When Results Matter

“There is no substitute for hard work.”
– Thomas Edison

Results

October 2021 – Stacy Fulco obtained a defense verdict in a binding arbitration in Cook County, Illinois. The plaintiff claimed she slipped and fell due to water and grapes on the floor of the produce section of a grocery store. The plaintiff admitted she saw tracked in snow and wet footprints due to the weather conditions before she fell. The plaintiff also admitted she saw 3-4 grapes on the floor in front of the grape display as she walked toward the display to get grapes. Even so, as she approached the display she fell, resulting in an injury to her shoulder and knee and two surgeries. The circuit court denied our client’s motion for summary judgment, motion to reconsider the denial and motion for leave to appeal. After the completion of treater depositions we proceeded to binding arbitration.

August, 2021 – Louis Bové and Marc Syken obtained the dismissal of a $35 Million Dollar bad faith action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, with the court holding that an employer’s liability exclusion precluded coverage for the underlying accident.  Westminster Am. Ins. Co. v. Sec. Nat’l Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 154065 (August 16, 2021).

May, 2021 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment for a fast-food restaurant in Winnebago County, Illinois.  The plaintiff claimed he contracted salmonella from a breakfast sandwich.  The plaintiff did not report the alleged incident to the store and there were no other claims of exposure at the store.  After the completion of fact discovery and the deposition of the plaintiff’s gastroenterologist , we moved for summary judgment because the timing of the plaintiff’s symptoms did not support the sandwich could have caused his exposure.  The motion was granted and the plaintiff did not file an appeal.

May, 2021 – Rex Brien defeated a motion to dismiss an insurance coverage declaratory judgment action filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Chad Kenney rejected defendant’s argument that the underlying tort action was a “parallel action”, noting that our insurer client was not a party in that action and the coverage issues presented in the federal DJ action were not at issue in the underlying action. Judge Kenney’s opinion can be viewed at Security National Insurance Company v. Summerfield, No. 21-0895, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 91188 (E.D. Pa. May 13, 2021).

April, 2021 – Marc Syken secured summary judgment in Allegheny County in a coverage action brought against a commercial liability carrier.  At issue was whether additional insured coverage was due an upper tiered contractor in an underlying premises liability action.

October, 2020 – Louis Bové and Rex Brien recently won a motion for judgment on the pleadings, compelling the defendant insurer to assume a primary defense obligation with respect to its additional insureds, and ordering defendant to reimburse defense costs paid by our insurer client. The court subsequently denied defendant’s motion for reconsideration. 2020 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 18 (July 16, 2020)

July, 2020 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment for a retailer in McHenry County, Illinois based on the natural accumulation rule.  The plaintiff slipped and fell in rain water in an indoor vestibule while she was returning her shopping cart during a storm. In response to the motion, the plaintiff argued the warehouse store was negligent for keeping large garage doors open during a storm but the court ruled that even with the doors kept open the natural accumulation rule applied.  No appeal was filed.

April, 2020 – Rex Brien and Lou Bové secured a favorable ruling on summary judgment by Report and Recommendation in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania holding that coverage is not available for the partial collapse of a parking garage allegedly caused by the insured’s faulty construction under an “occurrence” based commercial general liability policy. The federal court also ruled in the insurer’s favor that it is entitled to recover the costs it expended defending the insured under reservation in the underlying action.

The Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation is reported at 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 65724 (W.D. Pa. April 14, 2020).  By Memorandum Order dated April 29, 2020, Senior U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer adopted the Report and Recommendation as the Opinion of the Court, after a de novo review.

March, 2020 – Jay Green obtained Orders quashing document and deposition subpoenas served on inside and outside counsel for an insurance company client on grounds including attorney-client privilege, work product doctrine and procedural deficiencies.

February, 2020 – Our office commenced a declaratory judgment action seeking a determination of no coverage for a claim alleging that exposure to the insured’s food flavoring chemicals supplied to plaintiff’s employer caused her lung disease. Rex Brien negotiated the withdrawal of the insured’s tender of the claim, and a court-approved stipulation of dismissal of the coverage action.

