TICL Journal Volume 33, No. 2 Summer 2004 Issue Copyright 2004 by the New York State Bar Association ISSN 1530-390X TORTS, INSURANCE AND COMPENSATION LAW SECTION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE—2004-2005 SECTION CHAIR Edward B. Flink Lucille A. Fontana Eileen E. Buholtz 7 Airport Park Boulevard 99 Court Street 250 Times Square Building Latham, NY 12110 White Plains, NY 10601 45 Exchange Street, Suite 250 Rochester, NY 14614 FOURTH DISTRICT TENTH DISTRICT Paul Briggs James J. Keefe, Jr. VICE-CHAIR 202 Union Street 144 Wellington Road Hon. Douglas J. Hayden Schenectady, NY 12305 Garden City, NY 11530 199 Church Street, 12th Floor New York, NY 10007 Paul J. Campito Arthur J. Smith 131 State Street 125 Jericho Turnpike SECRETARY P.O. Box 1041 Suite 302 Schenectady, NY 12301 Jericho, NY 11753 Paul J. Suozzi 1300 Liberty Building Buffalo, NY 14202 FIFTH DISTRICT ELEVENTH DISTRICT Timothy J. Fennell Edward H. Rosenthal EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 26 East Oneida Street 125-10 Queens Boulevard Oswego, NY 13126 Kew Gardens, NY 11415 LIAISON Edward S. Reich Lori E. Petrone Michael C. Tromello 26 Court Street, Suite 606 1624 Genesee Street Three Huntington Quadrangle Brooklyn, NY 11242 Utica, NY 13502 Suite 305N P.O. Box 948 DELEGATES TO THE SIXTH DISTRICT Melville, NY 11747 HOUSE OF DELEGATES Therese Wiley Dancks William N. Cloonan 7136 East Genesee Street TWELFTH DISTRICT 85 Main Street P.O. Box 97 Mitchell S. Cohen Kingston, NY 12401 Fayetteville, NY 13066 116 John Street, 33rd Floor New York, NY 10038 Matthew J. Kelly Weeden A. Wetmore 13 Columbia Circle 243 Lake Street Robert S. Summer Albany, NY 12203 Elmira, NY 14901 714 East 241st Street Bronx, NY 10470 FIRST DISTRICT SEVENTH DISTRICT Thomas J. Maroney Jacqueline Phipps Polito FORMER CHAIRS P.O. Box 1636 1400 First Federal Plaza Eric Dranoff New York, NY 10274 Rochester, NY 14614 331 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10017 Anthony D. Martine Melanie L. Sarkis 90 Broad Street, 14th Floor 700 Reynolds Arcade Dennis R. McCoy New York, NY 10004 16 East Main Street 1100 M&T Center Rochester, NY 14614 Three Fountain Plaza SECOND DISTRICT Buffalo, NY 14203 Mark A. Longo EIGHTH DISTRICT Lawrence R. Bailey, Jr. 26 Court Street, Suite 1700 Paul F. Jones 152 West 57th Street, 35th Floor Brooklyn, NY 11242 3400 HSBC Center New York, NY 10019 Buffalo, NY 14203 Robert F. McCarthy William N. Cloonan 90 Merrick Avenue, Suite 102 Mary M. Russo 85 Main Street East Meadow, NY 11554 43 Court Street, Suite 1000 Kingston, NY 12401 Buffalo, NY 14202 THIRD DISTRICT Louis B. Cristo Brendan F. Baynes NINTH DISTRICT Two State Street, Suite 1000 16 Sage Estate Paul J. Calamari Rochester, NY 14614 Albany, NY 12204 1 Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor New York, NY 10006 ii NYSBA Torts, Insurance & Compensation Law Section Journal | Summer 2004 | Vol. 33 | No. 2 Saul Wilensky Governmental Regulations DIVISION CHAIRS 120 Broadway Frederick J. Pomerantz New York, NY 10271 150 East 42nd Street Construction and Surety Law New York, NY 10017 Henry H. Melchor One Lincoln Center COMMITTEE CHAIRS Insurance Coverage Syracuse, NY 13202 Daniel W. Gerber ADR 665 Main Street, Suite 400 Workers’ Compensation Law Hon. James E. Morris Buffalo, NY 14203 Ronald Balter 120 Corporate Woods, Suite 240 132 Nassau Street, Suite 1200 Rochester, NY 14623 Laws and Practices New York, NY 10038 Robert H. Coughlin, Jr. Automobile Liability 480 Broadway, Suite 332 NYSBA STAFF LIAISONS Gary A. Cusano Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Patricia K. Bucklin 303 South Broadway, Suite 435 New York State Bar Assoc. Tarrytown, NY 10591 Membership One Elk Street Dennis P. Glascott Albany, NY 12207 Aviation Law 665 Main Street, Suite 400 Vacant Buffalo, NY 14203 Ronald F. Kennedy New York State Bar Assoc. Business Torts and Municipal Law One Elk Street Albany, NY 12207 Employment Litigation Stanley J. Sliwa Robert A. Barrer 237 Main Street Financial Plaza 840 Main Seneca Building CLE STAFF LIAISON P.O. Box 4878 Buffalo, NY 14203 Jean Marie Grout Syracuse, NY 13221 New York State Bar Assoc. Premises Liability/Labor Law One Elk Street Albany, NY 12207 Class Action Glenn A. Monk Hon. Thomas A. Dickerson 81 Main Street 35 Hampton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 YOUNG LAWYERS Yonkers, NY 10710 SECTION LIAISON Products Liability John H. Snyder Continuing Legal Education Thomas Keleher 605 French Road Hartford, NY 13413 Laurie Giordano One Lincoln Center 16 East Main Street, Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13202 Rochester, NY 14614 TICL JOURNAL Professional Liability Co-Editors Ethics Kenneth J. Krajewski Paul S. Edelman 100 Park Avenue, 18th Floor Vacant 1500 Liberty Building Buffalo, NY 14202 New York, NY 10017 Fire and Property Insurance Professional Responsibility of David Beekman Vacant 100 Park Avenue Insurance & Coverage Counsel New York, NY 10017 Future Sites Barbara A. Sherk 840 Main Seneca Building James D. Gauthier Kenneth L. Bobrow 237 Main Street 1300 Liberty Building 4-6 North Park Row Buffalo, NY 14203 Buffalo, NY 14202 Clinton, NY 13323 Website General Awards TICL NEWSLETTER Charles J. Siegel Thomas N. Trevett (Cover to Cover) 40 Wall Street, 7th Floor 2 State Street Editor New York, NY 10005 Suite 1000 Robert A. Glick Rochester, NY 14614 100 Ring Road W Garden City, NY 11530 NYSBA Torts, Insurance & Compensation Law Section Journal | Summer 2004 | Vol. 33 | No. 2 iii Table of Contents Vol. 33, No. 2 Page A View from the Chair Eileen E. Buholtz . 