Insurers for a hotel sued for allegedly allowing sex trafficking to occur on the premises should have been able to intervene and indemnify the hotel in the resulting lawsuit, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

A three-judge panel consisting of Judges Mary Jane Bowes, Victor Stabile and John Musmanno reversed a ruling from the Philadelphia trial court denying Nationwide Property and Casualty Co.'s request to intervene in a lawsuit against its client, 4200 Roosevelt LLC, known as the Days Inn on Roosevelt Boulevard.

With sex trafficking claims on the rise across the country and states such as Pennsylvania bulking up civil remedies for survivors, the Superior Court's ruling offers litigators some guidance on this emerging area of law.