January 2020 –  Lou Bové and Bruce McCullough secured summary judgment in a significant D&O coverage case pending in the Superior Court of Delaware based on application of a run-off exclusion to claims for a loss resulting from wrongful acts which occurred post-merger.   Ferrellgas Partners L.P. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. N19C-05-275 MMJ [CCLD], 2020 Del. Super. LEXIS 41 (Super. Ct. Jan. 21, 2020), sub. proc. at, 2020 Del. Super. LEXIS 86 (Super. Ct. Feb. 17, 2020).

January, 2020 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment for a retailer in a personal injury case in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois involving an allegation that cases of water bottles from a display fell and injured the plaintiff. The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the display was unsafe.

December 2019 – Robert Fischer secured dismissal of bad faith claims in UM/UIM action based on argument that plaintiff failed to meet New Jersey bad faith standard

November, 2019 – Rex Brien negotiated a Consent Judgment which included a judicial declaration that no coverage was available for a vehicular accident under a supplemental liability insurance policy purchased by a vehicle renter who misrepresented that he had a valid driver’s license. After entry of default against the renter and an ADR proceeding with the nominal defendant whose vehicle was struck by the renter, Mr. Brien obtained the Consent Judgement fully resolving the matter.

November, 2019 – Stacy Fulco had a summary judgment ruling upheld on appeal in the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois in a personal injury case on behalf of a grocery store based on notice. Rauch v. New Albertson’s, Inc., 2-18-0831 (Nov. 22, 2019).

October, 2019 – On behalf of the firm’s insurance company client, Rex Brien pursued and favorably resolved a declaratory judgment action against an insurer that refused to defend its additional insured in an underlying workplace accident claim

October, 2019 – James W. Scott, Jr. obtained a defense verdict in favor of the guarantor of a vehicle service contract following a civil action hearing in the Magisterial District Court of Monroe County. The magistrate judge held that the Plaintiff had failed to comply with the terms of the VSC by authorizing repairs to the vehicle without permitting the guarantor to conduct an inspection of it.

June, 2019 – Rex Brien assisted an insurer defense group in obtaining a ruling from the court that a non-paying insurer owed a duty to contribute to the defense of the insured in underlying lawsuits involving noise induced hearing loss claims asserted by hundreds of firefighters. After successfully opposing efforts to appeal the ruling, and to amend the pleadings, the insurer defense group obtained full reimbursement of the resisting insurer’s share of defense costs in the underlying actions.

May 2019 – Robert Fischer secured dismissal of declaratory judgment claims for defense and indemnification against insurer by establishing proper cancellation of commercial liability policy

March 2019 – Jay M. Green secured a dismissal of breach of contract and bad faith claims against an insurance carrier in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  The Court granted the carrier’s Motion for Summary Judgment, holding that the excess liability coverage at issue did not provide underinsured motorist benefits.  Warrick v. Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49716 (E.D. Pa., March 25, 2019).

February 2019 – Bruce W. McCullough obtained favorable settlements for defendants in three American Apparel/APP Winddown bankruptcy preference cases.  After developing the U.S. Bankruptcy Code defenses for his clients, he achieved a $15,000 settlement on a $240,000 claim, a $500 settlement on a $262,000 claim, and a $5,000 settlement on a $152,000 claim.  Mr. McCullough actively represents bankruptcy preference defendants in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

February, 2019 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment in Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois for a store in a personal injury action based on the natural accumulation doctrine for water that was tracked into the store by customers. The court agreed the store’s failure to follow its “rainy day policy” did not negate the natural accumulation doctrine.

January, 2019 – Todd S. McGarvey secured a defense judgment in a breach of warranty action in Chester County Magisterial District Court on behalf of a national HVAC manufacturer.

October, 2018 – Todd S. McGarvey secured summary judgment in a personal injury action in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of an arborist based on defects in the plaintiff’s proofs.

