News & Of Interest

WCM Is Pleased To Introduce Our 2022 Summer Associates

New Jersey Ryan Dame is a rising 3L at Brooklyn Law School who will graduate early in December 2022 as part of the accelerated program.  Ryan is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with a degree in political science.  Prior to joining WCM, Ryan served our country as a member of the United States Marine Corp. where Ryan was a collateral duty quality assurance representative...Read More

Hacked Emails Will Cost You More Than You Realize

In a recent case from the Eastern District of PA, Constr. Fin. Admin. Serv. LLC v. Fed. Ins. Co., the court upheld an insurance company’s exclusion for “hacked” losses.  The plaintiff/policyholder in the case brought suit against its insurer after it mistakenly sent wire transfers to a foreign company after receiving fraudulent emails vis a vis a client contractor. The plaintiff construction...Read More

Personal Injury Defendants May Be Entitled To Additional Discovery When Plaintiffs Are Involved In Subsequent Accidents

Recently, in Lewis v. City of New York, the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, ruled on a defendant’s motion to compel the plaintiff to appear for further deposition and medical examinations.  In this personal injury case which arose from a 2016 motor vehicle accident, Defendants moved to compel further discovery when they learned the plaintiff suffered additional injuries in a...Read More

Even With A Jury Finding Of Bad Faith On Behalf Of The Losing Party, Attorneys Fees May Not Be Recoverable

In Elmagin Capital, LLC v. Chao Chen, et al., Judge Stephanos Bibas declined to award attorneys fees to prevailing defendants, despite the fact that the jury found that the plaintiff acted in bad faith by filing the suit in the first place. Elmagin Capital originally sued multiple defendants for trade-secret misappropriation and breach of contract. Elmagin lost on all issues at trial and the...Read More

Plaintiff’s Premises Liability Argument Trashed By The Appellate Department

In a recent premises liability claim, a plaintiff slipped and fell on refuse on the walkway of her building.  She brought suit arguing there was an issue of fact as to constructive notice to the defendant, however the First Dept. disposed of her argument.   In Rodriguez v. NYC Housing Authority, 2022 NY Slip Op 03461 (1st Dept. 2022), plaintiff had a slip and fall on the walkway of the...Read More

WCM is Pleased to Announce that James W. Scott, Jr. has been Promoted to Partner

Effective July 1, 2022, Jim Scott, who works in our Philadelphia office, has been promoted to partner.  Jim is the current President of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and a past-President of the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel.  As such he is the only attorney ever elected president of both defense organizations.  Jim is a graduate of Duke University and Temple University...Read More

Call Your Next Witness – M.C. Sungaila

On this episode of Call Your Next Witness, I interviewed M. C. Sungaila, a renowned appellate attorney based in Orange County, California.   Her practice focuses on civil appeals, trial strategy and consulting.   We discussed her role as a trial strategist, and how she recognized early in her career that appellate practice, as opposed to trial practice, was the right fit for her.   We...Read More

Drivers Have Duty to Yield to Pedestrians in Cross Walks Despite Driver’s Green Light (NY)

In Perez v. Bobcar Media LLC and Benny M. Cohen, the Kings County Supreme Court of New York confirmed that a driver of a motor-vehicle has a statutory duty to use due care to avoid colliding with a pedestrian, including yielding to the right-of-way to pedestrians lawfully within a crosswalk despite a driver’s green light. Both parties following discovery moved for summary judgment: the...Read More