The Vermont Supreme Court just issued a new premises liability decision, clearing a non-possessory property owner from a wrongful death claim made by an invitee of the commercial tenant. Here’s the decision and a very brief...more
On September 23, 2022, the Vermont Supreme Court issued an opinion reversing the dismissal of insurance claims seeking coverage for damage the insured argued was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Huntington Ingalls Indus.,...more
Back in July of last year, we blogged about the fact that the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) had to shut down shortly after it opened in May 2021, because it ran out of relief funds. The RRF was intended to help...more
In what is a major development in California's Proposition 65 jurisprudence, a California federal court has just issued an injunction that bars the filing of any new lawsuits against food and beverage companies whose products...more
The Court Affirmed A Lower Court’s Enforcement Of The Arbitration Clause, Requiring The Consumers To Arbitrate Their Claims Against A Home Inspection Company, And Also Affirmed The Lower Court’s Refusal To Vacate The...more
Employers and employees alike use social media to promote and define their businesses and themselves in the digital space. From personal connections on Facebook, to professional marketing on LinkedIn, these connections on...more
Before ending the 2020 session, the Legislature took the step of amending the Vermont Consumer Protection Act to refine the term “Local” in connection with labeling or advertising Vermont agricultural and food products. The...more
Brillman v. New England Guaranty Ins. Co., 2020 VT 16 (Feb. 21, 2020) -
In this insurance coverage decision, the Vermont Supreme Court determined that the “date of loss,” which starts the clock running on the one-year...more
10/6/2020
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Cause of Action Accrual ,
Date of Loss ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Property Damage ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Statute of Limitations ,
VT Supreme Court ,
Waivers
Progressive Northern Insurance Company V. Muller, Et Al. 2020 VT 76 (August 28, 2020) -
Vermont Supreme Court holds that “Combined Single Limit” and “Limits of Liability” provisions in UIM policy cap auto insurer’s total...more
9/1/2020
/ Auto Insurance ,
Bodily Injury ,
Damage Caps ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Liability Caps ,
Motorcycle Accidents ,
Multi-Claim Litigation ,
Policy Terms ,
Set Off ,
UI/UIM ,
VT Supreme Court
In Mowrey v. Eagle Rutland, LLC, et al., Vt. Super. Ct., Docket No. 284-5-18 Rdcv (Aug. 5, 2020), the court held that a non-possessory, arms-length commercial landlord that leased the premises to a supermarket could not be...more
8/11/2020
/ Arm's Length Principle ,
Business Invitees ,
Commercial Tenants ,
Delivery Drivers ,
Exclusive Control ,
Landlords ,
Lease Term ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Premises Liability ,
Retailers ,
Successor Interests ,
Supermarkets ,
Tenants
Vermont Supreme Court offers guidance on admissibility of social media content -
By now it is not particularly controversial that a litigant’s social media content is discoverable. See, e.g., Lewis v. Bellows Falls...more
8/5/2020
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Appeals ,
Authentication ,
Business Records ,
Criminal Procedure ,
Discovery ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Evidentiary Standards ,
Facebook ,
Inadmissible Evidence ,
Reversal ,
Search Warrant ,
Self-Authentication ,
Social Media ,
VT Supreme Court
For years a battle has been raging in the United States over whether a personal injury plaintiff can recover from the tortfeasor, by way of medical specials, (1) the “face amount” of her medical bills for accident-related...more
Restaurant and hospitality businesses prepare to reopen: guidelines.
As various states begin to ease stay-at-home restrictions and restaurants and hospitality business prepare to re-open, the National Restaurant...more
Sutton v. Vermont Regional Center, 2019 VT 71 (Oct. 14, 2019) -
Despite its longstanding reputation as liberal and sympathetic to plaintiffs, the Vermont Supreme Court has for a very long time strictly enforced the...more
2/27/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Construction Industry ,
EB-5 ,
Economic Loss Doctrine ,
Investment Fraud ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Negligence ,
Negligent Misrepresentation ,
Pecuniary Losses ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reversal ,
VT Supreme Court
This is a relatively new legal subject, so there isn’t much law out there. In December, 2011, a Pennsylvania federal court answered this question in the negative. In the case of Eagle v. Morgan, Linda Eagle, the founder of...more
In May 2013 the State of Vermont sued MPHJ Technology Investments, LLC for alleged consumer fraud arising from its letters sent to Vermont businesses claiming patent infringement. Since then, the parties have been disputing ...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Washington, D.C., has ?dismissed the appeal of MPHJ Technology Investments, LLC from an order of the United States District Court in Vermont that favored the...more
In a significant decision issued on Friday, July 18, 2014, involving a retail store, the Vermont Supreme Court has abolished the old premises liability distinction between “business invitees” (i.e., customers) and licensees...more
Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell won a major victory in his groundbreaking effort to use state law to crack down on “patent trolls.” In State of Vermont v. MPHJ, LLC, the Vermont federal court has rejected the...more
Previously, we posted about Governor Peter Shumlin signing into law Vermont’s first-in-the-nation (and so far only-in-the-nation) patent troll legislation helping Vermont businesses protect themselves from bad faith patent...more
In a significant legal decision with a connection to Vermont’s farming community, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed that organic farmers cannot obtain a judicial declaration to prevent...more
When your trade secrets are stolen, you might sue the ex-employee who stole them, or the competing business that’s now in possession of them, or both. What’s an appropriate measure of damages when your trade secrets are...more
An important federal appeals court has determined that a Connecticut court has jurisdiction over a Canadian citizen whose only act in Connecticut was accessing information on a computer server located in Connecticut. In...more
An important federal appeals court has determined that a Connecticut court has jurisdiction over a Canadian citizen whose only act in Connecticut was accessing information on a computer server located in Connecticut. In...more
We previously discussed the troubling issues of: a) whether your company’s insurance policy(ies) actually provides coverage for claims of IP infringement, and b) which of your policies is the one(s) you should be looking to...more