Litigation

Fine Art Buyer’s Identity Is Relevant In Conversion Action Against Art Gallery (NY)

In Hicks v. Leslie Feely Fine Art LLC, abstract painter Marianne Hicks (“Hicks”) sued a New York City art gallery (the “Gallery”) and an unknown buyer named as a John Doe defendant, for conversion of a painting sold to the buyer as one by the renowned artist Friedel Dzubas (“Dzubas”). Hicks alleged that she is the true painter and sought replevin of the painting from the buyer. Hicks claimed...Read More

Google Maps Admitted Into Evidence To Challenge Service Of Process (NY)

Google Maps is often used to get an idea of what a particular piece of property looks like or, for more utility, to gauge the distance between two locations. With respect to the latter, the Civil Court of the City of New York, Bronx County recently took judicial notice, over objection, of information contained in two Google Maps printouts submitted as evidence in a traverse hearing. In 2437...Read More

NY Supreme Court Dismisses Policyholder Suit As Being Untimely

In the recent case Farage v. Associated Insurance Management Corp., the New York County Supreme Court considered a policyholder’s fire insurance claim for a multiunit rental property in Staten Island.  The policyholder brought suit in August 2020, 6 years from the day the property suffered a major fire loss which cost approximately $1.3 million dollars to restore.  The policyholder did not...Read More

PA Superior Court Finds That Employer Is Liable For Contribution Despite Not Being At Fault For Plaintiffs’ Injuries

In McLaughlin v. Nahata, et al., the Pennsylvania Superior Court found a hospital could seek indemnity or contribution toward a $17 million verdict rendered against it, from the employer of the doctors found liable for malpractice. Plaintiffs Alyssa McLaughlin and William McLaughlin sued two doctors over injuries Alyssa received while treating at The Washington Hospital (“TWH”). Plaintiffs...Read More

Court Rejects GC’s Summary Judgment Motion on Additional Insured Issue (NY)

In Gemini Insurance Company v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, et al. New York County Supreme Court examined whether a general contractor was entitled to additional insured coverage from a plaintiff’s employer, who was a third-party defendant in the underlying personal injury action. Hernandez, an employee of Source, was injured while working at a jobsite.   Hernandez sued CM...Read More

Employment Liability Insurance Policies Unlikely to Cover Workplace Tort Claims Brought by Non-Employee Plaintiffs

In Penn Psych Center Inc. v. US Liability Ins. Co., a Pennsylvania state court addressed, for the first time, whether employment practices liability (EPL) insurance policies generally cover the costs of tort litigation brought against an employer and their employees by third-parties with no employment relationship to the insured. The underlying action involved a suit against Penn Psychiatric...Read More

PA Supreme Court Finds that a Corporation’s Owners Can Be Liable for Conduct of Sister Corporation

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently confronted a novel question: can a sister corporation’s owners be held personally liable for the actions of the corporation’s sister company? In Mortimer v. McCool, the plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries in a car collision after she had been struck by a drunk driver. She sued the restaurant that served the driver that struck her....Read More

Plaintiff’s Slip and Fall on Wet Floor Goes to Jury as Summary Judgment is Denied (NY)

In Lopez v. 1355 Morris Ave, LLC (1st Dept. 2021), the First Department upheld a trial court’s decision to deny defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In some premises liability cases, a defendant can occasionally avoid liability if it shows that it warned the bystander of a dangerous condition, or that the bystander had knowledge of the dangerous condition prior to the accident. Here,...Read More

New Guidance on Statute of Limitations in PA

On July 21, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Rice  v. Altoona-Johnston issued a pivotal decision concerning the applicable statute of limitations in Pennsylvania for claims stemming from alleged sexual abuse. By way of background, in 2016, Rice, after reviewing a PA Grand Jury Investigative report, which detailed findings that hundreds of children were victimized by over fifty...Read More

Prize Fighter Yoel Romero is Vindicated by the New Jersey Courts (NJ)

The matter of Yoel Romero v. Gold Star Distribution, LLC arose out of the sale of a dietary supplement manufactured and distributed by Gold Star. Romero is an MMA fighter who competed in the UFC, the highest level of competition in the MMA. He is also a former world champion freestyle wrestler who won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. Gold Star is a dietary supplement company whose...Read More