September 2018 – Robert Fischer secured in limine orders barring plaintiff from presenting expert damages estimates totaling approximately $7.5 million in a breach of contract case which led to a favorable settlement

July 2018 – Louis A. Bové and Marc J. Syken secured a declaration in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of an insurer that a contractual indemnity claim seeking defense and indemnity for a workers compensation exposure was outside the scope of a commercial general liability policy. Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. FTS USA, LLC, 325 F. Supp. 3d 618 (E.D. Pa. 2018).

May 2018 – Robert Fischer secured summary judgment in declaratory judgment action for defense and indemnification against insurer by establishing proper cancellation of commercial liability policy

March, 2018 – Brian O’Gallagher and Stacy Fulco obtain a ruling from the Illinois Appellate Court in the First District that a carrier had a duty to defend and indemnify their retail client pursuant to the language of the policy, where the carrier settled out of the underlying case years before on behalf of the landlord and denied tender on behalf of the lessee. Dominick’s Finer Foods v. Indiana Insurance Co., 2018 IL App (1st) 161864).

February, 2018 – Stacy Fulco secured a favorable court ruling from the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court in a personal injury case involving the safe ingress and egress into an office building. Teer v. Cole XP Schaumburg IL, LLC, 2018 IL App (1st) 170699-U.

January 2018 – Bruce W. McCullough obtained voluntary dismissals of two bankruptcy preference cases.  He developed the defenses for his clients in cases filed in the American Apparel/APP Winddown ($199,000 claim) and Haggen Holdings/HH Liquidation ($264,000 claim) bankruptcies.  Mr. McCullough actively represents bankruptcy preference defendants in Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

November, 2017 – Stacy Fulco obtain summary judgment in the Circuit Court of Kankakee County, Illinois for a retailer based on notice involving the claim of a leaking cooler because the because the plaintiff could not prove there was a defective condition and the store had no notice of any condition. A counter-claim for fraud was filed against the plaintiff based on the surveillance footage.

October 2017 – Lawrence R. Woehrle won a $675,000 verdict in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, following a three day jury trial, on behalf of an “at will” employee terminated only three months after moving his family from China to Philadelphia to accept the position.

June, 2017 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois for a retailer based on the de minimus rule for a crack in the parking lot because the crack was at most an inch and there were no aggravating factors.

May, 2017 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment in Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois for a retailer in a personal injury action involving a trip and fall on a pallet based on it being an open and obvious condition and the plaintiff could not prove he was distracted.

March, 2017- Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment for a fast-food chain in the Circuit Court of Winnebago County, Illinois based on the natural accumulation doctrine because the entire parking lot was covered in ice due to inclement weather.

March 2017 – Lawrence R. Woehrle obtained summary judgment in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on behalf of a defendant employee alleged to have sexually assaulted minor children in his care.

February 2017 – Louis A. Bové and Marc J. Syken secured a declaration in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of an apartment building seeking additional insured coverage for an accident involving an employee of a contractor who was performing work at the building.  Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Indian Harbor Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24379 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 21, 2017).

February 2017 – Louis A. Bové and Marc J. Syken obtained a judgment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in favor of a commercial auto insurer, with the court holding that the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law permits a commercial insured to reject UM/UIM coverage for its fleet of vehicles, while designating certain individuals as being eligible for UM/UIM coverage.  Wiley v. Universal Underwriters Ins. Co., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16817 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 6, 2017).

January, 2017 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment for a fast-food chain in the Circuit Court of DuPage County, Illinois in a personal injury cation because the plaintiff provided multiple theories of the cause of her fall but did not know the actual cause so there was no known defect and there could not be notice.

December 2016 – Lawrence R. Woehrle obtained a F.R.C.P. 50 Judgment as a Matter of Law for defendants following a two day Arbitration in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania where defendants had been sued for multiple civil rights violations, including Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment violations.

December 2016 – Bruce W. McCullough was part of a trial team that successfully defended an insurance coverage case in Delaware.  A financial services company had sued for reimbursement of underlying legal fees incurred in class action litigation.  The firm’s client was one of a number of insurance carrier defendants and, after more than a week of trial, the jury accepted the client’s late notice and lack of consent defenses.  The firm’s client was the only defendant insurance carrier not found to be liable for the $9.3 million claim.

