News & Of Interest

Open And Obvious Danger Leaves Plaintiff In the Pit (NY)

In Lebron v. City of New York, NY Slip Op 04960 (2nd Dept. 2022), a claim was filed by plaintiff when he fell into an inspection pit for vehicles at the garage facility operated by the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission. Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing that the condition was an open and obvious defect and it did not require any duty by the property owner to warn the...Read More

Pennsylvania Landowners Also Have a Duty to Protect Invitees from Intentional Harm

In Massaro v. McDonalds Corporation, the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that landowners had an affirmative duty to protect invitees from intentional harmful acts of third parties. On September 21, 2018, the plaintiff, Thomas Massaro, went to a McDonald’s restaurant in Philadelphia to tutor a student. While tutoring the student, a man named Bryant Gordon entered the store and began berating...Read More

Timing is Everything – Late Notice and the Presumption of Prejudice in Florida

In Perez v. Citizens Property Insurance, 2022 Fla. App. LEXIS 4583, 2022 WL 2444681, 47 Fla. L. Weekly D 1451 (Fla. 3d DCA July 6, 2022) Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reaffirmed that late notice of a claim is presumptively prejudicial to the insurer and absent evidence refuting that presumption, summary judgment for the carrier is proper. In September of 2017, Miami, Florida was...Read More

New York Courts Redefine Meaning Of Specific Standards In Labor Law Claims

Labor Law 241(6) imposes a non-delegable duty on owners and contractors to “provide reasonable and adequate protection and safety for workers and to comply with the specific safety rules and regulations promulgated by the Commissioner of the Department of the Department of Labor.” The first part of the statute reiterates the common law-standards of care. The second part of the statute creates...Read More

Non-Parties Cannot Intervene In Insurance Company’s Declaratory Judgment Action

In County Hall Insurance Company, Inc. v. Mountain View Transportation, LLC, the M.D.P.A ruled that non-parties who had a personal injury claim against an insured individual cannot intervene in the insurance’s company’s declaratory judgment action that it filed against the same insured. The underlying state court suit stemmed from a motor vehicle accident in which a number of occupants were...Read More

SDNY Among Federal Courts Rejecting Claims For Coverage Of COVID-19 Business Losses

Two recent SDNY decisions highlight the national consensus among courts across the country to rejects insureds’ claims for coverage of pandemic business losses. According to Law360’s COVID-19 Insurance Case Tracker, these two cases are among nearly 1,400 federal cases across the country since the pandemic began. About half of all such federal cases have been dismissed. Of Interest previously...Read More

Court Finds Defendants Did Not Exacerbate Hazard Though Engaged In Snow Removal During Storm

In Keeney v. Hempstead Turnpike, LLC, et al., the plaintiff appealed from an order granting summary judgment to defendant/second third-party plaintiff, Stop and Shop Supermarket Company, LLC (“Stop & Shop”), to defendant/third-party plaintiff, Hempstead Turnpike, LLC (“Hempstead Turnpike”), the second third-party defendant, S & S Levittown, LLC (“S & S”), and, on a separate motion,...Read More

New Jersey Supreme Court Provides Clarity On Insurance Exclusion Clauses

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently held in Norman International, Inc. v Admiral Insurance Company, that an insured cannot claim an exclusionary clause does not apply because their product was sold to the parent company in a non-excluded zone but directed for delivery to a site in an excluded area. The Court emphasized that they must analyze the precise wording of the policy and consider the...Read More