Pennsylvania

Does COVID-19 Mean Quarantine? (PA)

In a recent order from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the court addressed the first of what is sure to be many cases stemming from cancellations of vacations and other travel due to COVID-19. This case was a putative class action filed on behalf of individuals who cancelled travel due to the coronavirus pandemic and whose claims for travel insurance claims were later denied by the...Read More

Call Your Next Witness – Bob Cosgrove and Matt Care Discuss last week’s Defense Verdict

“Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.”    What does this Ginger Rogers quote have to do with litigation and trial practice? Good question.   Bob Cosgrove and Matt Care just tried a case to a unanimous defense verdict, in front of of a real live jury in Pennsylvania.  You can read up on the details of the case here. Putting aside the odd...Read More

WCM Obtains Defense Verdict in Philadelphia In-Person Trial

WCM Partner Bob Cosgrove and Counsel Matthew Care with the assistance of associates Ben Ferrell and John Lang and summer associates Halley Matthes and Jean Scanlan obtained a defense verdict in the case of Hakim Scott v. Murano Deli v. Charlie Kim.  In this complicated procedural case, in May 2013, Hakim Scott was stabbed in his left thumb while leaving a deli/bar.  The stabbing was committed...Read More

“WCM Partner Recognized As Rising Star”

Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP is pleased to announce that Colleen E. Hayes, Partner in the Philadelphia office, was selected as a 2021 Pennsylvania Rising Star.   Colleen handles, inter alia, litigation arising out of a variety of coverage contract disputes, including matters involving general liability, professional liability, first-party property, product recall, fine arts, jewelers block, and “bad...Read More

Pennsylvania Court Further Dilutes the Legal Landscape on Business Insurance Coverage During Covid-19

In MacMiles LLC v. Erie Insurance Exchange, the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas granted partial summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, a Pittsburgh tavern, holding it suffered “physical loss” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and therefore entitled to reimbursement by its insurer. Erie issued MacMiles (d/b/a Grant Street Tavern) an insurance policy providing coverage for any direct “physical...Read More

Insurance Coverage Granted for Restaurant’s Loss of Business Income Caused by COVID-19

By way of brief background, in response to the spread of COVID-19, the Pennsylvania Governor issued mandates and orders that required all non-life sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to cease operations and close physical locations, and citizens to stay at home. Due to these mandates and the spread of COVID-19, the plaintiff, Macmiles, LLC D/B/A Grant Street Tavern (“MacMiles”), suspended...Read More

Fraudulent Wire Transfer Not Covered Under Pennsylvania Commercial Policy (PA)

The U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently ruled that an insurance policy only covered a company for fraud based on checks, promissory notes or similar “negotiable instruments”.  In Ryeco, LLC v. Selective Insurance Company, fraudulent wire transfer authorizations were not covered by an organization’s insurance policy. The underlying incident occurred when a...Read More

“Today is not Groundhog Day”: EDPA Addresses Continual Case Deadline Extensions (PA)

While we are all feeling the toll of endless repetitive days of working from home and COVID-19 restrictions, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a recent case reminded the parties that, at least in court, an endless loop of resetting deadlines is not acceptable. In the recently decided case, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Co. v. Dynamic Solutions Worldwide, LLC, a 2019 house fire...Read More

Pennsylvania Superior Court Attempts To Interpret Tincher

The Pennsylvania Superior Court, in interpreting Tincher, recently confirmed that a plaintiff may simultaneously proceed in alleging a strict products liability defective design claim and a negligent design cause of action. Thus, the legal landscape as to what exactly Tincher means in any practical sense continues to be muddied. In the wake of Tincher, which mixed negligence principles into...Read More

Whistleblowers While You Work – Pennsylvania District Court Analyzes Whistleblower Claim and Grants Summary Judgment for Employer

Recently, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania partially granted a Defendant’s motion for summary judgment on the basis that the Plaintiff lacked any reasonable belief that the company violated any law of the Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower (“SOX”) Act. In Ngai v. Urban Outfitters Inc., plaintiff, who was Director of Sourcing and Technical Design for Urban...Read More