In Antone’s, A Bar 401, LLC v. American Property Insurance Company, the insured filed a declaratory judgment action seeking coverage for business losses that arose after New Jersey’s governor declared a state of emergency for the Covid pandemic and issued Executive Orders suspending the operations of non-essential businesses. The insurance policy at issue had coverage provisions for business interruption and losses caused by civil authority, as well as a virus exclusion. Relying on its decision on Mac Property Group v. Selective Fire & Casualty Insurance Company, which involved similar facts and legal issues, the court affirmed summary judgment in the
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New York Court Applies Storm-in-Progress Doctrine and Grants Summary Judgment for Property Owner in Slip and Fall Case
A New York State Court has granted defendants’ motions for summary judgment in a slip and fall case after application of the “ongoing storm” or “storm-in-progress” doctrine. The Court held that property owners, tenants-in-possession, and snow removal contractors are not liable for accidents caused by snow or ice that accumulates during a storm until a reasonable amount of time has passed following the cessation of the storm. Further, the Court held that a brief “lull” in the severity of a continuing storm does not impose a duty to remove the snow and ice until the storm ceases in its entirety.
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NJ Appellate Court Reiterates That the Existence of a Duty of Care Is a Question of Law for the Court
A New Jersey Appellate Court has again reversed a lower court’s denial of a defendant’s summary judgment motion in a personal injury negligence case because the trial court mistakenly decided that genuine issues of material fact needed to be determined by the jury as to whether defendant owed plaintiff a duty of care. Reiterating well-established New Jersey case law, the Court held that the determination of whether a duty is owed is a question of law that needs to be decided by the judge, not a jury at trial. In Rivera v. Cherry Hill Towers, plaintiff filed suit against Cherry
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Social Host and Pool Party Guest Not Negligent in Drowning Death of Voluntarily Intoxicated Adult
A New Jersey Appellate Court reversed the denial of summary judgment to defendants in a wrongful death case involving the accidental death of an intoxicated man at a residential pool party. In Delvalle v. Trino, a visibly intoxicated 26-year-old man drowned after jumping into a pool with a friend at a birthday party. While efforts were made to rescue him, resuscitation was ultimately unsuccessful. His parents, individually and as administrators of their son’s estate, filed suit against the owners of the home and their son (the “Trinos”), as well as several party attendees, including Kevin Garcia (“Garcia”) for negligence, intentional
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NJ Court Applies “On-Going Storm Rule” to Affirm SJ to Landscaper and Reverse SJ to Community Association in Personal Injury Case
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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NJ Appeals Court Finds Landlord Property Owner Has No Duty of Care for Personal Injury Claim Where Lease Requires Tenant Business to Maintain Property
The New Jersey Appellate Division upheld a trial court’s grant of summary judgment to a defendant landowner in a personal injury negligence suit brought against the property owner and tenant for injuries sustained at the leased property. In Gudoski v. Rock Pile Property, LLC, the court addressed a situation where Plaintiff was injured when he went to the leased property to give his friend—the owner of the tenant business—some advice about a crack in the building. Under the lease with the landowner, the tenant was responsible for all maintenance and repairs to the building. While inspecting the property, he fell
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PAED Rules That Public Adjuster Not Qualified to Testify to Causation of Loss and Coverage Under the Insurance Policy
In Coates v. Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company, the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania addressed a situation where an insured attempted to name his public adjuster (“PA”) as an expert to testify to the cause of a property damage loss and coverage under the policy. In granting the insurer’s motion in limine to preclude the PA’s report and testimony, the judge found that while the PA meet the “qualification” prong under FRE 702, he failed to meet the “reliability” and “fit” prongs. Accordingly, the PA’s report and testimony were barred. The loss at issue in this
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NJDC Deems Independent Contractor Delivery Drivers Employees Under the ABC Test in Summary Judgment Ruling
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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New Jersey Supreme Court Adopts ‘Ongoing Storm Rule,’ Preempting Landowner Liability for Clearing Ice or Snow From Sidewalks
Addressing whether commercial landowners owe a duty to clear snow and ice from their property during a storm, the New Jersey Supreme Court has adopted the ongoing storm rule, under which a landowner does not have a duty to remove snow or ice from public walkways until a reasonable time after the cessation of precipitation. Angel Alberto Pareja v. Princeton International Properties (2021). In January 2015, plaintiff Angel Alberto Pareja was walking to work when he slipped on ice, fell, and broke his hip. The sidewalk area on which he fell was on property owned and managed by defendant Princeton
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Philadelphia Court Refuses to Dismiss Bar’s COVID-19 Lawsuit Against Underwriters
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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