The Missouri Supreme Court recently affirmed a trial court’s order denying an insurance company’s motion to intervene and set aside a judgment that was entered following the plaintiffs’ contract with a defendant to limit recovery of the judgment against the insurance company pursuant to Missouri Statute Section 537.065. Desai, M.D., et al. v. Seneca Specialty Insurance Company, SC97361.
Plaintiffs Dr. Neil Desai and Heta Desai filed a lawsuit for personal injuries against defendant Garcia Empire, LLC. Garcia Empire had a commercial general liability policy issued by ...
Anyone who has spent time reviewing claim forms and bills submitted by medical providers has probably encountered at least some of the more typical fraud schemes: overbilling, false claims, or maybe even kickbacks and bribery. Sophisticated technology, investigative techniques, and data analytics let us zoom in – and out – to identify these traditional forms of fraud at the individual claim level and on a system-wide scale.
But a recent opinion by the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, should serve as a reminder to look out for a different sort of fraud that ...
On September 9, 2019, Midwest Generation, LLC (“MWG”) asked the Illinois Pollution Control Board (“Board”) to reconsider its interim order of June 20, 2019, in the enforcement case of Sierra Club v. Midwest Generation, LLC (docketed as PCB 13-15). That decision may have far-reaching implications for any party that has entered into an environmental compliance or remediation agreement with regulators incorporating Groundwater Management Zones (“GMZs”). According to MWG, the Board misconstrued the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and operative ...
As construction projects become more complex, new technologies and innovations more specialized, trades more regulated, and bidding more competitive, general construction contractors have become increasingly reliant on subcontractors to perform construction contracts. The result is that general contractors are less able to control, inspect, and even assess the work. Yet despite this continued shift, general contractors continue to assume almost complete contractual responsibility for job completion.
Imagine this scenario from a recent case that was tried to verdict. A ...
Missouri’s inaugural medical marijuana facility application period ended recently (on August 19, 2019). Now that the smoke begins to clear from the application process, hopeful applicants can focus their energy on fostering relationships so that their businesses can launch as soon as possible. With even the earliest anticipated harvest being at least several weeks after licenses are issued in December of this year, Missouri residents can expect this new industry to begin taking shape in the early months of 2020.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services ...
On May 1, 2019, Senate Bill 7 was passed as part of the Missouri legislature’s overarching goal to refine Missouri’s broad venue rules, which previously had allowed plaintiffs to pursue their claims in Missouri venues with no connection to their injuries or events which led to their injuries.
Particular provisions of the new venue rules apply specifically to lawsuits involving claims against insurance companies. First, Sections 375.1800 and 508.010 now provide that domestic and foreign insurance companies are deemed a resident of the county where their registered offices ...
HeplerBroom has a long history of defending insurance producers across Illinois, with a strong appellate record on the ordinary-care duty and statute of limitations issues in particular. Western Cons. Prem. Properties, Inc., v. Norman-Spencer Agency, Inc., 845 F.3d 313 (7th Cir. 2017) (duty); RVP, LLC, v. Advantage Insurance Services, Inc., 2017 IL App (3d) 160276 (statute of limitations). We’re seeing new cases in which the producer defendant is alleged to owe a duty not only to its client to procure the policy he requests, but also to an additional insured on that policy.
The ...
Chances are you first become aware that your company is a target or subject of a criminal antitrust investigation when you receive a grand jury subpoena, or worse, when federal agents show up with a search warrant asking questions. This is serious business, given the consequences. Among the many questions experienced antitrust counsel will ask you early on is whether you have an antitrust compliance program, and if so, how it is set up and operates. In recent years, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) assigned no weight to the existence of a ...
On July 10, 2019, Missouri Governor Michael Parson signed significant pieces of legislation that confirmed his emphasis on tort reform in Missouri. The Governor previously highlighted tort reform in his State of the State address in January 2019. In that address, Parson referenced the need for increased regulatory and venue reform in the Show-Me State. The legislation signed in this month’s slate achieved the goals outlined in that speech and more. The relevant bills will significantly impact litigation and trial practice in Missouri’s courts via considerations to venue ...
Be our guest, be our guest
Watch your step, may we suggest
From known dangers, we’ll protect
But we have no duty to inspect!
If Beauty and the Beast took place in modern-day Missouri instead of 18th century France, those probably would have been the words to “Be Our Guest.” That’s because property owners in Missouri do not have a duty to inspect their premises for the safety of their social guests, also known as “licensees.” On the other hand, property owners must inspect their premises for dangerous conditions in order to protect customers or clients, a.k.a. “invitees.” ...
