Publications
New Development in the New York Law of Good Faith and Bad Faith: Bi-Economy Market, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company 10 N.Y. 3d 187 (Feb. 19, 2008) and Panasia Estates, Inc. v. Hudson Insurance Company 10 N.Y.3d 200(Feb. 19, 2008)
On February 19, 2008, the New York Court of Appeals issued decisions in Bi-Economy Market, Inc. v. Harleysville Insurance Company, 10 N.Y.3d 187, and Panasia Estates, Inc. v. Hudson Insurance Company, 10 N.Y.3d 200. In these decisions, the Court of Appeals held that the insurers violated their contractual obligations of good faith and fair dealing with respect to first-party claims and were liable for consequential damages in excess of policy limits. As pointed out in a strong dissent, in Bi-Economy and Panasia, the Court of Appeals did not follow its long-standing precedents and effectively established a new standard with little or no guidance as to how it was to be applied.