“New Jersey Appellate Court Rules Judgment Creditor Not Subject to Mandatory Arbitration Provision in Insurer’s Policy”

Goldberg Segalla attorneys Christian A. Cavallo, Marci Goldstein Kokalas, David L. Brown and Jeffrey L. Kingsley have authored this article, available at Lexology, discussing the New Jersey Appellate Division’s decision in Crystal Point Condo. Assoc., Inc. v. Kinsale Insurance Co., ruling that a condominium association seeking to recover a default judgment obtained against insureds under an architects and engineers professional liability policy, could sue the insurer directly without being subject to the arbitration provision contained in the policy. Acknowledging that the condominium association was a third party beneficiary, the court nonetheless held that it was not required to arbitrate because the insurer failed to attempt to resolve the coverage dispute directly with the association, instead requiring it to prosecute the coverage claims.