Uncovered

An insurance company is not obligated to defend claims brought against a law firm that do not involve allegations of negligence or malpractice, according to a decision of the New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department:

Here, Liberty established its prima facie entitlement to judgment asa matter of law declaring that it was not obligated to defend andindemnify the Burkhart Firm in the underlying action, and the BurkhartFirm failed to raise a triable issue of fact in opposition. The basiccoverage provision of the Liberty policy clearly limits coverage toclaims which are caused by “any actual or alleged act, error, omissionor personal injury which arises out of the rendering or failure torender professional legal services.” Inasmuch as there is no allegationof negligence or malpractice arising out of the Burkhart Firm’sperformance, or failure to perform, legal services, the claim in theunderlying action does not fall within the ambit of the policy. For the same reason, the Supreme Court properly deniedthat branch of the Burkhart Firm’s cross motion which was for summaryjudgment.

The allegations against the firm are summarized in the court’s order:

(Mike Frisch)