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Russ Vignali is a tenacious advocate who focuses his litigation practice on the defense of products liability matters and related commercial disputes in New York state and federal courts. He also handles a variety of claims in the general liability area and has experience with related insurance coverage matters. Russ joined Wilson Elser in 1982 out of law school and developed his service approach within a firm culture that values a high level of responsiveness and open communication with clients.

Product liability defendants in New York were glad to hear earlier this week that Governor Hochul had finally vetoed the Grieving Families Act (GFA) which, if signed, would have greatly increased allowable damages in wrongful death cases and the class of persons who could recover for them.

Continue Reading New York’s Governor Vetoes Expansion of Wrongful Death Damages – For Now

On this site, we previously reported about the comprehensive rule changes made in New York to a defendant’s obligation to provide disclosure regarding available insurance coverage. We also covered the immediate calls for amendments to these new insurance disclosure requirements as to some of the more onerous provisions among the new rules.
Continue Reading New York Amends the New Insurance Disclosure Requirements

Among the bills signed by New York Governor Hochul at the close of 2021 – and in addition to the bill that significantly changed New York’s insurance disclosure requirements that was the focus of our previous posts, “Amendments to New York’s Onerous New Insurance Disclosure Requirements May Be Imminent” and
Continue Reading New York Enacts New Rule of Evidence Expanding the Scope of the Admissibility of Employee-Agent Hearsay Statements

In my last blog, we explored the onerous changes made by the New York State Legislature to the Defendant’s obligation to provide disclosure regarding available insurance. Entitled the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, the law made wholesale changes to CPLR 3101(f)’s insurance disclosure requirements and went into immediate effect upon the bill’s signing by Governor Hochul on December 31, 2021.
Continue Reading Amendments to New York’s Onerous New Insurance Disclosure Requirements May Be Imminent

On December 31, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul closed the year by signing into law the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act (S7052) to impose sweeping changes to the rules embodied in New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) section 3101(f) as they pertain to the disclosure of defendants’ insurance coverage in New York litigation.

Continue Reading New York Ends the Year with Onerous New Insurance Coverage Disclosure Rules for Defendants in Product Liability Litigation