Legal Alerts

Hurwitz Fine Insurance Coverage Senior Member Dan D. Kohane co-authored the article “Window Opening Statutes: Child Victims Act Claims and the Quest for Lost Policies” in the Winter 2024 issue of The Brief, the American Bar Association (ABA)’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice (TIPS) magazine.

Agnieszka A. Wilewicz, Member at Hurwitz Fine P.C., was once again appointed as a Vice-Chair to the American Bar Associations (ABA) Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Sections’ (TIPS) Insurance Coverage Litigation General Committee for the 2024-25 bar year. 

For now the third straight year, New York’s legislature has passed a revised version of “the Grieving Families Act,” legislation that would completely overhaul wrongful death claims in New York by permitting recovery for emotional damages and expanding the class of persons who can seek recovery for a fatality. The current bill (A9232-b/S8485-b) still greatly expands the categories of available damages from New York’s current wrongful death statute which limits damages to economic or pecuniary losses of the survivors resulting from the death, the medical and funeral costs related to the final injury or illness, and the value of parental guidance, nurturing and care for surviving children.

Hurwitz Fine P.C. had three courtroom victories in The Harmonie Group’s 2023 Significant Cases Publication.

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) passed a new rule banning all new noncompete clauses with all levels of employees.  The rule as passed will allow only existing noncompete agreements with certain senior executives to survive. The rule defines such senior executives as individuals in a policy-making position earning a minimum of $151,164 per year. All other existing noncompete agreements will be unenforceable as of the effective date. The new rule is to become effective 120 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Hurwitz Fine was recently honored by the University at Buffalo Law Students with Disabilities and Neurodivergencies (LSDN) with the 2024 Allyship Award. This award was given for “outstanding acts of allyship not only in our diversity statement, but also in our actions.”

Law360 asked Hurwitz Fine P.C. Insurance Coverage Members Dan D. Kohane and Lee S. Siegel to comment on a pending insurance dispute between Chubb and the Archdiocese of New York regarding coverage for sexual abuse claims.

Hurwitz Fine Insurance Coverage Member Dan D. Kohane and Associate Ryan P. Maxwell authored “Head Scratchers Rewarded with Curious Decisions” in the Q1 2024 edition of NYIA's Your NY Connection magazine. 

Hurwitz Fine Trusts & Estates Special Counsel Lawrence C. Franco recently completed 10 years of service on the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo’s Board of Directors. 

The federal Corporate Transparency Act went into effect on January 1, 2024. In short, the Corporate Transparency Act requires an entity that qualifies as a reporting company to report who the beneficial owners of the company are to FinCEN.

When a family member passes, their relatives are often unsure of what the next steps are in the process of distributing their assets to beneficiaries.  Most believe that it is necessary to probate the individual’s Will, if there is one.  However, in many circumstances, a full probate proceeding is not necessary.  In those cases, family members can save time and costs by administering the individual’s assets without offering the Will for probate.