| Volume 143 Number 54 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Many of us are paying close attention to the guidance from federal, state, and local governments during this COVID-19 health emergency. Unfortunately, scammers are also paying attention. Some are even pretending to be affiliated with the government – just to scam you out of money. Click here for more.
New cars and homes both have increased in price during the pandemic
The two most expensive things the average consumer ever buys -- a house and a new car -- continued to get more expensive during the shutdown, even though the sales volume for both plummeted.
With most consumers starting to be confined to their homes in March, traffic and home showings were down considerably. Most new car dealerships were closed for all of April and most of May, so any sales were limited to online transactions. But that didn’t keep prices from going up.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which track U.S. home prices, show that home prices continue to increase at a modest 4.4 percent rate in all areas of the U.S. during March as state after state ordered residents to stay inside. Click here for more.
Your Money
Millions of Americans have received economic impact payments, or stimulus checks, via direct deposit in their bank accounts. Now, nearly 4 million Americans are being sent stimulus checks by prepaid debit card instead of paper check, according to the Internal Revenue Service.Wondering how to manage these economic impact payment cards, avoid fees and get your cash? Here are answers to common questions, including: Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Court awards prejudgment interest for the period before and after an arbitration award, despite the panel’s prior refusal to award interest. An arbitration panel found that TIG owed Exxon the full $25 million policy limit. Exxon asked the panel to award more than $6 million of prejudgment interest running from the date of breach. The panel refused, finding that the arbitration agreement did not allow it to award prejudgment interest. Exxon then asked a federal court to confirm the panel’s award and to order TIG to pay prejudgment interest. Exxon asked for prejudgment interest from the date of breach until the date of the arbitration panel’s award and the date of the arbitration panel’s award until the date of the court’s order confirming the panel’s award. The Court granted that request. For interest from the date of breach until the panel’s award, the court found it could consider the issue given that the panel found it was without jurisdiction to do so. While the arbitration provision in the parties’ contract did not permit the panel to award prejudgment interest, that provision did not bar the court from awarding prejudgment interest. Thus, the Court awarded prejudgment interest from the date of breach until the date of the panel award and from the date of the panel award until the date of the court’s order. As the court explained, to decline the imposition of interest would embolden parties, like insurers, to wrongfully withhold payment with no material repercussion. ExxonMobil Oil Corp. v. TIG Ins. Co., No. 16-cv-9527 (S.D.N.Y. May 18, 2020). Click here for more.