News Archive

Save Lafayette Trees, et. al v. East Bay Regional Park District (Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Real Party in Interest) (1st Dist., Div. 3, 2021), Cal. App. 5th, affirms the long-standing practice that under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), no special notice is required to commence the running of the 180 day statute of limitations. The running of the statute begins when the governmental agency formally involved in the matter, approves a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which serves as effective constructive notice to the public. In addition, an agreement between the parties to toll the statute of limitations in a CEQA claim will fail when a necessary and indispensable party to the action is not included and did not sign the tolling agreement. The court ruled that a tolling agreement is a private agreement and not granted by statutory right.

It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of our newest partner, Margaret "Maggy" Mazlin, to the New York office of WSHB. Endorsed by her peers as highly skilled in all aspects of litigation, including trial and appellate practice, Maggy has defended a myriad of clients throughout all five boroughs of New York City as well as Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

“Maggy is broadly recognized for her accomplished trial work, litigating with ease and success, a wide variety of cases to verdict throughout New York,” said Stewart Reid, firmwide managing partner. “She is a trial powerhouse, strategic and thoughtful in her trial work.”

WSHB opens its doors in the great city of New Orleans! The addition of the NOLA office increases WSHB's ability to service clients and expands its reach in the Southeast as the firm continues its striking growth despite challenges posed by the pandemic.

WSHB’s 30th office is led by partner, Lori Barker. Lori's broad based litigation practice includes products liability, premises liability, transportation and construction. She is well regarded for her savvy handling of complex civil litigation involving multiple parties and catastrophic injuries. Her profile throughout the State of Louisiana is underscored by her active involvement in the Louisiana Defense Counsel, of which she has been recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors. A legal thought leader, Lori gives back serving as an adjunct professor at Tulane School of Professional Advancement in their General Legal Studies program.

In celebration of the evolution of women's empowerment in the legal and medical professions, partner Constance Endelicato brings us her latest article "A Double Dose of Power," published in the Best Lawyers Sixth Annual "Women in the Law" Business Edition. This poised and insightful article details the historic struggle and rise of women in the legal and medical professions and encourages them to work together to dismantle gender inequality. A shining example of female leadership in the legal field, Ms. Endelicato encourages other women to reach their full potential in industries that only a few decades ago were dominated by men and difficult for women to access.

WSHB's top ten ranking on the National Law Journal’s 2020 Women in Law Scorecard was further affirmed with the firm's latest round of partner mid-year promotions. WSHB remains a steadfast industry leader in our commitment to diversity and inclusivity, a core value since firm's inception.

WSHB recognized some of its outstanding associates with a surprise mid-year promotion to senior counsel. Noting the unique challenges of the past year and the ability of these attorneys to overcome and excel despite those challenges, the firm management team decided to reward these associates now rather than waiting until their usual annual promotion period in December.

“This past 18 months have been unprecedented with our talented lawyers giving back so much more to secure results, service clients and work as a team remotely,” said Stewart Reid, firmwide managing partner. “While we continue our normal cadence of elevations in December, we wanted to similarly take the extraordinary steps as the world reopens to the new normal and recognize a talented group of lawyers worthy of the coveted senior counsel title now instead of later this year.”

Last week we witnessed a horrible act of violence in Atlanta in which 8 people, among them 6 Asian American women, were brutally killed by a lone gunman. While this event caught the attention of many Americans, sadly, it follows a succession of brazen acts of violence and many racist actions against Asian Americans in the past several years.

From its beginning, WSHB has been built on a policy of zero tolerance for discrimination and prejudice against any group of people based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. As a firm, we are repulsed by these acts of violence and discrimination against Asian Americans and stand in full support and solidarity with them.

The recent winter storms and devastation in Texas have drawn closer attention to a case that has made its way to the Texas Supreme Court. Texas’ primary power grid operator, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), faces a lawsuit that could determine future legal liability in this context.

In 2016, Panda Power Funds alleged that ERCOT improperly manipulated projections of the state’s power needs. Relying on these projections, Panda Power constructed three power plants to meet the state’s need. When the demand did not materialize, Panda Power lost more than $2 billion and filed suit against ERCOT. In response, ERCOT claims sovereign immunity shields it from liability. ERCOT is a private company, however, it is also overseen by the state, and sovereign immunity protects governmental bodies from certain liability.

WSHB’s elite national trial team obtained a defense verdict from a jury in Orange County, California, on behalf of a property management company that specializes in community associations. The defendant was accused of wrongfully terminating an 11-year tenured employee while he was out on medical leave for treatment of Stage 4 cancer.

