The firm prevailed on partial summary judgment in an insurance coverage litigation in the Southern District of New York involving alleged damages to modules of pre-fabricated hotel rooms manufactured by plaintiff Polcom USA, LLC (“Polcom”) in Poland for the construction of a citizenM hotel in Seattle, Washington.

In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed a trial ruling that RLI Insurance Company does not owe a defense to a putative additional insured, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with respect to an underlying personal injury action.

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed trial court order granting general contractor’s motion for summary judgment declaring that insurer owing additional insured coverage must reimburse defense and indemnity payments made on behalf of the general contractor in connection with multiple underlying actions arising out of a building collapse, even if those defense and indemnity payments were paid by the general contractor’s own insurer.

In a claim for coverage under a professional malpractice policy arising out of the death of a nursing resident, successfully argued that the nursing home’s forwarding to a prior insurer of a request for medical records of the deceased resident made by a prominent personal injury firm specializing in elder neglect cases constituted prior notice and therefore excluded by the policy’s “prior notice” exclusion.

In an issue of first impression, the Appellate Division reversed a trial court decision declaring that a follow form excess insurer was bound by a ruling against the primary insurer in a prior declaratory judgment action regarding the scope of additional insured coverage pursuant to the “law of the case” doctrine. Between the time of the initial DJ action and the second DJ action against the follow form excess insurer, the scope of additional coverage had narrowed in an outcome dispositive manner in light of the Court of Appeals’ landmark ruling in Burlington v. NYC Transit Authority, another case handled by the firm.