So-called slip-and-fall cases, a species of “premises liability” cases, are deceptively easy/straightforward. Some may believe that if a person slips and falls on a foreign substance (e.g., water), the owner of the property is automatically liable. Not so. In Parietti v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op 04923 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June…
Read More Slip/Fall Case Dismissed Against WalmartCeiling-collapse cases are one type of “premises liability” personal injury case. Generally, a landowner has an obligation to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition. In Lozano v. Mt. Hope Place Props., Inc., 2016 NY Slip Op 05545 (App. Div. 1st Dept. July 14, 2016), a ceiling-collapse case, the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s…
Read More Ceiling Collapse Personal Injury Case Dismissal AffirmedIn Oluwatayo v. Dulinayan, 2016 NY Slip Op 05455 (App. Div. 1st Dept. July 7, 2016), the court clarified the distinction – in the context of a rear-end car accident case – between (i) plaintiff’s freedom of culpability and (ii) defendants’ alleged negligence. Here, plaintiff was entitled to summary judgment as to (i), but not as…
Read More “Innocent” Rear-Ended Plaintiff Entitled to Summary Judgment as to His Lack of Culpable Conduct, But Not With Respect to Defendants’ NegligenceIn Abboud v. Pawelec, 2016 NY Slip Op 05448 (App. Div. 1st Dept. July 7, 2016), a personal injury/car accident case, the court unanimously affirmed summary judgment for plaintiff. The court explained: Plaintiff established her entitlement to judgment as a matter of law on the issue of liability, in this action where plaintiff’s vehicle collided with the…
Read More Negligent Left Turn Results in Summary Judgment for Car Accident PlaintiffToday, July 4th, is a federal holiday – also known (here, anyway) as Independence Day – commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 by the Continental Congress declaring that the 13 original American colonies considered themselves a new nation (the United States of America) and no longer part of the British…
Read More Have a Happy Fourth of July – Just Be CarefulIn Brothers. v. 574 9th Ave. Rest. Corp., No. 1458, 2016 WL 3341787 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. June 16, 2016), a slip-and-fall case, the court affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. From the decision: The testimony of defendant bar proprietor that he personally inspected the bathrooms and areas outside the bathrooms, just…
Read More Slip/Trip and Fall on Water/Debris Case Survives Summary JudgmentIn Ingram v. Life Fitness, 2016 NY Slip Op 05085 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 28, 2016), the court reversed a denial of summary judgment to defendants, and directed the clerk to enter judgment dismissing the complaint. In her complaint, plaintiff alleged that, while she was attempting to step on a treadmill – identified in the…
Read More Treadmill Injury Claim Dismissed; Plaintiff Assumed the RiskIn Mero v. Vuksanovic, 2016 NY Slip Op 05025 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 23, 2016), the court modified a lower court order to reinstate plaintiff’s allegations concerning defendants’ failure to install smoke detectors. This case concerns the application of NYC Administrative Code § 27-2045, which pertains to the duties of the owner and occupant with respect to…
Read More Wrongful Death Action, Based on Failure to Install Smoke Detectors, ContinuesIn Sada v August Wilson Theater, 2016 NY Slip Op 05024 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 23, 2016) – a personal injury/premises liability/slip-and-fall case – the court unanimously affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. From the Order: Plaintiff alleges that as he was returning to a show at defendant August Wilson Theater after having…
Read More Slip/Fall on Wet Staircase; Plaintiff Survives Summary JudgmentToday I appeared in Bronx Supreme Court on behalf of a plaintiff in a personal injury (trip-and-fall) case. The defendant had made a motion to strike the case from the trial calendar (due, in part, to its claim that plaintiff still owed it discovery) and to change the venue to another (less plaintiff-friendly) county. I was…
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