Recent Articles from All Practice Groups
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Navigating High Interest Rates: The Power of Qualified Personal Residence Trusts in Estate Planning
On May 3, 2023, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, this time to a range between 5% and 5.25%. It marked the tenth increase since March 2022. As rates continue to rise, estate planning strategies must shift to take advantage of these new economic conditions. One such tactic is the Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPRT). A QPRT is ... Read More
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Vermont Extends Assisted Suicide Law to Nonresidents
In a precedent-setting move, Vermont has become the first state in the U.S. to amend its assisted suicide law, extending its provisions to terminally ill nonresidents. Signed into law by Republican Governor Phil Scott on May 2, 2023, the legislation removes the decades-old residency requirement, demonstrating a significant shift in the nation's approach to end-of-life care. This ... Read More
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Security Deposit Requirements for DC Residential Leases
The District of Columbia, with its rich history of protecting the rights of tenants, has strict rules governing security deposits on residential leases. Landlords who manage their own properties and professional managers should be familiar with these rules. Limitations on the amount of the security deposit. The deposit shall not exceed ... Read More
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Arthur D. Burger will participate in a CLE Class called “Attorney Fees and Ethics” on May 25, 2023
Arthur D. Burger, Chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Professional Responsibility Group, will be participating in a CLE presentation of the National Association of Legal Fee Analysis (“NALFA”) on the topic of “Attorney Fees and Ethics” on May 25, 2023 in Chicago. For more information on the conference, visit: NALFA - Specializing in Attorney Fees and Legal Billing. ... Read More
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Massachusetts Appeals Court Rules That Insured Is Entitled to Recover Costs In Bringing Coverage Suit Against Insurer
In John Moriarty & Assocs., Inc. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., No. 22-P-275, 2023 WL 2719362 (Mass. App. Ct. Mar. 31, 2023), the Massachusetts Appeals Court for Middlesex County vacated a lower court’s dismissal of Zurich American Insurance Co (“Zurich”) from a declaratory judgment action brought by John Moriarty & Associates, Inc. (“JMA”), a ... Read More
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Massachusetts High Court: Abuse Exclusion Requires Imbalance or Misuse of Power Attendant to Physically Harmful Conduct
In a March 16, 2023 decision, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts concluded that an abuse exclusion in a homeowners’ policy was inapplicable to an unprovoked attack by an insured . The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court again considered whether, under the terms of a homeowners’ insurance policy, conduct by an insured constituted “physical abuse” within the terms ... Read More
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Louisiana Federal Court Holds No Coverage for Oil Spill Based on Insured’s Late Notice and Applicability of the Policy’s Pollution Exclusion
In Jaxon Energy, LLC v. Admiral Insurance Company, No. CV 22-940, 2023 WL 2499135 (E.D. La. Mar. 14, 2023), the United District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, applying New York law, granted summary judgment to Admiral Insurance Company (“Admiral”) upon finding that the insured, Jaxon Energy LLC (“Jaxon”), failed to provide notice within the timeframe required by its ... Read More
TAGGED: insurance law
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Condo Association Took Proper Disciplinary Action
On February 16, 2023, the D.C. Court of Appeals upheld a decision that a condominium association’s failure to precisely comply with certain provisions of its bylaws may not deprive a member of due process rights. In Rayner v. Yale Steam Laundry Condo. Ass’n, No. 21-VA-122 & 22-CV-58 (D.C. Cir. Feb. 16, 2023), the Association issued a written notice for a hearing ... Read More
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Arthur D. Burger to present at 2023 MWELA Annual Conference
Arthur D. Burger, chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Professional Responsibility Group, will make a presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Metropolitan Employment Lawyers Association (“MWELA”) on March 3, 2023 on the topic of Ethics in Fee-Shifting cases at The Mayflower Hotel. For more details and to register, visit here. ... Read More
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The Supreme Court of Virginia has reversed a trial court and upheld a prescriptive easement where the issue of permission was hotly contested in Kevin Horn v. James Webb
The Supreme Court of Virginia has reversed a trial court and upheld a prescriptive easement where the issue of permission was hotly contested. In Kevin Horn v. James Webb, the Court examined the issue of whether prescriptive rights could arise from a pre-1976 grant of permission by the servient estate which was never expressly ... Read More
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A Fond Farewell to Times New Roman: DEI Committees Recommend Changing to a Sans Serif for Accessibility
In May of 2020, Jackson & Campbell adopted a new policy for all firm communications: it replaced Times New Roman font with Calibri, a more accessible and easier-to-read font. If high-tech scanners had trouble reading Times New Roman font, chances were that some of the people reading our communications also found difficulty in reading that font. Earlier this ... Read More
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District of Columbia Court of Appeals clarifies public easement rules
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has clarified a pair of rulings from 1896 and 1899 as to how public easements may be accepted. In Kalorama Citizens Association v. SunTrust Bank Company, the Court held that a public easement, such as the disputed open plaza being used by vendors for a farmers’ market, ... Read More
TAGGED: #realestatelaw #DCrealestate
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Jackson & Campbell attorneys Arthur D. Burger and Caroline Lee-Ghosal to teach D.C. Bar CLE on legal ethics on March 15, 2023.
