An appellate court in Washington has ruled that the duty of an insurer to defend its insured in connection with potential liability under the state’s Model Toxics Control Act (“MTCA”), which imposes strict liability on the owner or operator of contaminated property, is triggered if a government agency communicates an explicit or implicit threat of

A California appellate court, affirming a trial court’s decision, has ruled that there was no coverage under a commercial general liability insurance policy for claims against a subcontractor that incorporated allegedly defective materials into a construction project, where the only damage was to the project itself.

The Case

Regional Steel Corporation subcontracted with JSM Florentine,

The plaintiff in this case was employed by BDP International as an air import coordinator. Her full time sedentary job required her to sit for most of an eight hour day and, occasionally, to lift or carry a small amount of weight.

After she was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (“MS”) in the late 1990s,

Insurance companies in New York continue to expend considerable time and effort to fight no-fault automobile insurance fraud. Toward that end, one of the most effective tools is the filing of lawsuits in federal court against health care providers who have received payment for services they contend they have provided to injured policyholders. As has

Insurer’s Disclaimer Of Bodily Injury Claims Found Timely When Earlier Notice Only Indicated Property Damage

An insurer was notified on June 30, 2008 of alleged property damage to an apartment building caused when the insureds’ employees were applying a floor finish.  A year later, on July 2, 2009, the employees’ counsel notified the insurer that

The plaintiff in this case worked for Knight Facilities Management-GM, Inc., as a janitor for several years, during which time she alleged that she developed a sensitivity to cleaning products.

After she went to her family physician with symptoms, the doctor recommended that the plaintiff miss work for a week and wear a mask when

Claudia Hinrichsen, Counsel in the firm’s Health Services Practice Group, has written an article entitled, “The Expanded Breadth of HIPAA,” which was published in Volume 8 of Best Practices.

Please click the link below to view the article. Adobe Reader is required to view the bulletin. If Adobe Reader is not installed on your PC,

On June 18, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) issued a blockbuster 2 to 1 decision cancelling six federal trademark registrations owned by the Washington Redskins.  All six registrations feature some variation of the term “REDSKINS” used in connection with professional football services. 

The decision was issued

On a nearly daily basis, each of us is asked or asks others to agree to be bound by “terms of use” or “terms of service” (TOS) as a condition of using an Internet website or obtaining goods or services offered through a website. Whether or not TOS are enforceable continues to be a question

Let me present two hypothetical fact patterns.  First, the snowbird-plaintiff was involved in an automobile accident while visiting New York, which resulted in New York litigation.  She spends the lion’s share of her year in Florida, and at the request of her attorney, defense counsel agrees to plaintiff’s IME being conducted in Florida.  However, and

Joseph Monteleone, a partner in the firm’s Directors & Officers Liability and Insurance Coverage & Litigation Practice Groups, published an article in the Plus Journal entitled, “Dealing With Divergent Interests Among Defense Counsel, the Primary Insurer and Excess Insurers in Complex Litigation Involving Directors and Officers.”

Please click the link below to view the article.

Second Circuit Finds Policy Issued to Hospital Was Excess To Policy Issued To Nurse

A nurse who worked at the Westchester Medical Center (“WHC”) settled a medical malpractice suit. The court ruled that the policy that WCH had obtained for itself and its staff was excess to the nurse’s professional liability policy because the WCH

Before and after voluntarily entering bankruptcy, Quality Stores, Inc., an agricultural-specialty retailer, terminated thousands of employees. The employees received severance payments that were the result of a reduction in work force or a discontinuance of a plant or operation pursuant to two different termination plans.

Under the first plan, terminated employees received severance pay based

The Mission Statement posted on FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs webpage by Associate Commissioner Melinda Plaisier on Jan. 21, 2014, stated we can expect the agency to be “Protecting consumers and enhancing public health by maximizing compliance of FDA-regulated products and minimizing risk associated with those products.” The problem, however, is that when it comes

Employers, employees, taxpayers, and insurance carriers all are heavily burdened by the costs of Worker’s Compensation insurance fraud in New York and in the rest of the tri-state area. As just one example, consider what Charles Kelcy Pegler Sr. admitted to in a guilty plea entered just days ago in a New Jersey state court.