December 2016 – Rex F. Brien obtained an affirmance by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals of the dismissal of an insurance bad faith and ERISA action arising from Appellant’s underlying employment discrimination case.  Zurich successfully defended Appellant’s former employer in the underlying action.  In the subsequent insurance coverage action, Appellant alleged that Zurich breached a duty owed to him by failing to make good faith offers to settle his employment action.  The Third Circuit ruled that Appellant failed to state a plausible claim for relief as he plainly is not an insured under the liability policy issued by Zurich to Appellant’s former employer.  The Court also ruled that the subject liability policy “clearly is not an ’employee welfare benefits plan’ subject to ERISA.”  Leboon v. Zurich American Insurance Company, No. 16-2088, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 22019 (3rd Cir. December 12, 2016).

Update: Appellant’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc was denied by the court on January 3, 2017.

November, 2016 – Louis A. Bové prevailed in a coverage action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia on behalf of a primary insurer seeking defense and indemnity from another primary and excess insurer on the risk for a common insured under an additional insured endorsement and follow form excess policy. The other insurer provided coverage to the underlying claimant’s employer, and while that employer was dismissed from the underlying case on employer immunity grounds, Mr. Bové successfully argued that the employer’s primary and excess policies nonetheless provided primary and non-contributing coverage to the additional insured which had settled the large exposure underlying claim. Steadfast Ins. Co. v. Berkley Nat’l Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160693 (S.D. W. Va. Nov. 21, 2016).

September 2016 – Louis A. Bové successfully recovered all settlement sums advanced by a commercial excess insurer and its insured in an underlying wrongful death case from the importer of a Chinese product and its excess insurer in protracted litigation pending in Norfolk City, Virginia.  The recovery followed arguments on summary judgment motions against the excess insurer and the importer of the product.  The case turned on coverage under a vendor’s endorsement in the importer’s primary and excess policies, as well as a contractual indemnity provision in the sales contract for the product.  In a previously reported decision of first impression in the same case, the Circuit Court in Virginia held that Mr. Bové’s clients were not “volunteers” for purposes of the equitable indemnity claims against an excess insurer.  Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Ins. Co., 91 Va. Cir. 433, 2015 Va. Cir. LEXIS 189 (Va. Cir. Ct. 2015).

September 2016 – Adam C. Lazarow was able to secure a defense verdict in a Philadelphia Arbitration matter for which he represented the only Defendant.  Plaintiff alleged permanent back injuries following an alleged slip and fall incident in a facility owned and operated by our client.  Plaintiff’s credibility was questioned and notice of any alleged condition was disputed during deposition practice, throughout discovery and up through to Arbitration.  The Arbitration panel found in favor of the Defendant.

August 2016 – Louis A. Bové successfully pursued an appeal of a trial court decision denying charitable immunity to an inner city YMWCA before the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of the State of New Jersey.  The trial judge had found that the YMWCA was merely a fitness club without the attributes necessary to qualify for immunity under New Jersey’s Charitable Immunity Act.  Mr. Bové was retained to brief and argue the interlocutory appeal from that decision, and secured a reversal of the trial court’s decision overcoming both Amicus and the underlying plaintiff’s arguments.  Walters v. YMCA, 2016 N.J. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1904 (App. Div. August 15, 2016).

August 2016 – Bruce W. McCullough successfully defended an adversary action in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.  A bankrupt company had sued one of its former directors, alleging that payments made to him were preferential payments and needed to be refunded to the company.  Following development of the ordinary course defense, plaintiff agreed to voluntarily dismiss the case with prejudice and without any settlement payment being made.

July 2016 – Robert D. Fischer secured summary judgment in a personal injury action in the Law Division of Monmouth County on behalf of a business owner based on defects in the plaintiff’s notice and expert proofs.

May 2016 – Louis A. Bové successfully argued before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania for affirmance of a decision granting summary judgment on an insurer’s declaratory judgment action under Coverages A and B of a series of commercial general liability policies in connection with 37 underlying cases.  The dual decisions by the Superior Court addressed the threshold issue of whether emotional distress, without antecedent physical injury, qualifies as a “bodily injury” under a commercial general liability coverage form, and whether the publication by a third party of photos covertly taken at a sun tanning salon qualifies as a personal or advertising injury offense under Coverage B of the same commercial general liability coverage form.  Steadfast Ins. Co. v. Tomei, 2016 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1864, 2016 WL 2989982 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016) and Penn-America Ins. Co. v. Tomei, 2016 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1859 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2016).

