Introduction
Today we look at Stern v. Lavoott Bluestone, ___ N.Y. 2d ___, slip op. (June 11, 2009), a New York Court of Appeals decision that has nothing to do with either reinsurance or arbitration law. Before you conclude that we’ve finally lost our marbles, let us explain: The decision is of critical importance to all reinsurance and arbitration attorneys subject to attorney advertising restrictions — indeed, it is important to all attorneys subject to those restrictions. The Court held that an attorney’s newsletter that was purely informational in content was not an “unsolicited advertisement” for the purposes of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), 47 U.S.C. § 227, as added by Pub. L. 102-243, 105 U.S. Stat. 2394, which prohibits the dissemination of such advertisements by facsimile. Continue Reading »