3 Articles Developments in Spoliation of Evidence Law in New York Brian W. McElhenny . 4 Absolute Liability: Labor Law § 240 Proof Julian D. Ehrlich . 6 Court of Appeals Clarifies Strict Liability Provisions of New York Labor Law Alan Kaminsky . 12 Additional Insured Coverage in Construction Site Litigation I. Paul Howansky . 14 A Counterpoint on Bankruptcy and Personal Injury Actions: Some Practical Observations for the Everyday Practitioner Anthony Michael Sabino . 19 Funding Terrorism: How and Why to Set Up a Program to Identify Potential Insurer Links to Terrorist Organizations Douglas Hayden and Howard Feldman . 21 The Marketing of Travel Services Over the Internet and the Impact Upon the Assertion of Personal Jurisdiction: 2004 Justice Thomas A. Dickerson . 28 Medical Malpractice: The Advantage of Early Thorough Expert Review of Medical Records Steven Wilkins, M.D., J.D.. 38 Estimating the Value of a Plaintiff’s Earnings Losses Harriet Zellner. 40 Article Index . 45 Author Index . 46 NYSBA Torts, Insurance & Compensation Law Section Journal | Summer 2004 | Vol. 33 | No. 2 1 A View from the Chair At the one-third mark of Our CLE offerings around the state this fall include my year (June 1, 2004), I am comprehensive overviews of municipal law (in conjunc- pleased to report that the tion with the Municipal Law Section), workers’ com- TICL executive committee is pensation, automobile liability, products liability and a fully constituted with no new program on law for insurance claims professionals. vacancies. In addition, we are Watch our website (http://www.nysba.org/ticl) as well updating the roles and duties as your mail for registration forms for each of these. of the members of the execu- Most importantly, watch the TICL website for a pre- tive committee (that is, the view of the programs and events that we are planning district representatives and for our fall meeting in Savannah, GA, October 14–17, the chairs of both substantive 2004 and mark the date on your calendar. Each of the law and administrative func- Section’s substantive law committees has been asked to tions). We will be reviewing our by-laws once those present on an up-to-the-minute topic germane to its roles and responsibilities have been defined. Even more subject matter. And we’re working on a Georgia barbe- importantly, we are striving to increase diversity in the cue with the Savannah Bar Association at the Round- membership of both the Section and the executive com- house Museum (a pre-civil war landmark), lunch at The mittee, so any thoughts, comments and volunteers to Lady & Sons to meet Paula Deen (the Lady herself) and that end would be most welcome. her two sons, a low-country boil on the Savannah River Our website (http://www.nysba.org/ticl) continues and a special tour based on the book Midnight in the to provide you with information on Section-sponsored Garden of Good and Evil. CLE programs and Section activities and with updates Eileen E. Buholtz on the law in various substantive areas. The TICL Jour- nal and the Construction and Surety Law Newsletter con- tinue to provide you with up-to-date articles on the law. Our newsletter keeps you current on administrative P.S.: The recently released book 1,000 Places to See Before matters. You Die has three listings in it relating to Savannah. Attend our conference and you’ll have only 997 places left to see after that. REQUEST FOR ARTICLES If you have written an article, or have an idea for one, please contact Torts, Insurance and Compensation Law Section Journal Editor: Paul S. Edelman, Esq. Kreindler & Kreindler 100 Park Avenue, 18th Floor New York, NY 10017-5516 Articles should be submitted on a 3½" floppy disk, preferably in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, along with a printed original and biographical information. NYSBA Torts, Insurance & Compensation Law Section Journal | Summer 2004 | Vol. 33 | No. 2 3 Developments in Spoliation of Evidence Law in New York By Brian W. McElhenny In personal injury litigation product liability actions On appeal the First Department reversed and dis- and medical malpractice cases, physical evidence is often missed the City’s third-party complaint holding that dis- relevant and sometimes of critical importance in the missal was appropriate when the key evidence was lost presentation of the case.