Archives for Business Litigation

Mediation serves as an effective alternative dispute resolution mechanism for insurance companies, offering a cost-effective, time-efficient, and relationship-preserving method to resolve lawsuits, ultimately benefiting both insurers and policyholders. In an era where litigation costs continue to soar, and the legal system is often bogged down by lengthy court processes, the need for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods has never been more critical. Mediation, in particular, has emerged as a powerful tool for resolving lawsuits, especially in the insurance sector. This essay explores the affective use of mediation in resolving insurance lawsuits, highlighting its advantages over traditional litigation and emphasizing its
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In Sharif v. Dominant Domain, the NJ Appellate Division upheld the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to a business owner who was sued by a plaintiff injured in a slip and fall. Finding that plaintiff failed to offer competent evidence to demonstrate actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition, the Court held that there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding notice of any hazard prior to plaintiff’s fall. In her deposition, plaintiff testified that she slipped and fell on ice while descending exterior stairs at the rear entrance of defendant’s commercial building. She had not seen
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In Hanna v. Woodland Community Association, the New Jersey Appellate Division was asked to determine whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to a landscaper, a community association, and a property management company based on the “on-going storm rule” adopted by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Pareja v. Princeton Int’l Props. in 2021. Under this rule, commercial landowners do not have a duty to remove the accumulation of snow and ice until the conclusion of a winter storm. The Court agreed with the trial court that under the rule, the landscaper, community association and management company had
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In Portillo v. National Freight, Inc. (“NFI”), a class of commercial truck drivers brought suit against NFI alleging that it misclassified them as independent contractors (“ICs”) and improperly deducted certain fees from their pay in violation of the New Jersey Wage Payment Law (“WPL”). The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment on the issue of whether the drivers were ICs or employees under New Jersey law. Utilizing the ABC Test, the court held that NFI misclassified the drivers as ICs when, in fact, they were actual employees of NFI. The class of drivers were truck owner operators that made
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Without providing a substantive rationale, a state court judge in Philadelphia has refused to preliminarily dismiss a bar’s COVID-19 business interruption lawsuit brought against certain London Market underwriters. In a two-page order, the court in Taps & Bourbon on Terrace LLC v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, No. 200700375 (Phila. C.C.P. Oct. 26, 2020) determined that it would be “premature” to address the insurer’s factual contentions. “Taking the factual allegations made [in] the plaintiff’s complaint as true, as this court must at this time, plaintiff has successfully pled to survive this stage of the proceedings. Moreover, the law and facts
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A Federal District Court judge in South Carolina has determined that material questions remain for trial in a complex insurance matter tied to an underlying construction defect class action against Dan Ryan Builders, LLC. Dan Ryan Builders West Virginia, LLC et al. v. Main Street America Assurance Co., No. 2:18-cv-00589-SCN (D.S.C.), arose from a dispute between Dan Ryan Builders and a class of homeowners living in allegedly damaged houses in a South Carolina subdivision known as Foxbank. The construction company hired several subcontractors to construct Foxbank, and the subcontractors’ insurers are the defendants ultimately sued to defend and indemnify Dan
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