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Welcome!

The Torts, Insurance, and Compensation Law Section of the New York State Bar Association is pleased to welcome Section members and visitors. Among the resources available for Section members on this site are Section publications, access to the TICL Section e-community discussion forums, and substantive case reviews via Law Watch search results on topics of interest to the Section. Section members receive the Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section Journal and the Construction & Surety Law Newsletter free as a benefit of membership.


A View from the Chair - February 2010

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The Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section is comprised of over 15 committees in substantive areas of law, as well as two Divisions. The largest of our committees are the Automobile Liability and Insurance Coverage Committees.   Each provides case law updates to their members and members electronically ask questions of each other and share breaking decisions and legislation.  We welcome your involvement!

Our Divisions are the Workers’ Compensation and Construction and Surety Divisions.   Each focuses on legal issues specific to those who practice in that area of law.  In recent months, our Workers’ Compensation Division has been very busy addressing significant changes being proposed to the Workers’ Compensation Board hearing process.  Check its webpage and listserv for breaking news.

Here is more of what we will be doing and working on this year:

The Road to Disney.  I am excited to announce that the Section will be holding its Fall Meeting at Florida’s Walt Disney World from October 7 – 10, 2010 A block of rooms at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort have been reserved at $169 per night and events will be scheduled throughout those dates.  In addition, the low room rates have been locked in for three days before and after the official conference dates to accommodate you and your family vacation.

Law School For Claims Professionals.  This is a unique and exciting program organized and presented by our Section members to educate legal issues of importance to claims representatives and other insurance professionals.  It is a wonderful opportunity to network with other presenters as well as insurance representatives attending the program.

TICL Journal, E-Newsletters and other Publications Looking to publish or receive top quality legal periodicals?  Our Section publishes articles of interest to our members in a color, hard copy Journal recognized by our members as an excellent reason - in and of itself – to join the Section.  In addition, an Insurance Coverage e-Newsletter is sent to all Section members as well as a Section e-newsletter on Section events and other news.  Further, the Class Action Committee updates its members through direct publications and there are many other publications.  Sharing of case updates and thorough area of law articles is a significant value to our members!

If you are interested in working with us and have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at lgiordano@leclairkorona.com I hope that you will agree with me that participating in meetings and committees finds you better educated and rejuvenated about our profession!

I look forward to seeing you soon,

Laurie A.  Giordano, Esq.
Leclair Korona Giordano Cole, LLP
150 State Street, Suite 300
Rochester, New York 14614
Phone: (585) 327-4100
E-Mail:    lgiordano@leclairkorona.com


TICL AWARDS TWO SCHOLARSHIPS FOR TRIAL ACADEMY

Our Section is a proud sponsor of the Young Lawyers Section Trial Academy scheduled for March 24th through 28th.  As part of the program, TICL awarded two registration fee scholarships to deserving inviduals.  We are looking forward to them representing our Section well at the  5-day trial techniques program that will teach, advance and improve the courtroom skills of young attorneys and lawyers who want to improve their litigation skills with an emphasis on direct participation.  The program will take place at  Cornell Law School. The materials for the program will include both a criminal and civil fact pattern which will be provided to attendees at least one month before the program’s start date.


FREE FREE FREE

Like what you see? As a member of the Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section of the New York State Bar Association you have access to our wonderful journals, website and our enewsletter. But there is more. Our section is comprised of over 15 committees in substantive areas of law, as well as two Divisions. As a member of our section, they are free to join. Click on the link for a copy of our latest BROCHURE. Please get involved and join a committee or division or two. Please tell your friends and colleagues about us and give them a copy of our brochure.

 A View from the Chair - Looking Back.....

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It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by since I became the chair of our Section.   The active participation and effort by our section members made it a very productive year.   More specifically, I would be remiss if I did not thank Laurie Giordano, our new Section chair, Tom Maroney, our new vice-chair, and the rest of our Section’s Executive Committee for all of their support during the year.  As a result of this teamwork, we were able to continue the work started by our prior Section Chairs of energizing and making our section one of the best in the New York State Bar Association.

As I look back, one of the strategic goals for our Section in 2009 was to attract new members by making our section more attractive to the newly admitted and young lawyers of New York. This began in July, 2009 when our Section sponsored and attended the Young Lawyers Section boat ride. Tom Maroney, Rich Dawson and Mirna Martinez Santiago’s efforts made sure that this well attended event was a success. We continued this initiative during our summer meeting at Mohegan Sun in August, by focusing part of our CLE program for the newly admitted and young litigation attorneys. This meeting was a great success. We successfully attracted a large group of attorneys, judges, insurance professionals and their families from across the NY State. Everyone enjoyed the weather, the venue, the CLE and more importantly, the company. Our program chairs, Mirna Martinez Santiago and Gary Cusano, put a tremendous amount of time and effort in putting together an excellent program and meeting.   Special thanks to Gary Cusano and his band for providing the musical entertainment and to the judges, insurance company professionals and all the people who attended our summer meeting.

