The New York Court of Appeals' past term was as unusual a term as practitioners and judges ever could have imagined. Of course, COVID-19 continued to affect the Court's operations. On top of that, the early retirement of Judge Paul Feinman, followed by his untimely death, the subsequent retirement of Judge Leslie Stein, and the impending retirement at the end of this year of Judge Eugene Fahey all are effecting a transformation of the Court the magnitude of which has not been seen in recent memory.

Similarly atypical was the fact that the Court issued only two significant insurance law rulings during the past term (explored below). That, however, presents the opportunity for this column to highlight a number of the most important insurance law decisions written over the years by Judge Stein, Judge Fahey, and Judge Feinman.

Interest

In late November, the Court decided Chen v. Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania, 36 N.Y.3d 133 (2020).