News & Of Interest

FDCPA Doesn’t Apply to Subrogation Claim

In Felicia Chavanne v. Second Look, Inc., Barry Lefever, and Erie Insurance., Plaintiff Felicia Chavanne brought a lawsuit against two insurance companies for alleged violations of several conumser protection statutes, including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, and the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Chavanne’s...Read More

Ambiguity & Discrimination: Gay Couple Begins Process of Suing NYC for IVF Coverage

A former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney, Corey Briskin and his husband, Nicholas Maggipinto, have filed a complaint with the EEOC claiming the City of New York wrongfully denied them coverage for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Briskin and Maggipinto are a married couple seeking to start a family. Briskin and Maggipinto were relying on benefits afforded them by health benefits issued to...Read More

Overturning Armando Galarraga’s “Imperfect Game”

Sixteen students at Monmouth University are taking a shot at righting an  historic wrong in sports history. In 2010 Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was denied a perfect game, because of an erroneous call by first base umpire Jim Joyce, when Galarraga was an out away from joining a very exclusive list. Major League Baseball’s commissioner refused to overturn the call even though the...Read More

Johnny Depp Takes The Stand In A $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit

Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp recently took the stand in a Virginia court in a defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. Depp is suing Heard for $50 Million dollars over a 2018 Op-Ed she wrote for the Washington Post, where she described herself as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” What is particularly interesting about this suit is that the Op-Ed never...Read More

Attorney Who Failed To Pay Uncooperative Experts Found To Have Breached Contract (NY)

Recently, in the Supreme Court, New York County case Tiago v. Trachtman plaintiffs, both psychologists retained to be expert witnesses by the defendant, were awarded summary judgment as to liability under the breach of contract claims only and successful in severing and dismissing the defendant’s counterclaims. Contemporaneously, the Court denied the defendant’s cross-motion for summary...Read More

Manufacturer Avoids Products Liability Where Third Party Altered Products (NY)

In a products liability action, merely claiming failure to warn does not amount to the standard necessary to prove proximate cause. The New York Appellate Division, Second Department, recently addressed this issue in John Kosta v. WDF, Inc. In that case, defendant Serpentix Conveyor Corporation manufactured three conveyor machines to be placed in a New York City Department of Environmental...Read More

Hope And Speculation Is Insufficient To Defeat Pre-Discovery Summary Judgment Motion (NY)

In Mauro v. City of New York, the Second Department recently addressed whether the defendants’ pre-discovery motions for summary judgment were premature. Plaintiffs in that case were involved in a motor vehicle accident when they came in contact with “an opening in the roadway caused by a missing manhole cover.” Defendants Keyspan Corporation and National Grid USA moved for summary judgment,...Read More

Affidavit Of Merit Statute Eroded Further (NJ)

In Haviland v. Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County, Inc., the plaintiff was injured after being instructed by an unlicensed radiology technician to hold weights while undergoing a radiological imaging examination.  The plaintiff had undergone a left shoulder surgery shortly before the exam.  The Plaintiff thereafter alleged that he sustained injuries as a result of holding the weights...Read More