Articles by Andrew G. Simpson

Fire Mitigation Industry Terror: NYC Gang Member Convicted of Extortion, Racketeering

A gang member who ran a fire restoration company has been convicted of using violence, threats of violence, and extortion to terrorize and dominate the fire restoration industry in New York City. After presiding over a two-week bench trial in …

New York’s High Court Backs Insurer’s Denial of COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim

New York state’s highest court has affirmed that there must be direct physical loss or damage, not just presence of a virus, to trigger coverage under a commercial property policy for COVID-19 business interruption losses. The Court of Appeals upheld …

Judge Tosses Suit by Estate of Employee Killed in Crash After Mandatory Wine Tasting

A Connecticut judge has tossed a lawsuit by the estate of a woman who was killed in a crash while driving intoxicated following a mandatory wine tasting at the restaurant that employed her. The estate brought claims of common law …

Court Nixes ‘Wrongful Life’ Framing in Upholding $38M Fertility Malpractice Award

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that claims involving the evolving field of assisted reproductive technologies can be decided using traditional negligence and medical malpractice principles and do not require consideration as novel “wrongful life” causes of action. The high …

Roof Claim for Damage by Vultures Fails on Ordinary, Not Expert, Meaning of ‘Infestation’

How many vultures are required and how long must they be present to create an infestation? The Pennsylvania-based owner of a Maryland commercial building has learned that the answer, at least for insurance purposes, does not lie with an expert …

DC Appellate Court Asks for Guidance in Case of Intoxicated Man’s Fall from Train Platform

The federal circuit appeals court for the District of Columbia (D.C.) has asked D.C’s highest court for guidance on the standard of negligence in a case involving a noticeably intoxicated man who died after falling from a train platform into …

Pennsylvania Law Assures Medical Expense Coverage for Injured Unlicensed Driver

An unlicensed driver exclusion in a Pennsylvania auto insurance policy does not apply to allow an insurer to deny statutorily mandated first party medical expense benefits, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled. The appeals court found that the exclusion does …

Wegman’s Has Right to Question Injured Worker’s Doctor, Rules New York’s High Court

Wegman’s Food Markets was wrongly denied an opportunity to cross-examine an injured employee’s doctor, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled, overturning rulings by a workers’ compensation law judge, the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board and a lower …

Judge Blocks Chubb Exit From New York Diocese’s Thousands of Child Sex Abuse Suits

A New York judge has ruled that the “plain language” of Chubb Insurance policies dictates that the insurer must cover the Archdiocese of New York parishes and schools as they contend with thousands of sex abuse lawsuits. Chubb has balked …

New York Law Bars Subrogation by Lloyd’s in LaGuardia Project, Appeals Court Affirms

A federal appeals court has declared that New York law prevents Lloyd’s from recovering some loss payments from Zurich American because Zurich’s insured was also an insured of Lloyd’s in a case involving a construction project at LaGuardia Airport. The …