Recently Adopted Child Victims Act: Insurance Issues (2019)

On February 14, the Governor signed the Child Victims Act into law. It makes three major changes to the existing law: 

• It extends the New York statute of limitation for criminal charges against child sexual abusers until the victims become 28 years of age, up five years from the current 23;
• Permits child abuse victims to bring civil lawsuits against any sex abuser or any institution responsible for that abuse until the victim turns 55 years of age;
• Creates a one-year window to allow victims to bring civil actions, commencing August 14, no matter when the abuse occurred. 

Religious and educational institutions, scout troops and leader and even individuals are subject to these new changes. Insurance companies are facing challenges in finding long-forgotten insurance policies and timely responding to notice of occurrence, claim and lawsuit. This presentation, which focuses on practice issues from a practical point-of-view, will speak to the substance of the act and provide a review of the unique and somewhat unprecedented insurance challenges facing liability insurers who need to respond to claims.  

Speaker:

Dan D. Kohane, Esq., Hurwitz & Fine, PC | Buffalo