Our commitment to young and newly admitted lawyers will continue in 2010 with our Section’s sponsorship of two free scholarships to the Young Lawyers Section Trial Academy that will be held at Cornell Law School from Wednesday, March 24, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

During the year we held many social and informative events across the New York State geared to attracted new members. Our event in May for the Judges of the Third Department was well attended and a great success. This event was sponsored by our Third and Fourth District Reps, Claudia Ryan, Jim Kelly, Bill Cloonan, and Ed Flink who put a lot of time and effort in coordinating and hosting the event.   Brian Rayhill, Ron Balter and Mike O’Brien did a great job of hosting an even for the Thirteenth Judicial District Reception honoring Justice Judith N. McMahon.   Our Fall reception was well attended by attorneys, judges and members of our city and state legislatures. Many thanks to Dennis Brady, Michael Tromello and Shawn Downes for the great job they did in hosting this event.

Our highly successful and informative Law School for Claims Professionals was held last Fall. It was a great success because of the hard work and effort of our chair, Lisa Berrittella and our local chairs, Shawn Martin, Beth Fitzpatrick, Ed Flink, and George Skandalis.

Our Section “year” came to a close at our annual meeting this January. Our annual joint dinner with the Trial Lawyers Section was held at Cipriani’s Wall Street. It was a great success. It was attended by over 200 lawyers, judges and insurance professionals.   Our dinner speaker this year was the Honorable Luis A. Gonzalez, Presiding Justice, of the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department. At this dinner, the annual Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section awards were presented. Our District Chair of the Year was Brian J. Rayhill and Committee Chair of the year was Christopher R. Lemire.   In recognition of their outstanding contribution to the practice of law in the field of insurance defense, this year’s Sheldon Hurwitz Young Lawyer Award, was given to   Mirna  Martinez Santiago and Audrey A. Seeley. The John E. Leach Memorial Award recognizing outstanding service and distinguished contributions to the legal profession, as a member of our Section, was given to Michael C. Tromello. Congratulations again to our award winners. The next day our joint CLE program was held with the Trial Lawyers Section. This year’s program was one of our best. Many thanks to Michael Tromello, our program chair, for his hard work and effort for putting together a great dinner & CLE program.

As I complete my year as Chair of the Torts Insurance & Compensation Law Section, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Section members and our Executive Committee for their help and assistance over the past year. I also wish to thank and wish our new officers, Laurie Giordano, Chair, Tom Maroney, Vice Chair, Jean Gerbini, Secretary and Brendan Baynes, Treasurer, the best as they continue to lead and energize our Section.

Charles J. Siegel, Esq.
Law Offices of Charles J. Siegel
40 Wall Street - 7th Floor
New York, New York 10005
Phone: (212) 440-2345
E-Mail:   charles.siegel@cna.com


Visit our Photo Gallery (on the left menu) to view pictures from our 2009 Summer Meeting at the Mohegan Sun or click on this link Mohegan Sun Summer Meeting 2009


To contact any member of our Executive Committee for information, to join a committee or to provide your opinion or feedback, click on the link below:


Upcoming Events
03/24/2010 - 03/28/2010
Young Lawyers Section Trial Academy
 
03/24/2010 - 03/25/2010
Bridging the Gap 1 - Making a Smooth Transition (NYC)
 
04/07/2010 - 04/07/2010
The Examination Before Trial-Honing Your Deposition Skills
 
more

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Loislaw LawWatch

Loislaw LawWatch is provided as a service of Loislaw.com, a division of Aspen Publishing. Loislaw LawWatch provides access to recent cases based on the search criteria provided by your section. The search criteria may be by area of practice, by court, and /or by date. The NYSBA also provides a basic level of free legal research to all members. You may access free legal research from Loislaw through your MyNYSBA page or through For Attorneys.

duty to defend - duty to defend
HENDERSON v. N.Y. CENT. MUT. FIRE INS., CA 08-00051 [4th Dept 11-14-2008] CA 08-00051. Decided on November 14, 2008. It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously reversed on the law without costs, the cross motion is denied, t ...

insurance law - insurance law
SHADY GROVE ORTHOPEDIC ASSOC. v. ALLSTATE, 07-0141-cv (2nd Cir. 11-19-2008) Docket No. 07-0141-cv. Decided: November 19, 2008. If the state rule does not directly collide with the Federal Rule, the inquiry becomes whether the choice of rule would be "o ...