Insurance law is surely an area of the civil law that occupies more than its fair share of the docket of the New York Court of Appeals. This past term, the court issued nine significant insurance law decisions, including one for which it heard reargument and vacated a unanimous—and highly controversial—ruling that it had issued near the end of its 2012-2013 term. In these rulings, almost every judge wrote either a majority or dissenting opinion and the nine cases generated 14 separate opinions, including an unusual number of dissenting opinions. Certain of the decisions were clear victories for insurance companies, while others favored policyholders.

Unlike the divisions among the U.S. Supreme Court justices on so very many issues, there does not appear to be any predictable division among the New York Court of Appeals judges as to the likelihood of a particular judge ruling in favor of policyholders or insurance carriers. In fact, examination of the five insurance law cases that divided the court this term revealed that each judge on the court voted in favor of the policyholder and the carrier in at least one instance. Rather than relying on philosophical underpinnings, the court seems to address each insurance law issue individually based on precedent and public policy. With New York’s longstanding and continuing role as a leader in insurance jurisprudence, the court is likely to continue facing difficult insurance law issues for quite some time to come.

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