This trial, the team’s second case taken to verdict during the Covid-19 pandemic, was conducted under less than ideal circumstances with social distancing being enforced by spreading jurors throughout the courtroom, impacting sight lines to witnesses and exhibits, and everyone being required to wear masks, which made both hearing and judging credibility difficult. Through extra effort, strategizing, planning and physical positioning during different phases of the trial, WSHB’s trial team was able to navigate the new difficulties created by the distancing requirements.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has implemented a one-year moratorium on carriers non-renewing or cancelling residential property insurance policies resulting from the 2020 wildfires in areas within or adjacent to a fire perimeter after a declared state of emergency is issued by the Governor. On December 31, 2020, Commissioner Lara released the final ZIP codes protected from non-renewals for the 2020 wildfires. In total, 2.4 million policyholders and 563 ZIP codes are covered under the moratorium.

The moratorium was enacted “to address the long-term threats to Californians.” Commissioner Lara pledged to “continue to work with local communities and state leaders to ensure a healthy insurance market for everyone.”

A Superior Court Judge in Durham County, North Carolina recently ruled in favor of a number of restaurants in their collective action against Cincinnati Insurance for loss of business income due to the Covid-19 pandemic in a case captioned North State Deli, LLC, et al. v. The Cincinnati Insurance Company, et al., Case No. 20-CVS-02569.

In a departure from courts across the country, the presiding judge held that government orders restricting the policyholders’ use of their restaurants constituted “direct physical loss” thus triggering the policies’ Business Income coverage. The court reasoned that the phrase “direct physical loss” “includes the inability to utilize or possess something in the real, material, or bodily world, resulting from a given cause with the intervention of other conditions” and therefore “describes the scenario where business owners…lose the full range of rights and advantages of using or accessing their business property.”

On October 1, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed three bills sponsored by the California Department of Insurance and Commissioner Ricardo Lara to enable future wildfire survivors to recover faster and protect the rights of domestic workers during an emergency.

Senate Bill 872 was introduced on January 21, 2020 by Senator Bill Dodd. The new law will expand the definition of additional living expenses that must be paid to homeowners for losses incurred in a state of emergency and require an advance payment of no less than four months for costs such as housing, furniture rental and transportation. The new law will also mandate an advance payment of no less than 25 percent of the policy limit for lost contents without submission of an inventory form and require insurers to provide homeowners a 60-day grace period for payment of residential premium after an emergency. Additionally, insurers will be barred from deducting the land value from payouts for insureds who build on new lots.

WSHB is proud to announce the opening of its newest location in Charleston, South Carolina.

At the helm of WSHB's newest location will be WSHB partner William W. Silverman. Admitted to practice in both South Carolina and North Carolina, Silverman enjoys a well-deserved reputation for consistent results in complex commercial litigation. His varied practice includes the defense of construction and corporate disputes, insurance coverage, first and third party insurance bad faith litigation, environmental, and catastrophic injury matters. He is an “AV Preeminent” rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been listed in Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite in the Young Guns and Construction categories.

WSHB is proud to announce the opening of its newest location in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm’s Boston location will provide the firm’s full array of nationwide legal services in both litigated and non-litigated practice areas.

WSHB Partner Christopher J. Seusing has been selected as the managing partner for the firm's newest location. Seusing called Massachusetts home for many years, first as he earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Stonehill College in Easton, MA, and then as he went on to earn his law degree, cum laude, at Suffolk University in downtown Boston. He honed his litigation skills practicing throughout Massachusetts following his graduation from Suffolk.

The California Insurance Commissioner has now issued emergency notices to all admitted and non-admitted property and casualty insurance companies doing business in California to assist survivors, displaced residents, and businesses impacted by the current and recent wildfires throughout the state. The emergency order was issued in connection with Governor Gavin Newsom’s August 18, 2020 emergency declaration that was issued due to the wildfires.

Lara stated that “[w]ildfire survivors need immediate help as they start on the long road to recovery” and “urge[d] insurance companies to do the right thing for these survivors and help them through this difficult process.” Specifically, Lara implored all property and casualty carriers to implement expedited claims handling procedures and billing grace periods to aid the quick recovery of residents and businesses during the emergency.

Covid-19 related restrictions have lifted across the United States (and in some instances then imposed again). With businesses reopening physical locations and the prospect of schools holding in-person classes this fall, owners, board members, executives and managers all must address potential coronavirus related liabilities. Any owner or operator of a facility where in-person contact occurs is at risk for civil suits and claims for potentially exposing employees, customers or other members of the public to the coronavirus.

In response to these risks, businesses and other institutions have asked employees, customers, and patrons to sign liability waivers. Examples include President Trump’s reelection campaign asking supporters to execute liability waivers before attending rallies. This practice has gained significant media attention and has led many to wonder whether these waivers are enforceable.

Insurers investigating claims in Colorado should be aware of new limits on their ability to assert a failure-to-cooperate defense in litigation. Effective September 15, 2020, C.R.S. § 10-3-1118 imposes a number of hurdles on insurers seeking to argue that coverage is not available because an insured did not cooperate in the investigation of a claim.

Before an insurer can assert a failure-to-cooperate defense in first-party actions, the statute requires compliance with several conditions. First, the insurer must request information from the insured or their representative in writing, via certified mail or electronic means, if the insured or their representative have consented to receive electronic documents from the insurer.