The Morganti Group, Inc. v. Zurich American Ins, Co.
- Lewis Liman
- 1:25-cv-03924
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In The Morganti Group v. Zurich American Ins. Co., Judge Liman approved a 90-day discovery extension while settlement discussions continued.
The order affects The Morganti Group, Inc. and Zurich American Insurance Co. by extending the case’s discovery deadlines and rescheduling the post-discovery status conference. It also gives the parties additional time while Morganti continues settlement discussions concerning J&A Concrete Corp.’s related claim.
What happened
The Morganti Group, Inc. sued Zurich American Insurance Co. over an insurance claim arising from property damage during a construction project. Morganti sought $2.6 million under a builder’s risk policy after Zurich denied its claim.
Morganti and Zurich had agreed in principle on a settlement framework, but a non-party subcontractor, J&A Concrete Corp., had a related claim under the policy. Morganti requested either a 90-day stay or a 90-day extension so it could continue settlement discussions with J&A.
The court approved the proposed 90-day extension of the discovery deadlines and rescheduled the post-discovery conference for April 7, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Judge Lewis Liman issued the order.
The detailed version
- The Morganti Group, Inc. v. Zurich American Ins, Co. · No. 1:25-cv-03924
- Lewis Liman
- Sept. 17, 2025
Background
The case is an insurance-coverage dispute arising from a construction project known as PS 138X (Bronx). The Morganti Group, Inc. was the prime contractor, and J&A Concrete Corp. was a subcontractor. Zurich American Insurance Co. provided an owner-controlled insurance program that included a first-party builder’s risk property insurance policy. Morganti was an additional insured under the policy, and the parties understood that J&A claimed to be an additional insured as well.
On July 7, 2023, J&A’s work pouring a concrete slab at the project’s roof level resulted in property damage. Morganti submitted a claim to Zurich that included a claim passed through from J&A. Zurich denied the claim based on what it contended was a policy exclusion. Morganti then filed this action seeking $2.6 million under the policy.
Request for More Time
Morganti told the court that it and Zurich had agreed in principle to a settlement framework that could resolve the action. But J&A’s related claim had not been resolved, and J&A had indicated that it might file a separate lawsuit against Zurich concerning the same policy. Morganti and J&A were continuing settlement discussions and considering mediation.
Morganti requested a 90-day stay of the action or, alternatively, a 90-day extension of the case-management and scheduling deadlines. Zurich did not object. The proposed changes extended written discovery, fact discovery, depositions, requests to admit, expert discovery, all discovery, and summary-judgment-motion deadlines by approximately 90 days.
Court’s Ruling
The court approved the 90-day extension of the discovery deadlines as proposed. It rescheduled the post-discovery status conference, previously set for January 6, 2026, to April 7, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Judge Lewis J. Liman entered the order. The opinion text does not state that the court granted the requested stay.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.