On March 15, Arthur D. Burger and Caroline Lee-Ghosal will teach a D.C. Bar CLE course on legal ethics issues. This course, a follow-up to one they taught in 2022, provides commentary on a series of video vignettes that present fact scenarios for ethical dilemmas that lawyers often face. The course will be presented in-person and will also be available through ... Read More
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Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Declines to Find Common-Law Duty for Insurer to Cover Mitigation Costs
In Ken’s Foods, Inc. v. Steadfast Insurance Co, Case No. SJC-13303 (Mass. Jan. 6, 2023), the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued an opinion holding that there is no common law duty for insurers to cover mitigation costs incurred by an insured when the terms of the policy at issue are unambiguous and do not provide for such coverage. The ... Read More
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Colorado Federal Court Finds No Coverage Under Claims-Made Policies After Insured’s Late Notice of Underlying Lawsuits
In National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA v. Estate of Stephen Calendine DDS et al., No. 21-cv-1541, 2022 WL 17486796 (D. Colo. Dec. 7, 2022), the United District Court for Colorado held that the insured failed to meet the notice requirements of his two claims-made and reported policies and that the notice-prejudice ... Read More
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Georgia Federal Court: General Liability Policy’s Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage for Claims Arising from Discharge of PFAS into Waterways
In a December 5, 2022 decision, the Northern District of Georgia determined that a total pollution exclusion in a commercial general liability policy precluded coverage for damages arising out of the discharge of PFAS chemicals into waterways. Read more here ... Read More
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Maryland and Virginia appellate courts issue decisions on statutory interpretation
In the Maryland case of Elsberry v. Stanley Martin Companies, LLC, the purchasers of a single-family home in Charles County filed suit alleging that the seller improperly imposed an amortized water and sewer charge for a period of thirty years after the date of the initial sale. The homeowners filed suit contending that Md. Code Real Prop. § 14-117 ... Read More
TAGGED: #realestatelaw #DCrealestate
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Dismissal – forum non conveniens: Foreign medical malpractice plaintiff’s choice to pursue a claim in D.C. outweighed by public and private interest factors in favor of the forum where alleged negligence occurred.
