Thursday, December 11, 2014

HURRICANE SANDY LITIGATION: NEW JERSEY CHIEF JUDGE ASKS THE INSURERS AND FEMA TO RELEASE ALL DRAFT AND FINAL ENGINEERING REPORTS



 HURRICANE SANDY LITIGATION:  NEW JERSEY CHIEF JUDGE ASKS THE INSURERS AND FEMA TO RELEASE ALL DRAFT AND FINAL ENGINEERING REPORTS


Few weeks ago, federal judges in the District of New York had ordered the release of all draft engineering reports to the plaintiffs.  Here is that blog:



NEW YORK JUDGE ORDERS THE DISCLOSURE OF ALL DRAFTS, REDLINES, ETC REPORTS IN RE SUPER STORM SANDY LITIGATION




 On the basis of that decision, the New Jersey courts also request that these draft reports are also be released to the Plaintiffs.  Here is the letter from Chief Judge Simandle regarding that issue.





CHAMBERS OF Jerome b. simandle

chief judge

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

UNITED STATES COURTHOUSE

ONE JOHN F. GERRY PLAZA

P.O. BOX 2797 CAMDEN, NJ 08101

(856) 757-5167



December 11, 2014



Gerald J. Nielsen, Esq.

NIELSEN, CARTER & TREAS, LLC

3838 North Causeway Boulevard, Ste. 2850

Metairie, LA  70002



James M. Williams, Esq.

GAUTHIER HOUGHTALING & WILLIAMS

3500 North Hullen Street Metairie, LA  70002



William F. Merlin, Jr., Esq.

Robert T. Trautmann, Esq.

Charles R. Mathis, IV, Esq.

MERLIN LAW GROUP, PA

125 Half Mile Road,

Suite 200

Red Bank, NJ  07701



Christopher W. Gerold, Esq.

WOLFF SAMSON PC

One Boland Drive

West Orange, NJ  07052



Jared T. Greisman, Esq.

WHITE FLEISCHNER & FINO, LLP

61 Broadway

New York, NY  10006



David F. Swerdlow, Esq.

WINDELS MARX LANE & MITTENDORF, LLP

120 Albany Street Plaza, 6th Floor

New Brunswick, NJ  08901



Eric M. Hurwitz, Esq.

Ellen Rosen Rogoff, Esq.

STRADLEY RONON STEVENS & YOUNG, LLP

457 Haddonfield Road, Suite 100

Cherry Hill, NJ  08002-2223







Re:   Letters to Hurricane Sandy Litigation Committee




Dear Counsel:



Thank you for your recent letters to the Hurricane Sandy Litigation Committee of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey pertaining to issues related to Judge Brown's decision in Raimey v. Wright National Flood Insurance Co. in the Eastern District of New York. The Committee has discussed these matters and does not see a need for district-wide action at this time.  The letter of December 5, 2014 from FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate, requiring, among other things, that all draft and final engineering reports evaluating flood loss claims be made available to policyholders and their counsel for the sake of transparency, resolves this matter.   

The Committee expects that FEMA and all WYO carriers and their counsel will promptly obtain and turn over all such documents to plaintiffs' counsel without the necessity for further court intervention.  Judges in individual cases will have the opportunity to take appropriate action if such compliance is not forthcoming, or to address unique factors in a particular case.



All counsel are reminded that full compliance is required with all discovery obligations in Sandy Litigation, by plaintiffs and defendants alike, in a timely fashion, as set forth in Case Management Order No. 1 and in any other Orders of the Court.





Very Truly Yours,

JEROME B. SIMANDLE
CHIEF U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE

CC:   Members of the Hurricane Sandy Litigation Committee
        AUSA Paul Blaine, Chief, Civil Division