Justia New York Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

In this dispute between an employee and his employer and its workers' compensation insurance carrier, the court was asked to interpret Workers' Compensation Law 27(2) and 15(3)(w) amended by the Laws of 2007, as they related to an award for a non-scheduled permanent partial disability made after the effective date for an injury sustained years earlier. The court concluded that the Workers' Compensation Board and the Appellate Division properly construed the amended statute by requiring the carrier to deposit a lump-sum amount into the Aggregate Trust Fund representing the present value of the award. Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division was affirmed. View "Matter of Raynor v Landmark Chrysler" on Justia Law

Respondent brought this action against appellant to compel payment of no-fault benefits in the amount of its bill, plus statutory interest and attorney's fees, alleging that it had provided timely notice and proof of claim under 11 NYCRR 65-1.1, which required an insured person's assignee to submit written proof of claim no later than 45 days after the date health care services were rendered. At issue was whether a health care services provider, as assignee of a person injured in a motor vehicle accident, could recover no-fault benefits by timely submitting the required proof of claim after the 30-day period for providing written notice of the accident had expired. The court held that the submission of the proof of claim within 45 days of the date health care services were rendered could not serve as timely written notice of accident after the 30-day period for providing such written notice had expired. View "New York and Presbyterian Hospital v. Country Wide Ins. Co." on Justia Law

This case stemmed from a dispute between MBIA Insurance Corporation (MBIA) and certain of its policyholders who hold financial guarantee insurance policies. The principal question presented was whether the 2009 restructuring of MBIA and its related subsidiaries and affiliates authorized by the Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department precluded these policyholders from asserting claims against MBIA under the Debtor and Creditor Law and the common law. The court held that the Superintendent's approval of such restructuring pursuant to its authority under the Insurance Law did not bar the policyholders from bringing such claims. Accordingly, the court held that the order of the Appellate Division should be modified, without costs, in accordance with the opinion. View "ABN AMRO Bank, N.V., et al. v. MBIA Inc., et al." on Justia Law

Plaintiff, the father of decedent, commenced an action seeking to recover from defendants, decedent's grandparents, for decedent's wrongful death and for her conscious pain and suffering where she accidentally drowned in defendants' pool. At issue was an exclusion in defendants' homeowner's insurance policy excluding coverage for bodily injury to an insured where an insured would receive "any benefit" under the policy. The court held that judgment should have been granted in plaintiff's favor where the exclusion did not operate to bar coverage for the noninsured plaintiff's wrongful death claim for the death of the insured decedent. Accordingly, the court reversed the Appellate Division's judgment and remanded for further proceedings. View "Cragg v. Allstate Indemnity Corp." on Justia Law