First-Party Water Damage Sublimit
Black River Partners, et al. v. Adirondack Mechanical Services and Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., Index No. 252627/2016, New York Supreme Court, Rensselaer County (December 5, 2018) The court held that all the insured’s property damage and resulting business...
Dismissal Based on Counsel’s Failure to Appear
New Rainbow Heaven, LLC et al. v. Wesco Ins. Co., N.Y. Co. Index No. 655648/2016 (NY Sup. Ct. NY Co. 2018) This case involved plaintiff-insured’s claim for fire damage to its restaurant. Plaintiff’s counsel sought to withdraw upon the parties’ motions...
Suit Limitation and Late Notice
Brenner v. Hermitage Ins. Co., 2018 NY Slip Op 32667(U), 2018 WL 5261037 (NY Co. Sup. Ct., October 16, 2018) The Brenner case involved a first-party property dispute in which the insured landlord made a claim under his policy following vandalism damage...
Misrepresentation in Property Insurance Application
Perez v. Castlepoint Ins. Co. et al., 2018 N.Y. Slip Op 32668, 2018 WL 5283415 (NY Sup. Ct., Queens Co. October 19, 2018) This litigation involved a first-party property insurance dispute in which the plaintiff-insureds claimed coverage for damages to...
Consigned Goods Not Covered Property
Talisman Services, Inc. v. Hermitage Ins. Co., 2018 WL 3859692 (N.Y.Sup.), 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 31955(U) (New York Co. Sup. Ct., Aug 14, 2018) Talisman involved a first-party property insurance dispute where the insured claimed coverage for water damage...
Waiver of Appraisal Right
Versailles Sur La Mer Condominium Ass’n, Inc. v. Lexington Ins. Co., No. 6:18-cv-1125-Orl-37TBS (U.S. District Court, Middle District Florida, July 24, 2018) The firm obtained an order denying plaintiff’s motion to compel Lexington Insurance Company to...
Protective Safeguards Provision
Illinois Union Ins. Co. v. Grandview Palace Condominiums Assoc. Corp., 155 A.D.3d 459 (1st Dep’t 2017), lv denied, 31 N.Y.3d 912 (2018) In this case the New York Court of Appeals denied defendant-insured’s motion for leave to appeal a decision by the...
Earth Movement Exclusion and Lack of Privity
Sebmar LLC v. AmTrust Financial Svcs. et al., New York Supreme Court, Kings County, Index No. 505707/17 (2018) The Sebmar case involved an insurance claim for damage to an apartment building located in Brooklyn. The damage was reportedly caused when...
2416 Newkirk v. Wesco Ins. Co. et al., Kings Co Index No 502342 (NY Sup. Ct. June 15, 2018) This first-party insurance litigation involved insurance claims for a theft that occurred in an apartment building located at 2416 Newkirk Avenue, Brooklyn, and...
Appraisal and First-Party Bad-faith Claim
Greenbrier Hotel Corporation, et al., v. Lexington Insurance Company, et al., Civ. Action No.: 5:14-cv-15201 (S.D. W. Va. June 11, 2018) The district court affirmed an appraisal award in favor of Mound Cotton’s clients, finding that the insurers timely...
Airport Runway Collapse Claim
Central West Virginia Regional Airport Authority, Inc. v. Triad Engineering, Inc., (West Virginia Circuit Court, Mass Litigation Panel, May 2018) The firm obtained an order granting summary judgment in favor of its client, New Hampshire Insurance...
No Private Cause of Action under Unfair Claim Settlement Act
Petrilli v. Adirondack Ins. Exchange, 2018 WL 2322773 (N.Y.Sup.), 2018 N.Y. Slip Op. 30941(U) (NY Sup. Ct., Nassau Co., May 16, 2018) This decision involves a first-party property insurance dispute in which plaintiff-insureds claimed their building...
On May 10, 2018, the judges of the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel granted summary judgment in favor of New Hampshire Insurance Company on a $30 million claim arising from the March 2015 collapse of an airport runway extension. New Hampshire was the...
Third-Party Bad-Faith Claim
Paul Evert’s RV World et al. v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 720 Fed. Appx. 412 (9th Cir. April 25, 2018) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment obtained by Mound Cotton’s attorneys in a significant third-party bad faith action. The...
