During 2016 the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced six formal enforcement actions. All involved corporate failures to protect sensitive personal information (health, financial or other) belonging to customers, other consumers or employees. These included proceedings against the owners of AshleyMadison.com (failure to protect the information of 36 million dating site users) and ASUS TeK

The “Internet of Things”  has pervaded every facet of our society thereby introducing unanticipated cyber risks into everyday life. Often overlooked and particularly disconcerting are the cyber risks inherent in connected medical devices. Nevertheless, caregivers and patients alike should be aware that any medical device that depends on interactive computer technology may be vulnerable to

In a recent decision, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York considered whether principles of judicial estoppel may prevent an assignee of a legal malpractice claim from prevailing on a claim against his former adversary’s attorneys. Molina v. Faust Goetz Schenker & Blee, LLP, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13568 (S.D.N.Y.

Tenth Circuit Upholds Pension Trust’s Decision to Honor IRS Levies

When the plaintiffs in this case retired, they began receiving monthly benefits from the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust, a pension plan in which they participated. However, after the trust received notices of levy for both of them from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the trust

On February 17th, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released proposed new regulations aimed at stabilizing the individual and small business insurance marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). According to the proposed rule, the marketplaces “have recently been threatened by issuer exit and increasing rates in many geographic areas.” The

The U.S. Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued Advisory Opinion No. 16-12 (the “Opinion”) regarding a proposed arrangement between a laboratory and a dialysis facility. Briefly stated, the laboratory proposed to offer the dialysis facility free labeling of test tubes and specimen collection containers, a task which is typically performed by the dialysis

Claims-Made Policy Afforded Insured 60 Days After End Of Term To Notify Insurer 

An employee of New York Institute of Technology (“NYIT”) sued NYIT for defamation on February 26, 2009, and NYIT received notice of the action on August 6, 2009. NYIT’s claims-made-and-reported insurance policy ended on September 1, 2009. NYIT notified its insurer of

My January column, “Insurers Using Technology to Fight Insurance Fraud,” N.Y.L.J. Jan. 5, 2017, discussed various new forms of technology that insurance companies are using to fight insurance fraud.

These efforts are producing results for insurers—and, in appropriate instances, for federal, state, and local prosecutors—in the battle against insurance fraud. This month’s column highlights a

On May 15, 2017, New York City’s Freelance Isn’t Free Act (“FIFA”) will take effect, and make history as the first law of its kind. FIFA establishes significant protections for freelance workers, or independent contractors by requiring a written contract, timely payment and anti-retaliation provisions. The law will provide many of the protections afforded to

Seventh Circuit, Joining Other Circuits, Rejects ERISA Plan’s “Coordination of Benefits” Lawsuit Against Health Insurers

The plaintiff in this lawsuit, filed in a federal district court in Illinois, was the trustee of the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare Fund, a self-funded plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974

The South Carolina Supreme Court has found that letters issued by a commercial general liability insurer to its insureds were inadequate to reserve its rights as they amounted to “generic denials of coverage coupled with furnishing the insured with a verbatim recitation of all or most of the policy provisions (through a cut-and-paste method).”

The

A federal district court in Indiana has ruled that a claims-in-process exclusion in a commercial general liability insurance policy precluded coverage for the insureds’ claim where pollution at the insureds’ property had begun before the insureds even had purchased the property.

The Case

Property in Lake Station, Indiana, was used as a dry cleaning facility

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled that a Florida claims handling statute did not preclude an insurer from declining to pay pre-tender defense fees and costs incurred by its insured prior to tendering its claim to the insurer.

The Case

After EmbroidMe.com, Inc., was sued in federal district court for

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has ruled that the two insurance policies covering a leased building damaged in a fire – and not the lease itself – determined the insurers’ relative responsibilities for the damage.

The Case

Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company and Lexington Insurance Company insured the same school building that was

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that an insured’s failure to tender an environmental lawsuit to three insurance companies was fatal to its coverage claim, even though the insured previously had tendered a potential administrative proceeding to the carriers.

The Case

M.B.L., Inc., a defunct dry cleaning products company, sued