The New Jersey Supreme Court recently delivered a decision in Rodriguez v. Shelbourne Spring, LLC, clarifying the extent of an insurer’s duty to defend an employer against workplace injury claims. The Court concluded that Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company was...
Reserve Your Rights, Or Forever Provide a Defense
In Mist Pharmaceuticals, LLC v. Berkley Insurance Company, the New Jersey Appellate Division addressed the application of a "capacity exclusion" in a Directors and Officers (D&O) Liability Insurance policy. Mist Pharmaceuticals sought indemnification from Berkley...
The Bicycle is Off and Away in the Post-COVID World
The recent case of Wilson v. Beiler and JM Lapp Plumbing & Heating, 2023-02714-TT (Chest. Ct. Ct. Com. Pl. 2024), is exemplary of runaway jury exposure that has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Wilson, the plaintiff, Heath Wilson, was riding his bike...
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Finds Fatal Flaws in the Pro Se Plaintiff’s Evidence and Grants Defendants’ Summary Judgment Motion
When Proofing Your Case, You’re Going to Knead to Get Around Hearsay In Sergei Kovalev v. Lidl US, LLC, et al., 2024 WL 4642982 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 31, 2024), the pro se Plaintiff purchased several loaves of bread from a Philadelphia based Lidl supermarket in March and...
Court Interprets Just How “Regular” Usage of a Vehicle Needs to be to Trigger Regular Use Exclusion
Recently, in Simpson v. LM General Insurance Co., No. CV 23-4133, 2024 WL 4844793, (E.D. Pa. Nov. 20, 2024), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the insurance carrier’s motion for summary judgment and granted summary...
Antique Vehicle Insurance Policies: The Wild West of Insurance
Recently, the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Foremost Insurance Company Grand Rapids, Michigan v. Tracy Bufflap, No. 1:23-CV-02023, 2024 WL 4899999 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 26, 2024) analyzed the nature of antique automobile insurance policies and...
Let the Pretrial Battleground Over the Admissibility of Expert Testimony Begin
In 2007, many third-party payors and employee welfare benefit plans (“Plaintiffs”) filed lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline LLC (“GSK”) alleging violations of RICO and various state consumer protection laws in connection with the marketing of the diabetes drug, Avandia....
Heavy Metal
First Department Puts the “Heavy” Back in Heavy Metal and Grants Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment Motion as to Labor Law § 240(1) In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously reversed a Supreme Court, New York County decision that denied...
“Just Get it Done!”
If You’re Standing on a Bucket in a Labor Law Case, You’re Probably Winning Summary Judgment In a recent decision, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed a Supreme Court, Bronx County decision that granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment...
