The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has clarified the question of whether, under Pennsylvania law, an insured may transfer the right to recover damages against his or her insurance company in an insurance bad faith claim to a third party. In a recent decision in AllState Property and Casualty Insurance Company…
On August 7, 2014, the Western District of Pennsylvania’s Judge Maurice B. Cohill, Jr. entered an order preliminary denying plaintiff’s motion to compel compliance with subpoena on counsel. In the case of Gary Miller Imports, Inc. v. Carter Dolittle, et al., plaintiff sought to compel the law firm of Macdonad…
A Pennsylvania state court has found Nationwide Insurance Co. engaged in bad faith in handling its insured’s first party auto insurance claim and in its litigation tactics when the dispute led to a lawsuit. The court’s forty page opinion catalogues the types of specific conduct that evidences bad faith in…
On May 13, 2014, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, in Socko v. Mid-Atlantic Systems, clarified the requirement of new consideration when an employer and employee enter into an employment agreement containing a non-competition restrictive covenant after commencement of employment. As an appellate decision, this new clarification leaves a lasting and…
In the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania No. 76 MAP 2012 On Appeal from Superior Court 11/23/2011 Docket Carl J. Barrick and Brenda L. Barrick v. Holy Spirit Hospital of the Sisters of Christian Charity Individually and d/b/a Holy Spirit Hospital, Sodexho Management, Inc., Sodexho Operations, LLC and Linda J. Lawrence …
The economic loss doctrine prevents a plaintiff from recovering purely economic losses via a tort action (i.e., a negligence claim) in the absence of personal injury or damage to “other property.” One court has described the economic loss doctrine as “prohibit[ing] plaintiffs from recovering in tort economic losses to which…
Reversing the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a declaratory judgment action brought by the insured, the Superior Court in Lanigan v. T.H.E. Insurance Company, No. 646 WDA 2013, (Pa. Super. March 14, 2014) held that the insurer breached its duty to defend the…
by Edward Kang A vital thing people need to know and understand when dealing with the court system is all the laws and options in operation on a daily basis. One such law is the “Law of the Case” doctrine. When a judge determines the outcome of a question in a lawsuit……
by Daniel D. Haggerty, Esquire In Zitney v. Appalachian Timber Products, Inc., decided July 3, 2103, the PA Superior Court considered a claim for damages by bona fide purchaser of real estate against the holder of an unrecorded timber contract, who commenced harvesting timber on the purchaser’s property after the…
by Edward Kang Discovery to be Coordinated in Massive $11 Billion Whistleblower Suit Discovery should be coordinated in two qui tam cases filed against Education Management Corp., or EDMC, an education company… U.S. District Judge Terrence McVerry of the Western District of Pennsylvania has ruled that discovery should be coordinated…