HNRK Coverage Corner

On June 28, 2018, the First Department issued a decision in Bernstein Liebhard LLP v. Sentinel Ins. Co., Ltd., 2018 NY Slip Op 04842, reversing a decision by Justice Masley of the New York County Commercial Division that granted summary judgment to a law firm on a claim for business interruption coverage. (See our previous post on Justice Masley’s decision here.)

The plaintiff, a mass tort law firm, sought coverage for loss of business income after a fire destroyed its offices.  Although the policy only covered income that would have been “earned” during the 12 months after fire ...

On July 2, 2018, Justice Edmead of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in M&M Realty of N.Y., LLC v. Burlington Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 31399(U), holding that a property owner was entitled to coverage under a contractor’s CGL policy because extrinsic evidence demonstrated “the parties’ intent to confer additional insured status” on the property owner. In M&M Realty, a property owner (M&M) sought additional insured coverage under the CGL policy of a contractor (L&M) for a personal injury claim by the contractor’s employee.  L&M’s policy had a standard ...

On June 29, 2018, Justice Grossman of the Putnam County Supreme Court issued a decision in Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Oster, 2018 NY Slip Op 51018(U), awarding attorneys' fees to an insured in a declaratory judgment action commenced by the insurance company, explaining:

New York has followed the rule that an insured may not recover in an affirmative action to determine its rights, but may do so, where, as here, the insured has been "cast in a defensive posture by the legal steps an insurer takes in an effort to free itself from its policy obligations (see Johnson v. General Mutual Ins ...

On June 27, 2018, Judge Oetken of the SDNY issued a decision in Liberty Ins. Corp. v. WSP USA, Inc., Case No. 17-cv-4398(JPO), holding that coverage under a CGL Policy was excluded by a professional liability exclusion.

The insured, WSP, was hired by the Washington State Department of Transportation to “evaluate the repair or replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, a highway project in Seattle.” WSP “agreed to develop an environmental impact statement and to perform ‘associated design work’ for the viaduct project." WSP was sued for negligence by a contractor that worked ...

On May 17, 2018, Justice Lebovits of the New York County Supreme Court issued a decision in Tishman Constr. Corp. of N.Y. v Scottsdale Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 30991(U), reconsidering a prior order in light of the Court of Appeals’ decision in Burlington Ins. Co. v. NYC Transit Auth., 29 N.Y.3d 313 (2017), and holding that a construction manager was not entitled to indemnity coverage, under a subcontractor's liability policy, for the settlement of a personal injury lawsuit, where the subcontractor did not proximately cause the underlying injuries.

The subcontractor’s liability ...