May, 2016 – Stacy Fulco obtained summary judgment based on a constructive notice argument in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois in a personal injury case filed by a vendor who slipped and fell on fruit in the receiving area while making a delivery.

April 2016 – Robert D. Fischer secured summary judgment in a wrongful death action in the Law Division of Essex County on behalf of a private school based on the New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act and defects in the plaintiff’s expert proofs.

April 2016 – Rex F. Brien obtained a dismissal, with prejudice, of an insurance bad faith action in federal court.  The Court ruled that an insurer that successfully defended its insured owed no duty to the plaintiff to settle his claims against the insured.  As the Court determined, “[T]he duty to negotiate a settlement in good faith arises from the insurance policy and is owed to the insured, not to a third-party claimant.”  LeBoon v. Zurich American Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51381 (E.D. Pa. April 18, 2016).

March, 2016 – Stacy Fulco secured a favorable ruling from the Illinois Appellate Court, First District whereby it upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a fitness club following a member’s alleged injury from the use of an exercise resistance tube that broke. The Court found the Club’s membership agreement to be valid and enforceable and the exculpatory provisions barred the plaintiffs’ claims. Keevil v. Life Time Fitness, Inc., et al., 2016 IL App (1st) 151551-U.

March 2016 – Marc J. Syken and James W. Scott, Jr. secured a dismissal of a coverage action brought against a commercial property carrier by the owner of an office building.  At issue was whether a vacancy condition applied to preclude coverage for the loss.

February 2016 – Louis A. Bové secured summary judgment in favor of an insurance client on claims for conspiracy, bad faith, unfair trade practices, and tortious interference in the Commerce Program of the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County arising out of the proper settlement of property damage claims.  An appeal from this decision was later abandoned by the underlying insured.

November, 2015 – Stacy Fulco’s retail client tendered its defense and indemnification to a floor mat vendor after being sued for negligence in a trip and fall case involving a floor mat. The vendor denied the tender and its carrier denied the tender because of a $1 million self-insured retention. After winning summary judgment in the underlying personal injury case and having it upheld on appeal, Stacy’s client filed a breach of contract action against the vendor. Cross motions for summary judgment were filed and the circuit court ruled the vendor had no duty to defend based on the allegations in the complaint. The appellate court reversed, holding the vendor breached the contract because it was self-insured for $1 million rather than having commercial general liability coverage as was required by the contract. Dominick’s Finer Foods, LLC v. Eurest Services, Inc., 2015 IL App (1st) 150369-U.

August 2015 – Louis A. Bové and Marc J. Syken on behalf of an excess insurer secured a dismissal in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania of a claim for reimbursement brought by a high excess insurer who claimed that the payment of counsel fees by the lower-tiered excess insurer did not erode limits. Allied World Assur. Co. v. Steadfast Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111454 (E.D. Pa. Aug. 24, 2015).

June 2015 – Marc J. Syken and James W. Scott, Jr. secured a dismissal of a bad faith claim in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County where the insured had provided an expert report identifying alleged bad faith conduct on part of the insurer.

June 2015 – In a detailed opinion, the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the summary judgment that Bruce W. McCullough obtained for his client in defending malicious prosecution and abuse of process claims.

March 2015 – Louis A. Bové successfully argued for the dismissal of all coverage claims asserted against a commercial general liability insurer in an action pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee with respect to underlying consolidated cases involving a brutal assault and rape at its insured’s restaurant.  The decision is reported at Belz Park Place, G.P., and Belz/South Bluffs, Inc. v. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. and Zurich American Insurance Company, 2015 WL 11145058 (W.D. Tenn., Western Div. 2015).

February 2015 – Louis A. Bové secured summary judgment on an insurer’s declaratory judgment action under Coverages A and B of a series of commercial general liability policies in connection with 37 underlying cases pending in Westmoreland County, PA.

