A trial court judge in Nassau County, NY, has ruled that an insurance carrier’s disclaimer 30 days after receiving notice of claim is unreasonable as a matter of law. The circumstances were that the excess carrier disclaimed on the basis of late notice and the court ruled that 30 days was an unreasonable delay “where the sole ground on which coverage is disclaimed is obvious from the face of the notice of claim…and there existed no need to conduct an investigation before determining whether to disclaim.”

An appellate court in NY has ruled that federal law trumps state law with regard to vicarious liability of car-rental and long-term leasing companies. While NY law imposes vicarious liability on car owners – including rental and leasing companies – for accidents involving permissive users, the Transportation Equity Act of 2005 bars the imposition of vicarious liability on companies in the car rental and leasing businesses. With this decision, NY recognizes the primacy of federal law on this point. This is the first appellate ruling on the issue in NY and it now remains to be seen if the matter will be heard by NY’s highest court.

Eli Lilly and federal prosecutors are discussing a possible settlement of both civil and criminal investigations that will amount to more than $1 billion in payments to federal and state governments. Lilly has been accused of breaking federal laws by “off-label marketing” its psychotherapeutic drug, Zyprexa, for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Admistration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/business/31drug.html?scp=3&sq=lilly&st=nyt