First-Party Building Collapse Claim
The S.O. Beach Corp. v. Great American Ins. Co. of New York, No. 17-22254-CIV-MORENO, 2018 WL 1732176 (S.D. Fla. April 10, 2018) In a dispute regarding the application of a policy’s collapse coverage, the United States District Court for the Southern...
NEW JERSEY — On March 14, 2018, Lexington Insurance Company and Aspen Specialty Insurance Company received a decision from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County, granting summary judgment against Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. and related...
Sandy Contingent Business Interruption Claim
Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. v. Lexington Insurance Company, No.: ATL-L-2458-15 (N.J. Super. Ct., Law Div. March 14, 2018) The court granted summary judgment against Trump Entertainment Resorts and related companies on a $5.1 million claim for...
CGL Policy Does Not Cover Damage to Insured’s Building
New Lahori Kabab Inc. v. 122-24 Lexington Ave. Corp. et al., N.Y. Index 653083/2017 (NY Sup. Ct., NY Co. 2018) This litigation involved the plaintiff-insured’s claim under a commercial general liability policy for property damage to a restaurant....
Travel Agent Not Liable for Mistakenly Charging Incorrect Credit Card
Gitelman, et al. v. GoGo Worldwide Vacations, GoGo Tours, Inc., et al., Index No. 22004/13 (Sup. Ct. Queens Co. Feb. 20, 2018) Mound Cotton won summary judgment in favor of its clients, GoGo Worldwide Vacations and GoGo Tours, Inc., in New York Supreme...
Nonsuit based on Failure to Provide Discovery
Pertef Bylykbashi v. Public Service, Connecticut Superior Court, Docket No. 16-6071062 (January 18, 2018) This lawsuit concerned a first-party property insurance claim involving water damage resulting from roof leaks that occurred on February 25, 2015....
Greenbrier Hotel Corp. v. Lexington Ins. Co., No. 5:14-cv-15201, 2017 WL 589544 (S.D. W. Va. Nov. 29, 2017) This is one of very few recent decisions discussing the standard to apply under West Virginia law to review an appraisal award. The decision is...
Illinois Union Ins. Co. v. Grandview Palace Condominiums Assoc. Corp., 155 A.D.3d 459 (1st Dep’t 2017) In this case, the New York State Appellate Division, First Department, overturned a lower court’s ruling that had denied Plaintiffs Great...
Jones v. FC USA, Inc., d/b/a Liberty Travel, No. 17-1126, 2017 WL 5453497 (E.D.Pa. Nov. 14, 2017) MCWG successfully moved on behalf of its client, Liberty Travel, to dismiss a case filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case, a negligence...
Liberty Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. J&S Supply Corp., No. 13-CV-4784, 2017 WL 4351523 (S.D.N.Y. September 29, 2017) As previously reported, Mound Cotton won summary judgment on behalf of Liberty Mutual in this third-party coverage action. The court held,...
Barry Inn Realty, Inc. v. Endurance American Specialty Insurance Company and M.G.I. Brokerage Inc. In this first-party property insurance matter, Plaintiff sought coverage after a fire damaged its building in the Bronx, New York. MCWG moved for summary...
R&Q Reinsurance Co. v. St. Paul & Marine Ins. Co., Civil Action No. 16-1473, 2017 WL 3272016 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 1, 2017) In a discovery dispute between a ceding company and its reinsurer, a federal court rejected the ceding company’s efforts to...
Sicari v. The Hartford Ins. Co., Superior Ct. N.J., App. Div. (May 10, 2017) The New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed the Law Division’s grant of summary judgment in favor of MCW&G client, The Hartford Ins. Co. In this case, plaintiff, Vince A....
Bedrock Leasing Corp. v. Lexington Ins. Co., No. N16C-08-084 EMD CCLD (Del. Super. Ct. Apr. 27, 2017) In this Hurricane Sandy litigation, the Delaware Superior Court granted MCWG client Lexington Insurance Company’s motion to dismiss on the basis of the...
MZM Real Estate Corp. v. Tower Ins. Co. of N.Y., 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 30691(U), 2017 WL 1330494, 2017 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1292 (Sup. Ct. [N.Y. Co.] April 7, 2017) In this case, the Insured sued to enforce an appraisal award arising out of Superstorm Sandy....
