J.P. Morgan Securities v. Vigilant Insurance Co.

Court:

New York Court of Appeals

Amicus Issue:

Whether it was proper for the Appellate Division to apply the Kokesh decision concerning a federal statute of limitations (SOL) to determine the availability of insurance coverage under state law, where the applicable insurance standard of insurability – whether a payment has any compensatory purpose – is exactly the opposite of the federal SOL standard – whether a payment has any penal purpose. Whether it was proper for the Appellate Division to construe an insurance policy issued in 2000, and coverage for a settlement entered into in 2006, in accordance with a 2017 “change in the law” rather than pursuant to the state of the law and the parties’ understanding at the time (under which disgorgement was not considered a penalty).

Counsel of Record:

Covington & Burling LLP

Mitchell F. Dolin

Dustin Cho

Jordan S. Joachim

Other Amici:

None.