Orlando Soto Arevalo v. Darla Enterprises, LLC

── Orlando Soto Arevalo v. Darla Enterprises, LLC ── Court: New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division Date: May 14, 2026 Category: General NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court ." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited . R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-2748-24 ORLANDO SOTO AREVALO, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DARLA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Defendant, and ROYAL RESTORATION AND CONSTRUCTION, LLC, Defendant-Respondent. UTICA FIRST INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. ORLANDO SOTO AREVALO, Defendant-Appellant, and DARLA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Defendant, and ROYAL RESTORATION AND CONSTRUCTION, LLC, Defendant-Respondent. __________________________ Submitted April 23, 2026 – Decided May 14, 2026 Before Judges Mawla and Marczyk. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, Docket No. L-5047-22. Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd, LLP, attorneys for appellant (Robert J. Ciampaglio, Jr., on the brief). Farber Brocks & Zane LLP, attorneys for respondent Utica First Insurance Company (David J. Bloch, on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Orlando Soto Arevalo appeals from an April 29, 2024 order granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiff Utica First Insurance Company (Utica) finding Utica had no duty to indemnify "any claims involving . . . A-2748-24 2 Arevalo" and "owes no coverage obligations" relative to any claim involving him.1 We affirm. I. Arevalo was an employee of defendant Royal Restoration and Construction, LLC's (Royal) subcontractor, MJM Contracting Services, LLC. On September 23, 2020, he was working on a residential construction site, assisting in the demolition of a home. As part of the demolition process, he was tasked with removing the home's roof. While Arevalo was working on the roof, a piece of wood on which he was standing broke, causing him to lose his balance and fall, resulting in injuries. In December 2020, Arevalo filed a complaint, Docket No. L-8835-20, against Darla Enterprises, LLC (Darla) 2 and Royal, asserting claims of negligence based upon alleged violations of construction safety standards. The parties proceeded with discovery in that action. Meanwhile, Royal sought coverage for Arevalo's lawsuit under its commercial insurance policy with Utica. In August 2022, Utica filed a 1 Arevalo was the plaintiff in the underlying personal injury action, which was consolidated with the declaratory judgment action, where Utica was the plaintiff and Arevalo was the defendant. Utica was not a party in the underlying action. 2 Darla was later dismissed on summary judgment. A-2748-24 3 declaratory action, Docket No. L-5047-22, against Arevalo, Royal, and Darla, disclaiming coverage for Royal, citing a "Roofing Operation Specific Exclusion Endorsement" (Roofing Exclusion) in the policy. The Roofing Exclusion provides: It is hereby understood and agreed that such insurance as is afforded by Coverage L – Bodily Injury Liability and Property Damage Liability and Coverage N – Products/Completed Work does not apply to Bodily Injury, Property Damage, Products or Completed Work arising out of any Roofing Operations.