First Department Affirms That Business Interruption From COVID-19 Not Covered

The insured purchased a commercial property policy that included business interruption coverage for its restaurants.  The restaurants were forced to suspend indoor dining operations because of COVID-19 and lost tens of millions of dollars in revenue.  The insured made a claim with its insurance company

What Happened:

Henry Hobson is a widowed blowhard who fancies himself superior to everyone because he owns a shoe business.  Hobson’s daughter Maggie actually runs the business, but Hobson does not pay her.

Hobson is downright nasty to most of the people in his life.  He demeans Maggie and tells her she is too old

You’ll find some notable decisions in our May Insurance Update.

Appeals over pandemic-related business interruption losses have made their way up to state high courts.  And so far, these courts have continued the trend favoring insurers.

The Texas Supreme Court addresses an issue of first impression: What duty of care does an insurer owe to

One would think that the current state of federal law would be clear as to where a plaintiff may commence, and thereafter maintain, his/her action. However, that is not the case; particularly within the Second Circuit, and this ambiguity can create a host of unintended problems, including being forced to litigate an action thousands of

Jennifer Hillman’s and Joseph La Ferlita’s article, “SSHHH! Should Trustees Speak Up About Quiet Trusts?” was published in the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Section Journal.

Although some may question whether financial modesty is a virtue, there is no requirement that parents disclose their net worth to their children. However, the

Crypto assets (such as non-fungible tokens, or NFTS) and cryptocurrencies (such as bitcoin) are types of digital assets, which are typically transmitted by means of blockchain technology. (I know, this makes my brain hurt, too!) Crypto assets are growing in popularity as an investment class, and you may already own some or may be thinking

The Justice Department recently reported obtaining more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in fiscal year 2021. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-s-false-claims-act-settlements-and-judgments-exceed-56-billion-fiscal-year. This is the largest annual total in False Claims Act (FCA) history since 2014, no doubt spurred in part by fraud related to COVID-19. This

Second Department Holds Landlord Covered As Additional Insured Under Tenant’s Policy Where Tenant’s Employee Injured In Freight Elevator Used By Tenant

Bed Bath & Beyond leased third-floor retail and office space at a shopping center in Queens, and its employee was injured while using a freight elevator during his employment.  The employee sued the owner

Michael Heller’s, Peter McNamara’s and Matt Spero’s Winter issue of the Title Insurance Reporter was published in the Real Estate Finance Journal.

The authors discuss recent court decisions of note involving title insurance.

Read the full column here.

What Happened:

Montgomery Brewster’s minor league baseball career is fizzling.  Optimistic Brewster believes his big break is just around the corner, but the break he gets is not the one he expects.

Brewster’s previously unknown great-uncle Rupert Horn dies leaving Brewster $300 million – but only if Brewster can spend $30 million in 30 days

Cases in our April Insurance Update address several questions:

• Are costs incurred to comply with a subpoena covered?
• What must an insured show to rebut the presumption of prejudice in a late notice situation?
• What are related claims under claims-made policies?
• How does a retroactive date limitation apply?
• Is there a “loss of use”

More than a decade ago, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) promulgated a Health Breach Notification Rule (the Rule). The Rule requires certain businesses that access or collect consumers’ identifying health information to notify affected consumers, the FTC and, in some cases, the media, in the event that there is a data security breach leading to

Kenneth A. Novikoff’s Winter issue of the Employment Law Reporter was published in the Employee Relations Law Journal.

This column discusses a number of recent employment discrimination cases and cases involving complaints stemming from non-competition agreements. All of the decisions analyzed in this column are by New York courts – federal and state. The courts’

Here is what we cover in this issue of The Title Reporter: A Legal Update for the Title Insurance Industry:

• A federal district court in Montana has ruled that a conveyance of property by policyholders under a title insurance policy to trusts was a voluntary conveyance to “a separate and distinct entity” and that,

Today, virtually every business is an e-business. Whether a business’ website looks much like it did when it was launched 10 years ago or has recently been updated to an e-platform offering the latest interactive tools, websites are often the first and best method of educating consumers about the business and its products and services.