Of Interest

New Jersey Opens Door to Treble Damages in Products Claims (NJ)

New Jersey’s Supreme Court troublingly opened the door to avaricious plaintiffs, potentially allowing plaintiffs to simultaneously allege product liability actions and actions under the Consumer Fraud Act. The Consumer Fraud Act allows for the potential of treble damages, attorneys fees, and costs to successful plaintiffs. Until recently, the Product Liability Act, which governs the strict...Read More

Basketball, Glass Doors, and Premises Liability (NY)

Acevedo v. The Madison Square Garden Co., No. 157997/16, 2021 WL 65434 (NY Sup. Ct. Jan. 7, 2021) is a personal injury case, wherein Plaintiff alleged damages after walking into a transparent glass panel upon ingress to Madison Square Garden. Specifically, Plaintiff claimed defendants were negligent by failing to mark the glass panel, which he collided with after passing through security at...Read More

NJ Appellate Division Upholds Dismissal of Plaintiff’s Premises Liability Claim (NJ)

In Quejada v. Shoprite, plaintiff alleged she slipped and fell on water on Shoprite’s floor resulting in injuries to her spine. Plaintiff had slipped in an area close to where customers pay for their groceries. Plaintiff did not notice anything on the floor before her fall, but noticed her clothing was wet after she fell. Plaintiff did not know the source of the water. Plaintiff’s counsel...Read More

Virus Coverage Doesn’t Always Mean Coronavirus Coverage (PA)

As the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19 insurance litigation gets more and more crowded, courts are becoming even more attentive to the language of the insurance policies at issue. In Ultimate Hearing Solutions II, LLC v. Twin City Fire Insurance Co., the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Court dissected an insurance provision titled “Virus Coverage” and found for the insurer based on a...Read More

NYC Seeks Coverage for Underlying Asbestos Claim, Creating Opportunity for Court to Analyze Scope of “Pollution” Exclusion (NY)

The City of New York filed suit in New York County Supreme Court against an insurer seeking coverage for two underlying lawsuits in which the plaintiffs alleged injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos. This case may thus present the opportunity for another New York court to weigh in on the application of a liability policy’s “pollution” exclusion to a claim for asbestos injury, an issue...Read More

Covid-19 Closures and the Reasonable Expectations of a Commercial Insured is still undecided in Pennsylvania (PA)

COVID-19 related insurance litigation has often left insurers with more questions than answers. In Brown’s Gym, Inc. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Co., another open question of law in Pennsylvania is being looked at in relation to such a COVID-19 initiated case. Here, the Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania in Lackawanna County recently ruled that a case by a commercial insured looking to sue...Read More

Trial Court’s Erroneous Instruction on Expert’s Testimony Regarding “Recklessness” Overturns a $2,000,000 Verdict and Orders a New Trial (PA)

James Temple, Administrator For The Estate of Elma B. Temple v. Providence Care Center, LLC D/B/A Providence Care Center involved a fall of a resident, Elma Temple at a nursing home, Providence Care Center in 2011. After the trial resulted in a verdict of $2 million in compensatory damages and $250,000 in punitive damages, Providence filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The...Read More

There is No Such Thing as the “Sudden Emergency Defense” according to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (PA)

In Graham v. Check, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the “sudden emergency doctrine” should not be understood as a defense to alleged negligent driving. Further, a claimed “sudden emergency” will not diminish the standard of care drivers should exercise. In the early morning hours of March 6, 2018, plaintiff Francis Graham crossed the street without a “walk signal.” He was wearing all...Read More

Plaintiff Falls Short in Premises Liability Matter (PA)

The Pennsylvania Superior Court provided important provides insight into the potential arguments that arise when a plaintiff is injured in a client’s rental property. In Monica Sprouse v. Daniel Keller and Kim Keller, & Donald Neill and Re/Max Action, plaintiff Monica Sprouse  unsuccessfully appealed the trial court’s decision which granted defendants motions for summary judgment. At the...Read More

Insurer’s Assault and Battery Exclusion upheld in Bronx County Supreme Court for a Slip and Fall Arising from Spilled Drinks during a Club Melee (NY)

Quanisha Simmons commenced a personal injury action against Blvd Bar & Lounge nightclub, located in Westchester County, New York, when she slipped and fell on a puddle of spilled drinks, which was on the floor due to “a melee which erupted within and without the club.” Simmons testified that she was pushed, shoved, and trapped in the bar at her deposition, and when she took a step toward...Read More