disaster law

Florida's rule providing protection for the honest errors of attorneys in their judgment about a debatable point of law has shielded a law firm facing a malpractice suit for its choice not to use a particular expert witness in support of hurricane damage claim, Harris Martin reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found that Florida's judgmental immunity doctrine applied to the law firm's decision.

Law 360's Jeff Sistrunk reports that a condo association sued Childress Duffy for how that firm handled a breach of contract suit against Citizens Property Insurance Co. The condo association was seeking recovery for property damage from Hurricane Frances, including a $1.5 million claim for an elevator.

The defense wind expert called by the law firm was neither a mechanical engineer nor an elevator expert. A jury trial ended in a directed verdict.

Homeowners who think they were shortchanged in the money they received for damage from Superstorm Sandy are going to get another chance to seek reimbursement through the National Flood Insurance Program, the New York Law Journal's Andrew Keshner and the Associated Press report. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to reexamine about 142,000 claims from policyholders "amid concerns that altered damage reports have caused underpayments and denials."

The federal government is liable for some of the flooding damage from Hurricane Katrina because of failures in the hurricane protection system, the New York Times' John Schwartz reports. U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Susan G. Braden found that a canal built by the Army Corps of Engineers led to flooding in the New Orleans area, and that private plaintiffs and the St. Bernard Parish government can recover under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. The amount of the liability will be determined through mediation.

It is unclear who will pay the fees for the attorneys who have been negotiating settlements of Superstorm Sandy insurance cases, The New York Law Journal's Andrew Keshner reports. The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency say that they are not statutorily authorized to pay legal fees to plaintiffs' lawyers. But insurance carriers don't want to pay the fees out of concern that they could face qui tam whistleblower suits. Eastern District Magistrate Judges Cheryl Pollak, Ramon Reyes, Jr. and Gary Brown, the trio tasked with facilitating case resolution, held a hearing this week to resolve the fee and other issues, Keshner reports. The judges said they would restart mediation if the fee and other issues can't be resolved.

Natural disasters are costing $250 billion to $300 billion annually, the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in a report released last week. According to the Associated Press' Edith M. Lederer, the report estimates that, if a $6 billion investment is made every year, the cost from disasters would be reduced by $360 billion over the next 15 years. Andrew Maskrey, lead author of the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction, said climate change will make the costs of disasters increase even more.

Tenative insurance settlements have been reached in 160 cases stemming from Superstorm Sandy in which engineers' damages estimates were changed, the New York Law Journal's Andrew Keshner reports. The settlements are between the Federal Emergency Management Authority and lawyers for plaintiffs and involve FEMA's "write your own" program that lets insurance companies write and service federal flood insurance.

Three federal magistrate judges called off a hearing to explore whether damage reports were altered to justify denials of insurance claims related to Superstorm Sandy, the New York Law Journal's Andrew Keshner reports. The judges, who are presiding over the storm-related insurance litigation, did so after the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was going to create a process for disputes about the integrity of engineering practices in claims coming through FEMA's "write your own" program, which allows insurers to write federal flood insurance policies. There are 1,323 cases challenging denials or alleged underpayments by wind and flood insurers, Keshner reports.

Many plaintiffs suing their insurers over Superstorm Sandy are alleging that engineering reports were "as part of an effort to minimize insurance payments to flood victims in New York and New Jersey after the 2012 hurricane," The New York Times' David W. Chen reports. A hearing will be held Thursday, February 19, on the engineering reports.

New York City has reached a settlement to provide better "evacuation and sheltering" for people with disabilities during disasters, according to the New York Law Journal. The lawsuit was filed after Hurricane Irene and then was punctuated by Superstorm Sandy. Judge Jesse Furman found the city liable for violating the American with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights law. The parties settled instead of going to trial over remedies.

New York City has reached a settlement to provide better "evacuation and sheltering" for people with disabilities during disasters, according to the New York Law Journal. The lawsuit was filed after Hurricane Irene and then was punctuated by Superstorm Sandy. Judge Jesse Furman found the city liable for violating the American with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the New York City Human Rights law. The parties settled instead of going to trial over remedies.

Read more: http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202672056170/City-Settles-Litigatio...