-1-

06

- 32 31

- cv B r i gg s Avenu e v . I ns ur anc e Co r p. of H ann over
1 UN ITED STA TES C OU RT OF AP P EA LS 2 3 F OR THE SE CO ND CI RC UI T 4 5 6 7 August Term, 2007 8 9 (Argued: Novembe r 15, 2007 Dec ided: Dec ember 16, 2008) 10 11 Docke t No. 06-3231-c v 12 13 14 15 16 BRI GGS AVENU E L .L .C., 17 18 Plaintif f-Appellant , 19 20 – v. – 21 22 I NSU RA NC E CO RPO RA TI ONOF HA NN OV ER, 23 24 Defendant- Appellee
. 25 26 27 28 Be fore : L EVAL , CALAB RESI , and WESL EY, Circuit Judges
. 29 30 Appellant asse rts that the District Court, which found that Appellee’ s disclaimer of 31 cover ag e wa s valid, err ed in dismissi ngits complaint. Following c ertification to the New Yor k 32 Court of Appea ls, the judgme nt of the District Court is AFF I RMED. 33 34 35 DANI ELJ . SCHER, S cher & Sche r, P.C., Great Neck, 36 N.Y., for Plainti ff-Appellant
. 37 38 NANCY LYNESS, W hite Fleisc hner & Fino, L L P, New 39 York, N.Y ., for Defendant- Appellee
. 40 41 42 43I CH is an I llinois corpor ation. Brigg s is a New Y ork limited liabili ty company . * -2- 1 PER

CU RIAM : 2 Brigg s Avenue L L C (“B rig g s” or “ Appellant”) appea led from the judgment of the United 3 States District Court for the Southern District of New Y ork (Ly

nch, J. ) d ism iss ingits c omp la int , 4 and

ho ldi ngthat th e Ins ur anc e Cor po ratio n o f H ann ov e r ( “ I CH ” or “ Ap pe lle e ” ) h a d v a lid ly 5 asser

ted a discla imer of c overa g e. We ce rtified a que stion to t he Ne w York Court of A ppeals. 6 Ha

vin gre c e ive d a

n a ns we r f ro m th at c ourt , w e no w a ff ir m th e jud g me nt o f t

he Di str ic t Co ur

t. 7 The fa cts of this case wer e set for th in detail in our first opinion in thi s case . See B riggs 8 Ave . LLC

v. Ins. Corp. of Hannove r , 516 F.3d 42 ( 2d Cir. 2008). Relevantly , Br igg s filed an 9 action in New

York State Supreme Court seekinga dec laratory judgme nt that I CH, its ins urer , be 10 require d to defe nd and indemnify Br igg s in a persona l injury lawsuit filed by

one of B rig g s’s 11 tenants ag ainst Br igg s. I CH removed the suit, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, t o fede ral district 12 court in the Southern District of New Y ork. * 13 Be fore the District Court, I CH moved for judgment on the pleading s and/or summary 14 judgme nt on the g round that B rig g s failed to comply with various notice r equire ments contained 15 in its i nsuranc e policy . Br igg s cross-move d for summary judgme nt. The district court grante d 16 I CH’s motion, denied Brigg s’s cross- motion, and dismi ssed the ca se with prejudice
. Briggs Ave. 17 LLC

v. Ins. Corp. of Hannove r , No. 05 Civ. 4212, 2006 W L1517606 (S.D.N.Y. May 30, 2006). 18 Brigg s appea led that dec ision. Finding that this case ra ised a que stion of state law that ha d not 19 ye t be e n a dd

re sse d b y the Ne w Y or

k Co ur t of Ap pe a ls a

nd that ha d le d to div e rg e nt o pin ion s in 20 the fe de ra l di str ic t c ourt s, we c e rt if ie d th e fo llo wi ng

qu e sti on to t he Ne w Y or

k Co ur t of Ap pe a ls: 21 “Upon a ll the fac ts of this case, g iven the ter ms of the insuranc e policy and the r eason f

or the-3- 1 insured’s f

ailure to g ive more pr ompt notice of the law suit to t he insurer , should the insurer’ s 2 disclaimer of

cover ag e be sustaine d? ” Briggs , 516 F.3d at 49-50. 3 The Ne w York Court of A ppeals a ccepted this case on c ertification. I t issued its decision 4 on November

20, 2008, see Briggs Av e. LLC v. Ins. Corp. of Hannover , N o. 16 3, 20 08 NYSlip 5 Op 09 00 4 (N. Y. Ct. Ap p. No v. 20 , 2 00 8) , a nd he ld t hat “ a lia bil ity ins ur e r i s e nti tle d to dis c la im 6 cover ag e whe n the insured, be cause of its own err or in failingto update the a ddress it had listed 7 with the Secre tary of State, did not comply

with a policy

condition requiringtimely notice of a 8 lawsuit.” Id. at *1. 9 This holding re solves the pre sent suit, in which Brig g s failed to update the addr ess it had 10 listed with the Secreta ry of State, and a s a re sult did notrec eive a summons and complaint 11 ag ainst it in t ime to notify I CH in acc ordanc e with a policy condition requiringtimely notice of a 12 lawsuit. I CH’s disclaimer of cover ag e wa s theref

ore va lidly

asser ted and uphe ld. 13 F or

the fo re g oin gre a so ns , th e jud g me nt o f t he Di str ic t Co ur

t is AF F IRM ED
.