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Hertz Vehs., LLC v. Cepeda
Citations: 2017 NY Slip Op 8603; 156 A.D.3d 440; 64 N.Y.S.3d 529; 2017 WL 6043655Docket: 5151 154319/15
Court: Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York; December 6, 2017; New York; State Appellate Court
Original Court Document: View Document
Hertz Vehicles, LLC initiated a declaratory judgment action against Dariel Cepeda and others, including Innovative Health Chiropractic, P.C. The Appellate Division affirmed the Supreme Court's order denying Innovative's request for attorneys' fees. Innovative contended that, as an assignee of the no-fault claimants who received medical treatment, it was entitled to recover attorneys' fees for successfully defending itself in the action. The court ruled this argument lacked merit, highlighting that attorneys' fees are recoverable for an insured successfully defending against an insurer's declaratory judgment action. However, Innovative was not an insured party entitled to such defenses, as the claimants merely held rights to no-fault benefits and were not owed a duty of defense by Hertz. The decision reaffirmed that the obligations of an insurer to defend extend only to insured parties, not to assignees of the claimants. The ruling was finalized on December 7, 2017.