In a recently issued report, titled “Kill Switch: Why Connected Cars Can Be Killing Machines and How to Turn Them Off,” Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, warned that millions of internet-connected cars already on the roadways may be dangerously vulnerable to hacking. While fully autonomous self-driving vehicles may be years away from widespread

Organizations big and small are making significant investments in cybersecurity. Yet, unlike other investments, it’s difficult to assess a company’s return on investment for its cybersecurity spending. And while businesses in regulated industries must invest in cybersecurity to remain in compliance with prevailing laws and therefore stay in business, there is no such straight line

Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) was enacted to facilitate the growth of the internet, by immunizing internet service providers (ISPs) from liability in connection with third party content that appeared on their “interactive computer service.” It states: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as

Our August Insurance Update is now available.

In November 2017, we reported on a California federal district court opinion regarding the TV series Dig, a production based out of Jerusalem.  The show’s producers moved the series out of Jerusalem after Hamas had fired rockets into Israel.  The relocation was costly and the producers sought reimbursement

Frank Valverde contributed to recently published article for the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Law Journal entitled “Recent Developments In Excess, Surplus Lines, And Reinsurance Law” (54 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 2, pp. 471-492 (2019)).

Click here to read the article.

The New York Court of Appeals decided three important insurance cases in its 2018-2019 term. Judge Rowan D. Wilson was the sole dissenter in the first two, with the Court reaching a unanimous decision in the third, and most significant, of the trio. The Court also began to arrange its insurance caseload for next term

Things can change in the blink of an eye. A healthy pregnancy turns into a difficult delivery, resulting in developmental disabilities. Your child’s accident leaves him with a traumatic brain injury, rendering him unable to manage independently. How can you plan for your child’s future when there are so many immediate problems to contend with?

Alan Rutkin’s article entitled “Scam Sophistication” has been published in the August 2019 issue of Best’s Review magazine. The article speaks about taking the warnings of cybercrime seriously as scammers have become more cunning and that vigilance is important.

Click here to read the article.

Best’s Review:  August 2019. Copyrighted A.M. Best Company, Inc. 2019. 

Michael Cannata and Frank Misiti authored a chapter entitled “Excess and Extended Coverages and Excess Coverage Issues” in the third edition of the Insurance Law Practice treatise by the New York State Bar Association.

After 26 years, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS), published a new rule modernizing the Immigrant Investor Program with several changes. This is the first substantial revision to the Employment-Based Immigration: Fifth Preference or EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program since the program’s enactment in 1993. This

Court Rejects Additional Insured Coverage For Live Nation

Claimant was allegedly injured while assembling an advertising structure for Best Buy at Long Island’s Jones Beach Theatre when a Live Nation employee negligently drove a fork-lift into the metal trussing on which the claimant was standing.  Claimant sued Live Nation, which sought additional insured coverage under

Recent settlements of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) actions against Facebook and Equifax received significant publicity for the deals’ large payments to consumers and the Commission. Facebook’s deal calls for a $5 billion penalty for misuse of user’s private data. The Equifax deal requires the company to pay up to $575 million to consumers whose personal

On July 25, 2019, the Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act was signed into law by Governor Cuomo. It will become effective on October 23, 2019. The Act makes important updates to the way that businesses must respond to data breaches and imposes new requirements on businesses to enact data security programs

On July 29, 2019, a judgment was issued by the European Union’s Court of Justice that highlights the need for online businesses to be aware of how user data is shared when third party plug-ins are included on their websites. The Court of Justice’s decision has been highly anticipated as to it reflects the extent

Third Circuit Affirms Denial of Disability Benefits Under ‘Any Occupation’ Standard

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld a decision denying disability benefits to a claimant under the “any occupation” standard of an employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) where the plaintiff failed