Insurer's Obligation to Pay for Defense Until Final Judgment Ends When Beneficiary is Sentenced

On June 23, 2015, the First Department issued a decision in Dupree v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 2015 NY Slip Op. 05405, holding that an insurer's obligation to pay for a corporate officer's defense ended when the officer was convicted, explaining that "[i]n the context of a criminal prosecution, it is well settled that the imposition of the sentence constitutes the final judgment against the accused" and because the policy required defense only until a final judgment was rendered, the conviction ended the obligation to pay for the defense.