News & Of Interest

COVID-19 Relief and Liability Provisions

The latest round of federal COVID-19 relief fails to cover one major sticking point in the negotiations: liability. The GOP spent months attempting to integrate a provision limiting liability for COVID-related lawsuits into the relief package, insisting that a one-year statute of limitations and limited types of permissible claims were the only way to truly protect businesses and other...Read More

COVID Court Ruling (NY)

Adding to the quickly growing body of COVID-related insurance case law, a New York federal judge recently held that an art gallery could not recover financial losses due to government-mandated closures, finding that there was no “direct physical loss” as required by the policy. The Guy Hepner art gallery in Chelsea had a policy with Sentinel Insurance Company which contained a “business...Read More

Holiday Greetings

With everyone working from home and in need of a “little Christmas” (whatever your persuasion), in lieu of physical holiday cards you will never see, here at Wade Clark Mulcahy, LLP – https://wcmlaw.com, we decided to try something a little different.  In addition to what, on behalf of all of us and all of you, has become our annual donation to https://www.charitywater.org, which funds clean...Read More

Snow Doubt About It: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Defers to the Snow Tubing Experts (PA)

In Bourgeois v. Snow Time Inc., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reopened the plaintiff’s dismissed claims against a snow tubing facility because it determined that the lower courts failed to view the expert reports in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Bourgeois was riding a snow tube headfirst when he collided with a folded kitchen floor mat that Defendant’s employees had placed at the...Read More

Plaintiff’s Premises Liability Case Gets Iced (PA)

In Derito v. Walmart Stores East, L.P. (District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania), plaintiffs Charles and Kimberly DeRito (collectively “DeRito”) were unable to overcome defendant Walmart’s summary judgment motion in this slip and fall action.  According to DeRito, Walmart’s front door was stuck open for approximately 31 seconds due to a malfunction while it was actively...Read More

Three Strikes and You’re Out on Coverage: COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim Fails (PA)

Of course, COVID-19 and accompanying shutdown orders impact on business interruption claims are still among the most pressing issues facing the courts.  In Toppers Salon & Health Spa Inc v Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has provided one of the most definitive answers on the issue with its rejection of an insured’s business interruption...Read More

Pennsylvania Court Finds Plaintiff Made Good Faith Efforts to Serve the Defendants Under the Circumstances Created by COVID-19

In a dispute focused on what constitutes sufficient notice of a lawsuit, Judge David Williamson of the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas ruled in West v. Mulero that a plaintiff’s lawyer’s correspondences with and attempts to serve the Defendant’s attorney directly, rather than follow procedural rules directing service through the Sheriff’s Office were sufficient,...Read More

Oil Spill in Parking Lot Was Not Open and Obvious (PA)

A recent decision from the Pennsylvania Superior Court highlights the importance of ensuring clear and thorough testimony from witnesses both during depositions and at the time of trial. In Wilson v. Autozone Stores, the plaintiff sustained injuries in a fall outside an Autozone. At trial, plaintiff testified he noticed a “gooey, slippery” substance on his shoes as he entered the store and...Read More