Westchester Fire Insurance v. MCI Communications Corp.

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York

Westchester Fire Insurance v. MCI Communications Corp.

74 A.D.3d 551, 902 N.Y.S.2d 350

CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York

DecidedJune 15, 2010

StatusPublished

Cited by8 cases

This text of 74 A.D.3d 551 (Westchester Fire Insurance v. MCI Communications Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Westchester Fire Insurance v. MCI Communications Corp., 74 A.D.3d 551, 902 N.Y.S.2d 350 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2010).

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Opinion

Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Werner Kornreich, J.), entered October 22, 2009, which, inter alia, granted CNA Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment declaring that it does not have a duty to pay MCI’s “first dollar” defense costs and denied as moot MCI’s motion for summary judgment declaring that CNA has a duty to defend it in numerous landowner actions, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

The court, in a well-reasoned decision, properly found endorsement 30 in the 1992-1995 policies at issue unambiguous in providing that MCI is liable for its own defense costs. Contrary to MCI’s contention, the provision is not an exclusion (see Pav-Lak Indus., Inc. v Arch Ins. Co., 56 AD3d 287, 288 [2008]). Absent ambiguity, extrinsic evidence is inadmissible. Nor is there a need to resort to contra proferentem, which, in any event, would be inapplicable to this sophisticated policyholder (see Cummins, Inc. v Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., 56 AD3d 288, 290 [2008]).

We have considered MCI’s other contentions and find them unavailing. Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Moskowitz, DeGrasse, Abdus-Salaam and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ. [Prior Case History: 2009 NY Slip Op 32438(U).]

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Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Shirley Werner Kornreich, J.), entered October 22, 2009, which, inter alia, granted CNA Insurance Company’s motion for summary judgment declaring that it does not have a duty to pay MCI’s “first dollar” defense costs and denied as moot MCI’s motion for summary judgment declaring that CNA has a duty to defend it in numerous landowner actions, unanimously affirmed, with costs.

The court, in a well-reasoned decision, properly found endorsement 30 in the 1992-1995 policies at issue unambiguous in providing that MCI is liable for its own defense costs. Contrary to MCI’s contention, the provision is not an exclusion (see Pav-Lak Indus., Inc. v Arch Ins. Co., 56 AD3d 287, 288 [2008]). Absent ambiguity, extrinsic evidence is inadmissible. Nor is there a need to resort to contra proferentem, which, in any event, would be inapplicable to this sophisticated policyholder (see Cummins, Inc. v Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., 56 AD3d 288, 290 [2008]).

We have considered MCI’s other contentions and find them unavailing. Concur—Mazzarelli, J.P., Moskowitz, DeGrasse, Abdus-Salaam and Manzanet-Daniels, JJ. [Prior Case History: 2009 NY Slip Op 32438(U).]

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Bluebook (online)

74 A.D.3d 551, 902 N.Y.S.2d 350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westchester-fire-insurance-v-mci-communications-corp-nyappdiv-2010.

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