Recent Issues in Collateral Estoppel

Publication Source: New York Law Journal

Recent cases in the state courts in Nassau and Suffolk counties, as well as in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, have addressed evolving issues concerning the doctrine of collateral estoppel.

One issue is the extent to which criminal convictions may be used to bar a convicted defendant from relitigating issues in a subsequent civil proceeding arising from the same criminal conduct. Another is whether the courts will collaterally estop a party from relitigating issues where the prior judgment is the subject of a pending yet undecided appeal.

In Crum & Foster Insurance Co. v. Goodmark Industries Inc., 488 F.Supp.2d 241 (E.D.N.Y. 2007), Eastern District Judge Arthur D. Spatt was faced with a motion by third-party defendants to dismiss a third-party complaint asserted by defendants who had been previously convicted of fraud in connection with submitting false insurance claims.

In the main action, the insurance company that had paid the insurance claims to defendants sought the return of such proceeds because the claims were fraudulently submitted. The defendants were convicted of various federal mail and wire fraud counts as well as money laundering based on the underlying scheme to defraud the insurance company by submitting fraudulent claims for losses sustained as a result of a series of fires that occurred at the defendants' premises.

Read the full article here.

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Kevin Schlosser is a Shareholder and Chair of the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Department at Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein, P.C. He handles complex commercial litigation, is on the Roster of the AAA National Panel of Commercial Arbitrators, serves as outside general corporate counsel, and is author of the New York Fraud Claims Blog, www.nyfraudclaims.com.

Reprinted with permission by the New York Law Journal.