We were all set for big changes in the federal estate and gift tax laws last year and, by the end of the year, almost nothing changed. Who knows what changes will ultimately come down the pike when Congress finally becomes functional, and when those changes will take effect? For now, we’ve escaped the reduction

New York’s Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act Amended

On February 24, 2022, New York’s Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act was amended to remove some of the more controversial requirements, including that defendants, third-party defendants, and counterclaim defendants (the “disclosing party”) produce insurance applications and information about other lawsuits that may have eroded the limits of policies being

On February 25, 2022, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law amendments that relieve some of the most stringent insurance disclosure obligations for defendants under the December 2021 Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (CIDA).

CIDA, signed into law on December 31, 2021, significantly expanded the scope of defendant’s insurance disclosure obligations under CPLR 3101(f). CIDA

Causation, an issue courts often wrestle with when deciding insurance coverage issues, lands the starring role in our February Insurance Update.

• A county experienced higher costs due to the opioid crisis.  Does its complaint against drug stores allege damages because of bodily injury?
• A company sells a knock-off trailer with its logo on the

What happened

Sanford Babbitt, Charlie Babbitt’s estranged father, died. Charlie returns home and finds out he is only receiving a car and prize-winning roses, and that all of his father’s other assets have been left in trust for the benefit of an unnamed individual.

Eventually Charlie finds out he has an older brother named Raymond

Nearly 8 years ago, I published an article reviewing FDA’s failure to enforce the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), especially in connection with the requirement that new dietary ingredients (NDIs) provide evidence of a reasonable expectation of safety.

I expressed concerns about the potential public health risk posed by knockoffs of NDIs of

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), as amended by the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 (JFPA), prohibits the use of “any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send, to a telephone facsimile machine, an unsolicited advertisement.” 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C). The TCPA defines “unsolicited advertisement” as “any material advertising the

The range of issues covered in this column over the years would not be complete if I did not discuss COVID-related insurance claims. When addressing these claims, courts throughout the country have been true to policy language. Courts have enforced policy terms tying coverage to “direct physical damage” and upheld insurers’ denials.

A good context

It’s a boy! It’s a girl! These phrases are synonymous with the joy and happiness of childbirth.

They speak to the excitement of a new life but fail to convey the difficulty experienced by the new and current mothers who gave birth to that new and precious life. Excitement is one thing, but society as

Your life changes forever when you bring a baby into this world. As a new mom and young lawyer, I can say from experience that returning to the office after maternity leave is an adjustment.

Being fully committed to both your legal career and your new family is a challenge that requires organization, discipline, and

It has been a long, cold winter, and many of us are yearning for warmer weather. With New York’s fiscal crisis due to the pandemic, and the prospect of higher taxes, many are thinking about changing their primary residence to a warmer and “friendlier” taxing jurisdiction. While an easy topic of cocktail party talk, changing

Certain decisions from the past year suggest that New York courts addressing requests to shift costs in connection with e-discovery are more inclined to exercise their discretion under Article 31 of the CPLR to limit the scope of the requested e-discovery than they are to shift the costs of such discovery to the requesting party.

We residents of Lloyd Harbor share a love for the area’s natural beauty, which has been successfully preserved through the Village’s zoning ordinances. Though the area’s stately and mature trees are desirable, storms and disease can make those trees hazardous, and disputes between neighbors can arise when trees fall. What do you do when your

While some clients flaunt their wealth, others like to keep things quiet. Sometimes, such “financial modesty” is motivated by a concern that knowledge of family wealth could result in disincentivized children or grandchildren. Although some may question whether such financial modesty is a virtue, there is no requirement that parents disclose their net worth to

A possible precedent-setting $100 million lawsuit over Zurich American’s use of the rarely applied war exclusion to deny coverage remains in legal limbo, court documents show — even as a judge ruled in early January against an insurer in a similar case.

Attorneys for Mondelez and Zurich American, which was sued over its denying the