Recently, the Superior court of Pennsylvania in Verba v. Erie Insurance Exchange, No. 2633 EDA 2023, 2024 WL 4631682 (Pa. Super. Ct. October 21, 2024), analyzed whether the trial court erred in granting an insurer’s motion to compel its insured to submit to an...
On the Road to Summary Judgment: Negligent Entrustment & a Lessee’s Duty to Investigate Potential Drivers in a Leased Truck Accident Case
Recently, in Brown v. Brooks, 2024 WL 4664806 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 4, 2024), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted defendant Penske’s summary judgment motion on plaintiff’s claims of negligent entrustment, failure to maintain and...
New Jersey Supreme Court Affirms Limits on Insurers’ Duty to Defend in Workplace Injury Cases
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....
