In Britt v. Otto, 2019 Mo. App. LEXIS 397 (Mar. 26, 2019), the Missouri Court of Appeals opened the door to an argument that an insurer’s statutory right to intervene in a liability lawsuit after a 537 notice may not apply as to an arbitration conducted to determine liability and damages. The Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling denying the insurer the right to intervene in the action to confirm the arbitration award of $5,998,027.

In Metal Pro Roofing, LLC and Cornett Restoration, LLC, v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, 18A-PL-2205, 2019 Ind. App. Lexis 355 (Ind. Ct. App. August 9, 2019), the court affirmed a trial court decision that a policy clearly did not cover a hacking loss, but reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings on a claim that the quote for the policy was misleading.

In Illinois State Bar Asso. Mut. Ins. Co. v. McNabola Law Group, P.C., 2019 IL App (1st) 182386, the Illinois Appellate Court held that a malpractice insurer did not owe a duty to defend its insured attorney against his client’s motion to adjudicate (and defeat) his lien. The insurer did not dispute its obligation to defend a related malpractice suit.

On September 24, 2019, the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued its long awaited Final Rule modifying the regulations contained in 29 C.F.R. Part 541, which pertains to the “white collar” exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act.

A recent appellate decision in Castro v. Malia Realty may lead to more unified trials in New York’s Second Department, a large venue that encompasses Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Staten Island, and several Upstate New York counties. 

California recently enacted Assembly Bill 5, which dramatically alters the legal standard for evaluating whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor.