New York Civil Law

Request to Submit Amicus Brief in No-Prejudice Case Granted

The New York Court of Appeals recently granted the motion of Catholic Health Services of Long Island to submit an amicus curiae brief in the no-prejudice case Argo Corp. v. Greater N.Y. Mut. Ins. Co. (see prior post). The Catholic Health Services of Long Island no doubt has thrown its hat into the ring based on the decision in St. Charles Hosp. & Rehabilitation Ctr. v. Royal Globe Ins. Co.

New York Civil Law Takes Week Off

I have been in depositions all week, and will be in more at the end of the week. I'll pick up with posts early next week. The Court of Appeals has handed down some important decisions, so I hope to post about them next week when I'm through with depositions. I apologize for the inconvenience.

The Fallout from Eliot Spitzer's Probe into the Insurance Industry

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's probe into the insurance industry (see prior post) has affected the insurance industry in different ways. For example, insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. announced that it would cease contingent commision arrangements with brokers (see this article in Business Insurance). Risk manager Aon Corp. have followed suit (see press release). Meanwhile, at the epicenter of the probe, some shareholders of Marsh and McLennan Cos. have called for Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Greenberg's resignation (see article in Bloomberg.com).

Thanks to CIBGNY for the resources.

New York Court of Appeals Recently Reaffirms Principles in Brill

I wrote about an interesting appeal concerning insurance coverage a few weeks ago in Miceli v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (see post). The Court of Appeals never reached the insurance coverage issue, however (see memorandum opinion). Instead, the Court reaffirmed its holding in Brill v. City of New York, denying the plaintiff's summary judgment based on her concession that she filed her summary judgment motion 120 days after the Note of Issue was filed. The plaintiff only argued that her was meritorious.

Lesson to be learned: file that summary judgment motion within 120 days of the Note of Issue being filed. The Court's decision reflects that doing so past the time period rings of disregarding a court order.

New York Court of Appeals Rejects General Municipal Law Section 349 Argument Against Tobacco Industry

In Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.J. Inc. v. Phillip Morris USA Inc. the Court of Appeals rejected the health-insurers claim pursuant to General Municipal Law Section 349, answering the first of two certified questions from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the negative. Section 349 is part of New York's deceptive acts and practices law. The Court held that third-party payers -- the health insurers -- could not recover derivatively under the General Business Law for the health costs incurred stemming from smokers. The Court wrote an excellent decision on section 349 and statutory construction.

Here are recent articles on the decision: one from PR Newswire, and another from Newsday.

Argument Ripe for Amici Briefs from the Insurance Industry - The Insurer Prejudice Rule

As I posted in the past, the New York Court of Appeals will be re-examining the insurer prejudice rule in the context of a late notice of occurrence. The following document (Download CaseWatch-Alert-10-11-04.doc) is the insurance coverage/defense publication of my firm concerning this issue and the case that raises the issue.

Good Explanation of Marsh Inc.'s Alleged Deceptive Practices

The Chicago Daily Herald contains an excellent article explaining the deceptive practices that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer claims Marsh Inc. undertook (see prior post).

New York Attorney General Commences Action Against the County's Leading Brokerage Firms

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer commenced an action (see Complaint) earlier in the week against the country's leading brokerage firm, Marsh Inc. He also accepted guilty pleas to criminal charges from two executives of the American International Group who admitted to joining in rigging bids to make it appear that Marsh steered its customers' business to companies based on staged competitive bids.

Here is Eliot Spitzer's press release. Here is Marsh, Inc.'s response to Eliot Spitzer's allegations.

Two Relatively New Additions to the Blawgosphere

Two relatively blawgs have been added to the growing blawgosphere. The first is LaborProf Blog that Professor Rafael Gely writes. There is no doubt that LaborProf Blog will be, if not already, the Internet resource on Labor Law.

The lawyers at Stark and Stark -- a northeast law firm -- have a beautifully designed blawg, Traumatic Brain Injury Law Blog, full of valuable information from leading experts on that topic.

New York Court of Appeals Addresses Interpretation of Reinsurance Contract

The New York Court of Appeals today heard oral arguments in Excess Insurance Co. v. Factory Mut. Ins. Co., which involved the interpretation of a reinsurance contract. The Appellate Division, First Department held that the reinsurance policy language -- which provided that the reinsurers agreed to follow the settlements and bear their proportion of expenses -- did not supercede the coverage limit in the reinsurance policy. We'll see in a month what the Court thinks . . . .