Sole heir of a client and representative of the estate sued the decedent’s accountant for malpractice and conversion. The plaintiff failed to schedule the claim as an asset in his Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition or in his Probate petition. The bankruptcy was later dismissed without a final determination. The Appellate Division held plaintiff was not estopped to assert the claim because the bankruptcy did not end in a final judgment and the creditors of the estate were aware of the claim.

This is a landmark decision. Sub-contractor sued owner of premises for unpaid charges. Owner brought third-party complaint against general contractor claiming violations of RICO in the submission of inflated invoices to owner. In a case of first impression, the Court of Appeals ruled that state courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts to entertain claims alleging civil RICO violations.

Insured brought claim against insurance agent for negligence in the selection of general liability coverage. Insured failed to timely notify liabilty underwriter of the claim asserted against insured. The District Court held the insured’s failure to timely notify the liability underwriter of the claim, without reasonable excuse, relieved the underwriter of the obligation to indemnify even in the absence of prejudice to the underwriter. Since the insurance agent steps into the shoes of its principal underwriter, the claim against the insurance agent was dismissed.