Attorneys Crystal Deese and Benjamin Harvey secured dismissal of a medical malpractice case from D.C. Superior Court on forum non conveniens grounds. Defendants’ motion was successful despite the fact that the defendant hospital system was incorporated in the District and its nurse employee was licensed in both the District and in Maryland. The court weighed the private and public interest ... Read More
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Massachusetts Federal Court Upholds Denial of Coverage for Defense Costs Under an Excess Policy Because Insured Failed to Provide Timely Notice Under a Claims-Made and Reported Policy
In President & Fellows of Harvard Coll. v. Zurich Am. Ins. Co., Harvard University filed suit against Zurich American Insurance Company for defense costs under an excess claims made and reported policy. The United States District Court for Massachusetts sided with Zurich and found that the University failed to timely satisfy the notice requirements ... Read More
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Texas Court: Ohio Law Applies to Bar Coverage for Construction Defect Claims
In a September 23, 2022 decision, the Southern District of Texas recently resolved a coverage dispute arising out of a construction defects arbitration in Texas by applying Ohio law, which excludes claims for faulty or defective workmanship. Read the full decision here: Liberty Ins. Corp. v. Omni Constr. Co. article (11.11.22). ... Read More
Introducing Jackson & Campbell, P.C.’s New President-Elect and Member of our Executive Committee
We are pleased to announce Marie VanDam as the newest member of Jackson & Campbell, P.C.'s Executive Committee, effective January 1, 2023. Marie will take the seat vacated by Dan Lynn, who has completed three full terms on the committee. We congratulate Marie and are grateful to Dan for his years of service. For the first time ever, ... Read More
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California Appellate Court: “Other Insurance” Dispute Resolved by Reference to Plain Meaning of Policy Terms
In an unreported decision issued on September 8, 2022, the California Court of Appeal resolved a priority of coverage dispute for an underlying settlement when it found that one excess carrier’s reference to the primary policy in its definition of Underlying Limits entitled another excess carrier with no such reference to equitable subrogation. Read about this case here: ... Read More
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California Court: COVID-19 Not “Pollution Condition” under Pollution Policy
The Eastern District of California, partly relying on California precedent interpreting the pollution exclusion, determined that COVID-19 did not constitute a ‘pollution condition’ in a pollution liability policy. Read more about this court case here: Vision Serv. Plan Plaintiff v. Illinois Union Ins. Co. et al. article (11.11.22) ... Read More
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Arthur Burger, Chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Professional Responsibility Practice Group, is quoted by Bloomberg Law in its October, 25, 2022 Litigation newsletter
Arthur Burger, Chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Professional Responsibility Practice Group, is quoted by Bloomberg Law in its October, 25, 2022 Litigation newsletter as a legal expert with respect to a ruling by a federal judge in Pennsylvania, sanctioning a lawyer for plagiarizing from an argument by opposing counsel in the same case ... Read More
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Lack of Standing: Failure to disclose dooms med-mal claim
Attorneys Crystal Deese and Sarah Godfrey recently secured a case law setting win on behalf of Northern Virginia Eye Surgery Center in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County when a shocking eve-of-trial discovery resulted in the suspension and ultimate dismissal of the entire case before opening arguments could even be heard. When defense counsel uncovered a bankruptcy petition, filed by the ... Read More
Celebrating Jackson & Campbell P.C.’s Best Lawyers in the 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America®
Jackson & Campbell, P.C. is proud to have three lawyers named as Best Lawyers in the 29th edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Congratulations to Arthur D. Burger (Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law), David H. Cox: (Litigation - Real Estate and Real Estate Law), and Roy L ... Read More
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Jackson & Campbell’s Arthur Burger quoted by Bloomberg News regarding discovery sanctions in defamation suit by Bob Dylan
Arthur Burger, Chair of Jackson & Campbell’s Professional Responsibility Practice Group, was quoted by Bloomberg Law in an August 16, 2022 article regarding discovery sanctions that are being sought on behalf of Bob Dylan in a New York defamation suit. He is quoted as an expert in legal ethics regarding ... Read More
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Client Alert: New D.C. Law Narrows the Sweeping Ban on Non-Competes
Following harsh criticisms from the local business community, the D.C. Council has enacted an amendment to the near-total ban on non-competes that was set to go into effect. The amended law, which goes into effect October 1, 2022, prohibits D.C. employers from imposing non-compete provisions on individuals who are not highly-compensated employees. A more detailed look at the amendment is ... Read More
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Court of Special Appeals of Maryland affirms quiet title dismissal and vacates public road decision
The Court of Special Appeals of Maryland vacated a trial court determination that a public road was not established where St. Mary’s County contended that it closed the roadway and no longer maintained the parcel. In Wilkinson v. Board of County Commissioners, the Court noted the trial court had “blurred” methods establishing public roads ... Read More
TAGGED: #realestatelaw #DCrealestate
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Christopher P. Ferragamo elected as a Fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel
Jackson & Campbell, P.C. is pleased to announce that Director Christopher P. Ferragamo has been elected as a Fellow in the American College of Coverage Counsel. The American College of Coverage Counsel, established in 2012, is comprised of over 370 preeminent coverage and extracontractual counsel in the United States and Canada, representing the interests of both insurers and policyholders. Mr ... Read More