October 2014 – Louis A. Bové secured summary judgment on behalf of a commercial auto insurer in a coverage and bad faith action brought by an employee of an international company who claimed entitlement to first party underinsured motorist benefits under a multi-state commercial fleet auto policy for a leased vehicle used and possessed by employee. Mr. Bové successfully argued that an employer could validly reject UIM benefits under a commercial fleet policy on behalf of an employee under the Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility law.

October 2013 – Marc J. Syken secured a defense arbitration award in a coverage/bad faith action involving the interpretation of a commercial property grant.

April 2013 – Louis A. Bové prevailed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a coverage case arising out of a defective construction of a prison in New Jersey. Mr. Bové successfully maintained that the insurance policy was governed by Pennsylvania law, despite the underlying tort claims against the policyholder pending in New Jersey. The Third Circuit held that the claims of faulty workmanship levied against the policyholder did not qualify as an “occurrence” under the policy notwithstanding the existence of collateral property damage caused by that work, or the claims that the policyholder’s subcontractors engaged in willful misconduct which was not foreseeable. The Third Circuit’s decision is reported at Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. R.M. Shoemaker Co., 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 6093 (3d Cir. Pa. Mar. 27, 2013).

March 2013 – Bruce W. McCullough obtained a ruling that established fraud in an adversary case following trial in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The case challenged the discharge of a debt owed to the firm’s client.

March 2013 – Marc J. Syken secured via summary judgment a dismissal of a coverage action brought against a commercial property carrier arising out of the release of diesel fuel.

February 2013 – In a case of first impression in Pennsylvania, the insurance coverage practice group obtained a ruling that a parking garage operator does not qualify as a real estate manager under a commercial general liability policy.

December 2012 – Louis A. Bové obtained a jury verdict in favor of a non-profit charitable organization and two of its employees following a week-long trial in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Bergen County. Although the facts leading up to the loss were hotly contested, and the expert witnesses who testified reached contrary opinions as to the causal fault for the accident, the jury ultimately returned a verdict in favor of all defendants. In securing a defense verdict, the defendants avoided a significant exposure given the alleged severe and permanent injuries sustained by the plaintiff-wife.

June 2012 – Lawrence R. Woehrle obtained summary judgment in a personal injury action in the Law Division of Monmouth County on behalf of a non-profit entity based on the New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act.

May 2012 – James W. Scott, Jr. obtained summary judgment in the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of the manufacturer of a turbocharger in a subrogation claim arising out of a fire in rock band’s tour bus. Westfield Ins. v. Detroit Diesel Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64301 (W.D. Pa. May 8, 2012).

April 2012 – Marc J. Syken secured a verdict in a declaratory judgment action tried in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County involving the interpretation of an omnibus insuring grant in a personal lines policy.

March 2012 – The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a $1.6 million jury verdict obtained by Lawrence R. Woehrle in a claim involving an unusual malicious prosecution claim against a private individual. Snyder v. Glass, 207 EDA 2011 (Pa. Super., Mar. 19, 2012).

February 2012 – James W. Scott, Jr. obtained partial summary judgment on behalf of a framing contractor in the Law Division of Essex County, winning dismissal of the claims arising from two of four phases of a condominium project.

September 2011 – Louis A. Bové successfully litigated application of the business enterprise exclusions in a professional liability policy issued to an attorney sued in connection with professional services rendered while acting on behalf of an accounting firm. Applying New Jersey law to the dispute, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey found in favor of Mr. Bové’s industry client, and held that the insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify the insured for these underlying claims, as the business enterprise exclusions limited professional liability coverage to professional liability claims arising out of his services as a solo legal practitioner. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co. v. Falk, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109747, 2011 WL 4499282 (D.N.J. Sept. 27, 2011).

July 2011 – Jay M. Green successfully defended a local business on an appeal in which the New Jersey Appellate Division refused to certify a private class action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. – Local Baking Products, Inc. v. Kosher Bagel Munch, 421 N.J. Super. 268, 23 A.3d 469 (App. Div. 2011).