In a recent slip opinion in Cutting Edge Tree Professionals, LLC v. State Farm Fire Claims Company, et al., No. 23-cv-3197 2024 WL 53011 (E.D. Pa. Jan 4, 2024) the United States Eastern District of Pennsylvania considered an insurer’s Motion to Dismiss the Complaint....
Rare “Question of Fact” in Labor Law § 240(1) Motion from Kings County
Due to the nature of the Labor Law in New York, specifically section 240(1), notoriously known as “The Scaffold Law”, summary judgment motions resulting in a question of fact are a rare and mysterious jewel in a sea of jurisprudence finding in favor of plaintiffs. ...
“Loss of Balance” is Question of Fact in Labor Law § 240(1) Motion from Kings County
Truly in a giving mood around the holidays, the Supreme Court, Kings County found plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case for summary judgment in his Labor Law § 240(1) claim when he stated he “lost his footing or balance and fell off” the subject ladder. In...
“No Apparent Reason” for Scaffold Fall is Prima Facie for Plaintiff’s § 240(1) Cause of Action
Once again, we turn to the Appellate Division, First Department for our regular reminder that even though a safety device may fail for “no apparent reason,” that still is sufficient to establish liability under New York’s Labor Law § 240(1), otherwise known as “The...
Glen Shikunov Secures Supreme Court Reversal in Decision Upholding Validity of “Regular Use Exclusion” in Pennsylvania
In a recent decision in Rush v. Erie Insurance Exchange, No. 77 MAP 2022 (Pa. Jan. 29, 2024) (Maj. Op. by Donohue, J.)( Wecht, J., Concurring) the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania considered the question of whether the “regular use exclusion,” commonly included in auto...
Zoom Depositions and Subpoenas Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 Are Not So Simple
In the so-called “Post-COVID” age of litigation, virtual depositions are commonplace and sometimes preferred in third-party subpoena ad testificandum practice. A major reason is to eliminate the travel of both subpoenaed witnesses and lawyers, particularly when...
Glen Shikunov Secures Superior Court Decision Upholding UM/UIM “Sign Down” Waivers for Life of Insurance Policy
In a recent decision in Erie Ins. Exch. v. Eachus, 2023 Pa. Super 264 (Dec. 12, 2023)(approved for publication, no reporter citation yet available), the Superior Court of Pennsylvania considered the question of whether a first named insured’s underinsured motorist...
The State’s Investigation File Relating To A Construction Accident Held “Privileged” In A Motion To Enforce Subpoena
In its recent decision in Am. Zurich Ins. Co. v. Meridia Downtown Urban Renewal Bound Brook, LLC, 474 N.J. Super. 171 (App. Div. 2022), the Appellate Division considered whether civil litigants had offered sufficient proofs to pierce the privilege afforded to the...
Spoilation of Evidence: A Stopgap Not a Gap Filler
On September 10, 2021, the Appellate Division issued a decision in 27-35 Jackson Avenue, LLC v. Samsung Fire & Marine Ins. Co., Ltd., 469 N.J.Super. 200 (App. Div. 2021) that considered plaintiff’s burden of proof in a negligence claim based upon spoliation of...
