After nine successful years, Bowitch & Coffey is closing its doors. Starting August 1, 2021, Gary Bowitch and Dan Coffey will be practicing law in their own law firms and will continue to provide clients with the same high quality legal services in their areas of expertise. Their new contact information is:
Gary S. Bowitch
Attorney at Law
13 Willow Street
Castleton, NY 12033
Phone: 518-527-2232
Email: gbowitch@bowitchlaw.com
Bowitch Law New Website
Daniel Coffey
Coffey Law PLLC
17 Elk Street
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: 518-813-9500
Email: Dan@coffeylawny.com
Coffey Law New Website
Can I Sue a Child or a Child’s Parents?
Unfortunately, each year, many apartment fires are started by an unattended child playing with matches or a cigarette lighter. The tenant’s parents may or may not have renter’s insurance which includes liability cover-age and which covers the child as a “named insured.” Question: Can the building owner’s carrier subrogate against the child or the child’s parents? Answer: In New York, it depends on the child’s age.
Court Dismisses Products Case Against Component Manufacturers
In New York, a claim will sound in products liability if a product placed into the stream of commerce: “(a) contains a manufacturing flaw, (b) is defectively designed; or (c) is not accompanied by adequate warnings for [its] use.” [1] The manufacturer of a component which is incorporated into a product will not be liable if the component was produced “in accordance with the design, plans and specifications of the buyer and such design, plans and specifications do not reveal any inherent danger in either the component part or the assembled unit.” [2]
Court Rules on “Anti-Subrogation” Rule and “Waiver of Subrogation” Clause
St. Paul insured Chelsea 27th Street Apartments (“Chelsea”), who owned a building on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. While the building was under construction, a sprinkler accidentally discharged, causing property damage to the apartments. St. Paul paid a total of $714,438 to repair the premises and filed suit in subrogation against two of the subcontractors: FD Sprinkler (the sprinkler company subcontractor) and Woodworks (the drywall subcontractor).
