COURT DECISIONS Please feel free to review the following court decisions, which illustrate both our proven litigation track record and the breadth of the cases that our attorneys have handled: Favorable Decision (November 22, 2005). Our client, a durable medical equipment supplier, obtained a favorable decision from an Administrative Law Judge in a Medicare Part B appeal. CMS denied Medicare payments to our client that provided motorized wheelchairs and accessories to several beneficiaries in 2001 and 2002. We appealed the decision of the hearing officer upholding the denials and the Administrative Law Judge ordered reimbursement to our client in seventeen of the twenty-two cases. Rockefeller v. Albany Welding Supply Co., Inc., Columbia County Supreme Court, Index No. 2226-00 (October 25, 2002). Plaintiffs commenced this action against our client, among others, when an acetylene gas cylinder filled by our client allegedly leaked, resulting in an explosion and fire. Concluding that plaintiffs had failed to establish a material fact as to whether the cylinder’s valve was defective, the Court granted our client’s motion for summary judgment (which was heavily reliant on expert proof). Beeble v. Society for the Sisters of St. Joseph, Albany County Supreme Court, Index No. 4100-00 (October 24, 2002). Plaintiffs brought this slip-and-fall action stemming from a fall on our client’s property. Finding that there was no evidence in the record that the property owner had either actual or constructive notice of an icy condition in its parking lot, and that our client should be absolved of liability based upon the “storm-in-progress” doctrine, the Court granted our client’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action in its entirety. Hudes v. Vytra Health Plans Long Island, Inc., et al., 295 A.D.2d 788 (3d Dept. 2002). Three doctors of chiropractic medicine and two chiropractic patients sued four other health maintenance organizations (including our client) and three third-party administrators of chiropractic services, contending that certain HMO practices regarding payment for chiropractic services and utilization management of chiropractic services violated the New York Public Health Law. The Court granted defendants’ motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. Green v. Newmar Corporation, Attorney General Case No. 29866 (May 15, 2002). Through this Lemon Law arbitration, our clients, the purchasers of a motor home, secured a full refund of the purchase price (approximately $125,000.00) of the defective vehicle. Stasack v. Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan, Inc., 290 A.D.2d 866 (3d Dept. 2002). Plaintiff brought a breach of contract action against our client, a health maintenance organization, claiming that it had improperly denied coverage for his LASIK eye surgery. Finding that plaintiff had failed to raise a material issue of fact with respect to the issue of “medical necessity,” our client’s motion for summary judgment was granted, and plaintiff’s claim was dismissed. Matter of Mohawk Book Company, Ltd. v. State University of New York, 288 A.D.2d 574 (3d Dept. 2001). Our client was an off-campus bookstore looking to secure, through the New York Freedom of Information Law, records from a State university regarding the texts and course materials that students were required to buy for their classes at the university. The appellate court ruled that the university was required to disclose these records to our bookstore client. Walters v. Winnebago Industries, Inc., Attorney General Case No. 28779 (August 9, 2001). Through this Lemon Law arbitration, the claimants sought a refund of the purchase price (approximately $130,000.00) on a motor home manufactured by our client. Concluding that the claimants had failed to establish that there were problems with the vehicle that still existed and which “substantially impaired” the value of claimants’ vehicle, the arbitrator ruled in favor of the manufacturer. Gersten v. Hunt, et al., Schenectady County Supreme Court, Index No. 94-1038 (June 26, 2001). After construction for a multimillion-dollar expansion of a large shopping center had began, our client, the sponsor of the project, was faced with an easement claim which, if successful, would have halted construction. Initially, the court denied plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction, which would have stopped the center’s expansion, and eventually dismissed the action in its entirety. Gray v. Faculty-Student Association of Hudson Valley Community College, Inc., 186 Misc. 2d 404 (Sup. Ct., Rensselaer Cty. 2000). Our client was the former editor of a student newspaper who sought, through the New York Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”), copies of invoices evidencing the purchase price of books sold in the faculty-student association-operated campus bookstore. Concluding that the invoices were records subject to disclosure under FOIL, the Court ordered the association to disclose the information to our client, whose student newspaper was investigating the possibility of price-gouging in the bookstore. Matter of New York State Conference of Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans v. Muhl, 253 A.D.2d 158 (3d Dept. 1999). New York’s unique program for subsidized excess medical malpractice insurance (Hospital Excess Liability Pool) generated a series of lawsuits by health insurers challenging a hospital bill “add-on” which financed the program. We were retained by a leading excess medical malpractice insurance carrier to defend the constitutionality of the program and to oppose the health insurers’ claim for a $170 million refund of premiums. Favorable appellate court rulings, in combination with legislative action, resulted in dismissal of the health insurers’ lawsuits. Basco v. Builders Square, Inc., Albany County Supreme Court, Index No. 7123-94 (November 6, 1997). Plaintiff bought an action against our client, a national home improvement chain. Plaintiff sought $1.7 million in damages, claiming that he was injured when fiberglass insulation fell on his head. Investigation of plaintiff’s medical history revealed that he had concealed a prior back injury. The court not only granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, but required plaintiff to pay all attorney’s fees incurred defending against his fraudulent claim. Homier Distributing Co., Inc. v. City of Albany, 90 N.Y.2d 153 (1997). Our client was an Indiana-based corporation that is engaged in the business of wholesaling and retailing (typically during relatively short intervals in localities across the United States) hardware, electrical tools and related consumer products. The City of Albany imposed a transient retail business tax upon our client as a result of a four-day sale that it conducted at a rented facility within the City. The Court of Appeals unanimously held that the City’s transient retail business tax was an impermissible violation of the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Matter of Big Tree Energy Partners v. Bradford, 219 A.D.2d 27 (3d Dept. 1996). The New York Public Service Commission (“PSC”) refused to compel Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation (“RG&E”) to purchase natural gas from our client, a Rochester-area producer of indigenous natural gas, at the highest price RG&E paid for out-of-state natural gas, as required by a contract between our client and RG&E. Our client’s Article 78 petition was granted, with the courts finding that the PSC had acted arbitrarily in refusing to compel RG&E to purchase indigenous natural gas at a price equal to the highest price that RG&E paid for non-New York natural gas. To Top