SECOND CIRCUIT AFFIRMS SUMMARY JUDGMENT FOR MCW&G’S CLIENT ON HOCKEY PLAYER’S FRAUD COUNTERCLAIM Standard Security Life Ins. Co. v. Bryan Berard, 684 Fed.Appx. 56 (2d Cir. March 27, 2017) Bryan Berard, a former professional hockey player in the...
STANLEY JONAS, ET AL. v. NATIONAL LIFE INS. CO., ET AL., No. 651733/2013, 2017 NY Slip Op 01438 Appellate Division, First Department (February 23, 2017) The Appellate Division, First Department, ruled in favor of the Firm’s client, an insurance broker,...
Janeen A. Javoroski v. Selectquote Insurance SVC, Inc., et al., Index No. 4542-16 (Sup. Ct., Albany Co., February 21, 2017) (Richard M. Platkin, J.) The Court ruled in favor of Mound Cotton’s clients, insurance broker defendants on their motion to...
U.S. Specialty Ins. Co. v. Catalent, Inc., No. 16cv4414 (DLC) MCWG client wins declaratory judgment in a $10 million lawsuit OVER coverage for Extortion Property Damage. The insured sought coverage for business interruption losses in excess of $10...
STANLEY JONAS, ET AL. v. NATIONAL LIFE INS. CO., ET AL., No. 651733/2013, 2017 NY Slip Op 01438 Appellate Division, First Department (February 23, 2017) The Appellate Division, First Department, ruled in favor of the MCW&G’s client, an insurance...
Lend Lease (US) Constr. LMB Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., 28 N.Y.3d 675 (2017) After a hard fought litigation, on February 14, 2017 the New York Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Mound Cotton’s clients, Zurich American Insurance Company, ACE American...
In this Superstorm Sandy case filed in the Supreme Court of New York, Queens County, the Court denied plaintiff’s motion to file an amended complaint against MCWG client New York Property Insurance Underwriting Association (“NYPIUA”). In this case, in...
Abrar Deli & Grocery Hylan Corp. v. Tower National Ins. Co., Index 100249/16 (Sup. Ct. [Rich. Co.], Jan. 27, 2017) This litigation arises out of an insurance claim for alleged water damage from Superstorm Sandy to a deli/grocery store on October 29,...
Forty East Broadway Corp. v. The Charter Oak Fire Ins. Co., et. al., 2017 WL 318663, 2017 WL 375320, 2017 N.Y. Slip Op. 30131(U) (Sup. Ct. NY Co., Jan. 20, 2017) (Sup. Ct [NY Co.], Jan. 23, 2017) This litigation concerns a first-party property insurance...
On December 1, 2016, the Supreme Court of Florida issued its highly-anticipated decision in Sebo v. American Home Assurance Company, Inc., No. SC14-897 (Fla. Dec. 1, 2016), which addressed the appropriate theory of recovery to apply when two or more...
Five Towns Nissan, LLC v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co. et. al., 2016 NY Slip Op 32316(U), 2016 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4347, 2016 WL 6916478 (Sup Ct. [NY Co.], Nov. 22, 2016) reargument denied (Feb. 8, 2017) This litigation concerns first-party insurance...
Northern Spy Food Co., LLC v. Tower Nat. Ins. Co., Index No. 650461/2014 This litigation involved plaintiff’s property insurance claim for food spoilage and loss of business income as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Plaintiff alleged that its restaurant...
State Farm and Casualty Company a/s/o Robert Breier and Sabine Breier V. Homesite Home Insurance, Supreme Court New York State Nassau County, Index No. 5524/13 This matter involved State Farm’s claim against Homesite as subrogee of the...
TV Realty v. Tower Ins. Co. of NY, Index No. 306589/2013 This litigation arose out of plaintiff’s insurance claim for alleged rain-water damage to its Bronx apartment building on December 27, 2012, which it did not report to Tower until January 10,...
MCWG represented the Respondent, in opposition to her ex-husband’s petition for a downward modification of his child support obligation. Mr. Garetano argued that his 20 year old son was emancipated, and therefore, Mr. Garetano was no longer...
