Dismissal of Appeal - Multi-Million Dollar Coverage Dispute
Lori A. Vanderlaan and Thomas J. Costello, III
January 2016
Tom Costello and Lori Vanderlaan recently obtained a dismissal of a notice of appeal and appeal on a multi-million dollar coverage dispute in which the underlying plaintiff was arguing that the insurer breached a duty to defend and thus owed a duty to indemnify the entirety of the underlying settlement. The trial court agreed with our client’s position and entered summary judgment in favor of our client, and following the same, the underlying plaintiff appealed. Recognizing a defect in the notice of appeal, Tom moved to dismiss the appeal and objected to the plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a late notice of appeal. Despite there being a Supreme Court decision on point and seemingly supporting the plaintiff’s argument for the late notice of appeal, Tom and Lori distinguished the case law and pointed out additional arguments, which persuaded the appellate court to deny the request for leave to file a late notice of appeal and dismiss the appeal.