Justin Kinney Argues Before New Jersey Supreme Court Regarding Applicability Of Commercial Liability Policy Exclusion

On February 28, 2022, Justin Kinney argued before the New Jersey Supreme Court, seeking to reverse the Appellate Division’s ruling on a policy exclusion in a commercial liability policy. Kinney, Mike Chuven, and Tim Smith successfully petitioned the Supreme Court to review an unpublished Appellate Division opinion that ruled that a policy exclusion that prohibited coverage for injuries arising out of, relating to, or in any way connected with the insured’s operations or activities in certain New York State counties, including Nassau County, did not preclude coverage for an underlying suit for bodily injuries that occurred in one of the excluded counties. The Appellate Division reversed the grant of summary judgment in favor of Kinney Lisovicz’s client, ruling that the injured claimant’s causes of action were not causally related to the insured’s activities in Nassau County. Kinney argued before the Supreme Court that Appellate Division erred by failing to analyze whether the injuries at issue in the underlying suit arose out of or were at least in some way connected to the insured’s activities in that county. The insured argued that its activities in the excluded county did not cause the injuries complained of, rendering the exclusion inapplicable. The Supreme Court’s decision is pending.