Automobile

Forum Shopping Comes Up Empty (PA)

In a recent ruling from the Superior Court of PA, Kendall v. Ford Motor Company, the Court affirmed a lower Court granting defendant’s motion to transfer based on forum non conveniens. The complaint concerned a traffic accident that occurred in Bucks County, yet plaintiff’s counsel filed the complaint in Philadelphia County, a plaintiff friendly trial pool. The court held that because the...Read More

New York Court Permits Disclosure Of Social Media Activity In Personal Injury Lawsuit

Millions of Americans document their lives and activities on social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. When a person becomes injured in an accident and files a personal injury lawsuit, should defendants be permitted access to plaintiff’s social media? In Gentile v. Ogden, the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, recently addressed this question in a case involving a...Read More

Burden On Defense In Multi-Accident Injuries To Prove Separate Causation (NJ)

In a recent case in the New Jersey Appellate Division, the court held that when there are claims stemming from multiple car accidents, the burden is on the defense to prove that the resulting injuries were not caused solely by the accident in which they are the defendant, rather they must demonstrate that there are multiple different causes for the injuries. In 2015, the Plaintiff was involved...Read More

The Benefit Of The Auto Insurance Bargain (PA)

On July 6, 2022, in an appeal from the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor auto insurer State Farm’s motion for summary judgment. The case, Tina Bubonovich v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co., was initiated by the plaintiff when, after recovering the available limits of the other driver’s liability coverage, as...Read More

No Lane For Recovery When Central Park Cyclist Gets Hit By A Truck (NY)

The First Department Appellate Division granted a defendant summary judgment dismissal in a motor vehicle accident claim involving a truck driver and a pedestrian bicyclist. In Peter Deutch v. City of New York, 2022 NY Slip Op 03174 (1st Dept. 2022),  plaintiff was bicycling in Center Park East when he collided with a flatbed truck owned by defendants Hellman Electric Corp. The accident...Read More

Video Surveillance Leaves Questions For The Jury (NY)

Even though video surveillance showed the plaintiff switching lanes in front of defendant’s bus at the same time as defendant, the Appellate Division still found there to be several issues of fact in a recent New York case. In Fergile v. Payne, plaintiff was riding a motor scooter in the right lane of traffic. Defendant bus driver was also traveling in the right lane, behind plaintiff. As the...Read More

Intrafamily Exclusion In Auto Policy Ruled Unenforceable (NJ)

On May 6, 2022, a New Jersey appellate panel upheld a policyholder’s win in a coverage dispute with Travelers Insurance Company, holding an intrafamily step-down exclusion acted as a “hidden trap” in a family’s auto policy where not reflected in the policy declarations page. Specifically, in Cristina Dela Vega v. The Travelers Insurance Company, et al., (No.:...Read More

“Other Insurance” Provision Allows Insurer To Cap Limits (PA)

In Meyers v. Travelers Insurance Company, 2022 WL 1028705 (E.D. Pa. 2022), the plaintiff sued one of her auto liability insurers for extensive damages sustained in an automobile accident. This common occurrence led to a rather uncommon insurance coverage issue. The plaintiff recovered funds from her own primary auto insurance, plus two additional uninsured motorist (“UIM”) insurance policies....Read More

New Jersey Passes Insurance Fair Conduct Act (NJ)

On January 18, 2022, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act.  The Act establishes a private cause of action for first-party claimants against a UIM insurer for “unreasonably” denying or delaying claims.  It also allows a claimant to sue the insurer if the insurer violates any provision of New Jersey’s Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Act which governs...Read More

The End Is Near. Statutory Bad Faith Begins in NJ

Well, it finally happened.  After a few years of debates and a not insignificant amount of plaintiff lobbying, this week, Governor Murphy signed into law the New Jersey Insurance Fair Conduct Act. The law creates statutory bad faith in NJ.  Fortunately (although this is likely the canary in the coal mine), the law ONLY applies to parties injured in a motor vehicle accident who are entitled to...Read More