When a business leases commercial space, it is common practice for the landlord to request that the company provide
a personal guaranty, a protective measure taken to ensure landlords have recourse against a commercial lessee if there is a default under the lease. In this way, landlords mitigate financial losses.

A personal guaranty gives

In this month’s update, we discuss Russian-seized planes, Starbucks-caused traffic jams, a squabble over the use of a family name, a restaurant’s pandemic-based loss, a poorly built house, and whether insurance covers any of these claims.

We begin with the restaurant’s business interruption claim.  There, the California Supreme Court had to decide whether a virus

Most closely held businesses, whether organized as a C or S corporation, LLC or partnership, have (or should have) a buy-sell agreement. A buy-sell agreement addresses what happens to an owner’s interest in the business when the owner dies.

Many of these agreements provide that the business may or must purchase the deceased owner’s interest.

Fourth Department Finds That Insurer Failed To Meet Its Burden Of Proving That Insureds Failed To Cooperate

Merchants Preferred Insurance Company filed a declaratory judgment action in New York seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or to indemnify its insureds in an underlying Florida personal injury action arising from a

On June 7, 2024, Bernard Condon, an Associated Press reporter, authored the article, “Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring, and not all will survive.”

Condon’s article details zombie companies (Zs) so laden with debt that they are on the brink of collapse, barely able to pay even the interest on their loans. They

We touch upon various issues in our August insurance update.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts considers the meaning of “surface waters” and whether the sublimit for floods applies when pooled water on a roof infiltrates a building.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals considers whether a pollution exclusion applies to a gasoline leak at a

Even the best company is not perfect. Mix ups, mathematical errors, transposing numbers, forgetting to sign a batch production, a supplier mix-up, or any one of an almost infinite potential glitches in the very complex processes involved in making a dietary supplement can occur because human beings are not perfect. These events can range from

Paul Majkowski published an article in the Summer 2024 USLAW Magazine entitled, “Mass Toxic Torts Watch List (Other Than Plaintiffs’ TV Ads).”

Click here to read the article.

For many, the allure of a home-based business is rooted in the freedom it offers, allowing business owners to create their own schedules and travel more freely.

Navigating the journey of starting and running a successful home-based business – from the legal intricacies and other important considerations – requires thoughtful planning and deliberate execution.

Before

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission finalized its rule enforcing a noncompete ban for a vast majority of workers. The noncompete ban is set to take effect on September 4, 2024. With limited exceptions, the rule invalidates existing noncompete clauses and bans new noncompete clauses.

On the same day, Ryan, LLC filed suit

Second Circuit Applies “But For” Test To Exclusion In Finding No Coverage Under D&O Policy

Paraco Gas Corporation purchased an insurance policy for Directors, Officers and Private Company Liability (“D&O”) from Ironshore Indemnity, Inc. that covered certain acts of Paraco’s officers and directors. Paraco shareholders filed a derivative action against two Paraco officers alleging that

It’s not often that the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on insurance issues. That’s because the McCarran-Ferguson Act gives states the primary authority to regulate the business of insurance. So when the Supreme Court speaks on insurance, even in the context of a bankruptcy plan, it’s noteworthy for insurers.

That’s why we begin with the

In one of the most publicized terms for the U.S. Supreme Court, one June decision has not received the attention it deserves: Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Company Inc.

Truck upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that often relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, even if the insurer had financial responsibility under the

On July 11, Long Island Business News published Chris Murray’s opinion piece, “Supreme Court Restricts EPA’s Environmental Protections.”

Here is the full text.

While the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding the election, immunity and abortion access received the most attention this year, two decisions regarding the power of administrative agencies will severely limit the Environmental Protection

On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a $6 billion bankruptcy settlement in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L. P., No. 23-124, 2024 WL 3187799, at *11 (U.S. June 27, 2024). The Court found that the Bankruptcy Code does not support a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan over the objection of claimants, that shields the