News & Of Interest

Turning Lemonade Into Lemons (NY)

In a recently filed Southern District of New York case, Mark Pruden v. Lemonade Inc. et al., Lemonade Insurance Agency faces a class action suit over their collection and use of customers’ biometric data without proper authorization. The complaint alleges that Lemonade, despite expressly assuring customers that it would not collect, store, analyze, or otherwise use biometric data, did in fact...Read More

NJ Dram Shop Act Is The Exclusive Remedy For Persons Injured As A Result Of The Negligent Provision Of Alcoholic Beverages (NJ)

New Jersey’s Dram Shop Law expressly states that it is the exclusive remedy for any person injured as a result of the allegedly negligently provision of alcohol to another person.  Despite this express statement of law, the plaintiff in Flowers v. Crossed Key Inn, attempted to sue a bar for providing alcohol to its bartender after the bartender had finished her shift.  Specifically, the...Read More

COVID Case Law Continues To Expand

In numerous suits across the country, judges are dismissing lawsuits seeking pandemic-related insurance coverage.  Recently, Hampshire House Corp., (more commonly known as the owner of the Bull and Finch – the Boston bar that inspired the 1980s classic “Cheers”), brought suit in Massachusetts federal court seeking recovery for pandemic-related losses. In its complaint, Hampshire House Corp....Read More

A Coworker Is Not A “Safety Device” Contemplated By NY Law (NY)

Noel Castillo v. TRM Contracting 626, LLC, No. 23185/2019 (Bx. Cnty. Sup. Ct. Aug. 18, 2021) is a personal injury action, wherein plaintiff allegedly sustained damages at a construction site.  The instant decision resolved plaintiff’s summary judgment motion on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim. On the day of plaintiff’s accident, he was tasked with taping plastic over windows in preparation of...Read More

Call Your Next Witness – Brian & Georgia Discuss the Courts and new Associates Starting their Careers this Fall

No guest this week — instead, Brian Gibbons and Georgia Coats discuss the seemingly ever-changing impact of COVID-19 and the delta variant on court operations. As recently as a few months ago, the pandemic seemed to be on its last legs, but numbers are trending in the wrong direction again. What does that mean for court operations this Fall and Winter, in NYC and elsewhere? Also, with...Read More

Time is Not On Your Side: US Southern District of New York Dismisses Insurance Class Action Suit Against Insurers On Statute Of Limitations Grounds

Plaintiff insureds brought a putative class action suit for violations of New York General Business Law (GBL), fraud, and breach of contract claims. Plaintiffs allege that in 2000 defendant sold accident disability and medical expense insurance products in violation of New York Insurance Law in that they were on not approved, that the insurance provided illusory coverage, and that the...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

Game, Set, Match: Plaintiff Tripping On Tennis Court Has No Claim Under Primary Assumption of Risk Doctrine (NY)

In Schwartz v. Ramapo, 2021 NY Slip Op 04773 (2d Dept. 2021), a plaintiff was playing tennis when she suffered injuries after tripping on a raised sprinkler head in between two tennis courts owned and operated by the Town of Ramapo.  The Rockland County Supreme Court Judge dismissed the Ramapo defendants’ under the doctrine of primary assumption of risk. “Pursuant to the doctrine of primary...Read More