News & Of Interest

Sports Bettors Lose Appeal In “Electronic Sign-Stealing” Case

In Olson v. Major League Baseball, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals recently refused to hold Major League Baseball (MLB), the Houston Astros, and the Boston Red Sox liable for alleged fraud against sports bettors. The appeal stems from a 2020 class action suit involving Plaintiffs’ use of the popular sports betting platform DraftKings, whose participants accumulate “points” (and can win cash)...Read More

Call Your Next Witness – Wendy Sheinberg & Jennifer Hillman

Have you ever watched a movie with a legal issue and thought to yourself, “Wait, could this plot really happen this way?” In Rain Man, for example, Tom Cruise kidnaps his autistic older brother, played by Dustin Hoffman, to extort his brother’s inheritance.  Instead of being presented as the somewhat flawed protagonist in Rain Main, Tom’s character probably should have...Read More

Bowling Alley Strikes Out In Its Attempt To Be Spared Liability (NY)

Plaintiff’s emanated from a slip and fall at the defendant’s bowling alley in Clifton Park New York. Ms. Muscato alleges she slipped and fell causing her injuries because the floor near the ball return was excessively slippery. In defending the action and moving for summary judgment, the bowling alley offered the testimony of its manager who stated they neither created the slippery...Read More

“Quick Fix” Leads To Liability If Not Done Properly (PA)

In a recent Eastern District of PA case, Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. A.T. Chadwick Co., Inc., the court denied a third-party defendant’s motion for summary judgment in a construction defect case. The court found that jury could assign a percentage of the blame to the third-party defendant for a “quick fix” gone bad. In this case, a homeowner had a broken pike in their home which leaked and sagged...Read More

Tragedy At CitiField Does Not Create An Unreasonable Duty To The Property Owner (NY)

Antonio Narainasami, decedent, and his friends attended a New York Mets baseball game at Citi Field, and like many New York Mets fans, they decided to leave the game early by the 8th inning, and headed toward the escalators.  The escalators had been turned off at the end of the 7th inning and barricades had been placed to prevent patrons from walking down the escalators and redirected them to...Read More

Supreme Court of NY Decides COVID-19 Related Moratoriums Prohibiting the Cancellation or Non-Renewal of Insurance Policies may be Inapplicable if Notice of Cancellation or Non-Renewal was Provided Before March 29, 2020

On March 29, 2020, Executive Order No. 202.13 (“EO 202.13”) imposed a moratorium on insurers cancelling or non-renewing any property or casualty insurance policies in order to benefit insureds facing financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, on March 30, 2020, the New York State Department of Financial Services enacted an Emergency Regulation (the “Emergency...Read More

Recent Wave Of High Jury Verdicts In Premises Liability Cases

Highlighted by a recent decision by CVS Pharmacies, to close around 900 stores across the country after a Georgia court upheld a $43 million premises liability verdict against the company, there has been a noted increase in high verdicts across the United States. These premises liability cases have involved a number of issues, including criminal acts and inadequate security. The string of...Read More

Florida Appellate Court Approves Of Insurer’s Right-to-Repair In Lieu Of Payment Clause

People’s Trust Insurance Company takes an unorthodox approach to homeowner’s insurance, “In return for a premium discount, the [] policy contain a Preferred Contractor Endorsement” which gives “People’s Trust a right-to-repair option, i.e., after inspecting a covered loss, People’s Trust ha the option to select its own contractor to repair the damages to the insureds’ property in...Read More