The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been reinvigorated with the $310 billion of new funding as part of the $484 billion Stimulus Package signed into law by the President on Friday, April 24. That program was implemented under the CARES Act (Act) and offers 1%...
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Houston Harbaugh
Month: April 2020
Johnstown Area Hospital Sues Travelers For Covid-19 Insurance Coverage
Another day, another COVID-19 insurance coverage suit. Windber Hospital sued Travelers Property Casualty Company of America in the U.S.D.C for the Western District of Pennsylvania on April 23, 2020 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief enjoining Travelers from...
When ‘Accident’ Is Defined By Artful Pleading
The majority of a closely divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court yesterday accepted artful pleading to describe the shooting of a boyfriend using terms like "negligent" and "careless" to determine the duty to defend under a homeowner's policy issued by Erie. Erie Ins....
Is Your Property At Risk If The Driller Or Pipeline Company Doesn’t Pay Its Contractors?
A great deal of infrastructure is needed to move oil and gas from their reservoirs thousands of feet below the ground to the places where these hydrocarbons are bought and sold. Wells must be drilled. Pipelines must be installed. Compressor stations must be built....
Federal Multidistrict Litigation Petition Filed In Connection With Coronavirus-Related Business Interruption Coverage Claims
Two Pennsylvania restaurants filed a Petition with the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on April 20, 2020, seeking coordination or consolidation of the pending nationwide business interruption coverage cases arising out of the...
Supreme Court Bars Time-Bar Appeals In PTAB Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") decisions on the timeliness of administrative patent validity challenges are not appealable to Article III courts. Inter partes review proceedings give an accused infringer the right to...
Verisk Develops New Coverage Options To Respond To Coronavirus
Verisk has developed two new optional endorsements for use with existing ISO commercial property business interruption coverage. The first form provides limited coverage in the event a business suspends operations due to a closure or quarantine ordered by a civil...
Pennsylvania Senate Bill Seeks To Retroactively Change All Insurance Policies To Require Coverage For Business Interruption Due To Covid-19
Senate Bill 1114, introduced on April 15, 2020, would use Governor Wolf's emergency disaster declaration as the basis to retroactively change the definition of "property damage" in all insurance policies issued to an individual or business to include "the direct...
PA Department Of Health Order On Workplace COVID-19 Health And Safety Measures
On April 15, 2020, the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Rachel Levine, M.D., issued an order mandating certain workplace health and safety measures for life-sustaining businesses and organizations currently operating, except healthcare providers....
HHS Begins Distributing Relief Fund Payments
On Friday, April 10, 2020 the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released their plans to allocate $30 billion in relief funds to Medicare providers. These funds are part of the $100 billion in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)...
