The lecture will open with a brief synopsis of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the New York business closures adopted by Governor Cuomos decrees, inter alia, banning non-essential businesses and travel, as well as public gatherings to combat the spread of the contagion. I will then discuss how these widespread governmentally mandated business closures in the wake of COVID-19 caused severe economic disaster, including a brief discussion comparing the eerily similar government regulations enacted by New York a century ago to stop the transmission of the 1918 Spanish Flu. The main body of the lecture will revolve around an analysis of future COVID-19 force majeure cases in support of nonperformance under commercial contracts and business interruption claims. This will include a discussion on the role of the courts in determining these substantive issues in the event that the Legislature fails to step in to provide clarity. Since the resolution of these legal issues depend on the language of the contract, I will discuss the prevailing case law on the interpretation/enforcement of commercial contracts and insurance policies, along with a comparison of coverage decisions stemming from other “acts of God (e.g. Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, etc.).