Overview of topics...

LEAD NOTE :

• NEW LAW: AMENDMENT ALLOWS INJURED PERSON TO BRING DECLARATORY ACTION TO TEST VALIDITY OF INSURANCE DISCLAIMER IN TORT ACTIONS, BUT ONLY ON "NOTICE" ISSUE

NEW LAWS:

• Amendment Allows Injured Person to Bring Declaratory Action to Test Validity of Insurance Disclaimer in Tort Actions, But Only on "Notice" Issue
• Amendment Adjusts Poundage of Enforcement Officer -- Sheriff or Marshal — When Parties Settle
• Developments Relevant to Recent Neglect to Prosecute Amendment

SPECIAL NOTE:

• Another New Law: Legislature Mandates Settlement Conference in Residential Foreclosure Actions in Effort to Ease Subprime Mortgage Crisis

GENERAL PRACTICE:

• NY AG's 1998 Settlement of Class Suit Against Tobacco
  Companies, While Not Barring Compensatory Damage Claims of Individuals, Does Bar Punitive Damages
• 9/11 Damages Claim Against City, Even Though Made Exclusively Federal by Preemptive Act of Congress, Doesn't Dispense with State Notice of Claim Requirement

BACKLOG ITEMS:

• Need for Good Faith in Commencing or Prosecuting Action After Filing Lis Pendens
• Insurer's Failure to Seek Stay of Arbitration Within 20 Days Concedes Case Is Arbitrable