9th Cir. April 25, 2018) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment obtained by Mound Cotton’s attorneys in a significant third-party bad faith action. The...
For more information, visit here
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...
