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So When Can I Close My File? Calculating New York's COVID-19 Toll

 A claim handling client asked me today on what date the statute of limitations for a third-party personal injury claim that would have expi...

$481.30 Awarded on a $62,830.97 No-Fault Claim -- Coronary Bypass Surgery and Related Hospital Services Found Unrelated to the MVA

NO-FAULT  – CAUSATION – CORONARY BYPASS SURGERY  –  AAA ARBITRATION DECISION Matter of United Health Services Hospital  aao JK and Preferred...

The Key to Winning COVID-19 Business Interruption Lawsuits?

I was interviewed last Friday and quoted this morning in Jim Sams' article for the  Claims Journal , entitled "The Key to Winning C...

COVID-19 Business Interruption Analytics -- Metrics for Six Dozen Litigation Rulings (To Date)

 It was in mid-April that I got the call.  I was being drafted to a team of attorneys from over a dozen jurisdictions to defend one of my in...

Tolled or Suspended? Watch What Happens Now That Whatever It Was Is Over.

  If you were unable to join us on November 3rd for a scintillating discussion (at least as scintillating as any discussion of the New York ...

Toll or Nothing -- Free Webinar on November 3, 2020 to Review & Discuss NY's "COVID-19 Toll"

Join us on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 2:00 PM ET  for a free webinar to review and discuss NY's "COVD-19 Toll", set to expir...

*** COVID-19 BI LITIGATION RULINGS BY THE NUMBERS *** (through Oct. 29, 2020)

I have seen a "scorecard that, together with the cases that I and others on LinkedIn have reported , tallies the COVID-19 business inte...

Toll or Suspension -- What's Due on November 4th?

I am beginning to question my office's present position on whether New York Executive Order § 202.8 and its subsequent extensions opera...

What Is New York's No-Fault Scheme Ill-Equipped to Handle? (The right answer is not "claims".)

NO-FAULT  – RICO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION  – PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION  STAYING COLLATERAL ARBITRATIONS & LITIGATION  – MOTION TO DISMISS GEICO v...

What Should a Lawyer Sound Like? (Hint: Never use four words when three will do.)

No, this is not the set up to another lawyer joke.  And I'm not asking for a friend.   On my LinkedIn account I recently shared Inc. Ma...

This Is Your Last Tolling! -- Executive Order No. 202.67 Extends COVID-19 Tolling of Procedural Time Limits Through November 4, 2020

For the  sixth  time since New York's COVID-19 toll of "any specific time limit for the commencement, filing, or service of any leg...

When You Is an It

AUTO  – UM COVERAGE – "INSURED"  – STAY OF UM ARBITRATION State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Sanchez (Sup. Ct., NY Co., 8/3/2020) S...

Another (x5) 30 Days in the Toll -- Executive Order No. 202.60 Continues COVID-19 Tolling of Procedural Time Limits Through October 4, 2020

At least the Governor's office didn't wait until tomorrow morning at 6:11 AM this time.    For the fifth time since New York's ...

The Jenner Complaint

It's been dubbed "the Jenner complaint" and, last I knew, has been filed in Illinois and New York state courts. It's an e...

DC Court Grants Summary Judgment to Commercial Property Insurer on COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim

* * * SPECIAL ALERT * * * This afternoon the Superior Court of the District of Columbia granted summary judgment to Erie Insurance Exchange,...

Another 30 Days in the Toll -- Executive Order No. 202.55 Continues COVID-19 Tolling of Procedural Time Limits Through September 4, 2020

I went to bed last night and woke up before 6:00 this morning hitting F5 on my browser and thinking that today would be the day.  The day Ne...

When the Insured's Shoes Are Bigger Than the Tortfeasor's Shoes

AUTO  – SUM COVERAGE – TRIGGER Gross v. Travelers Ins. (4th Dept., 7/24/2020) Gross had an auto policy with Travelers that was written to af...

New York County Supreme Court Grants Insurer's CPLR 3211(A)(1) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint Based on Insured's Failure to Submit Timely Proof of Loss

PROPERTY  – BURST WATER PIPE-CAUSED WATER LOSS  – PROOF OF LOSS REQUEST – MOTION TO DISMISS Stein v. National General Ins. Co. (Sup. Ct., NY...

The Unopposed Loss -- Court Denies Declaratory Judgment to No-Fault Insurer Based Solely on Default of Non-Answering Defendants

NO-FAULT – HIT-AND-RUN  – AFFIRMATIVE ACTION – DEFAULT JUDGMENT  –  DECLARATORY JUDGMENT  – INJUNCTIVE RELIEF Ameriprise Ins. Co. v. Kim (2n...

Mute the Barking, Playing, Sirening, Shuffling, Pinging, Drinking and Breathing Sounds, Please

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE – TELECONFERENCE IN LIEU OF IN-PERSON HEARING GUIDELINES Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co. of Amer. v. Omni Contracting Co.,...

No, You May Not Be Excused... Court Denies Insurer's 3211(a)(1)-Based Pre-Answer Motion to Dismiss Declaratory Judgment Action

PERSONAL AUTO  – TEMPORARY SUBSTITUTE AUTO  – NON-OWNED AUTO  – DECLARATORY JUDGMENT ACTION  – MOTION TO DISMISS Bonavita v. Government Empl...

NYSSIU Legal Update 2019-2020 Edition

  LEGAL UPDATE I have been privileged since incorporating the New York State Chapter of Special Investigation Units (NYSSIU) in 1997 to serv...

$7,332.02 a Day -- Bench-Trying a First-Party Property Coverage Dispute

Ever wonder how the non-jury trial of a first-party property coverage dispute plays out in court?  Wonder no more. Christine Wagner's si...

LinkedIn Poll Results on Disclosing Adjuster and Engineer Reports

On July 8th I blogged about this question: Is a New York Property Insurer Obligated to Disclose Copies of Its Adjuster and Expert Reports Pr...

Is a New York Property Insurer Obligated to Disclose Copies of Its Adjuster and Expert Reports Prior to Litigation?

Client's Question: Are we required to provide a copy of our expert’s report to an insured when we send formal denial or after if they re...