The City has recently moved to strike plaintiff Dominique Sharpton’s personal injury/pothole trip/fall complaint, based on her failure to appear for her deposition despite multiple adjournments.
Read More City Moves to Strike Dominique Sharpton’s Slip/Fall Complaint For Failure to Appear for DepositionIn Quintavalle v. Perez, 2016 NY Slip Op 03126 (App. Div. 1st Dept. April 26, 2016) (a car accident/pedestrian knockdown case) the court held that a pedestrian struck from behind was, as a matter of law, not comparatively negligent (for failing to notice an avoid a vehicle that struck him from behind) and entitled to summary judgment…
Read More Hit-From-Behind Pedestrian Entitled to Summary Judgment in Car Accident CaseIn Lee v. New York City Tr. Auth., 2016 NY Slip Op 03086 (App. Div. 1st Dept. April 21, 2016) – a slip-and-fall case – the court reversed a lower court order granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment. From the decision: Plaintiff seeks damages for injuries she sustained when she slipped and fell on a banana…
Read More Subway Banana Slip-and-Fall Case ContinuesIn 1992, Stella Liebeck suffered significant burn injuries after spilling McDonald’s coffee on herself. She sued, and eventually received compensation. Much has been written about the case; a 2011 movie, “Hot Coffee“, focused on the extent to which the public’s largely unfavorable perception of the case and Ms. Liebeck was based on a significant and pervasive…
Read More John Kasich, Tort Reform, and Hot CoffeeIn Ocana v. Quasar Realty Partners L.P., 2016 NY Slip Op 01902 (App. Div. 1st Dept. March 17, 2016), the court unanimously affirmed an order granting plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment on the issue of liability on his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action. From the decision: Plaintiff made a prima facie showing of his…
Read More Wobbly Ladder Leads to Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Labor Law 240(1) Construction Accident CaseLawyers in general, and plaintiffs’ lawyers in particular, serve a vital societal function. Their work has resulted in, to name just a few examples, the proliferation of civil rights, safer products, and safer business practices in general. As a plaintiffs’ lawyer, I am proud to be a part of, and contribute to, that process. Yet, plaintiffs’…
Read More Are All Lawyers Liars?In Kearney v Papish, 2016 NY Slip Op 00697 (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Feb. 3, 2016), a medical malpractice action, the court affirmed the denial of a motion to set aside a defense verdict. This decision is instructive as to when an expert has deemed material “authoritative” such that they may be confronted with it on…
Read More Medical Text Properly Used During Cross-Examination; Court Rejects Purported “Semantic Trick” as to the “Authoritative” Status of WorkThe First Department’s recent decision in Rios v 1146 Ogden LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 01420 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 25, 2016) illustrates one way in which a plaintiff injured on someone’s property can overcome summary judgment. There, the plaintiff alleged that she was injured “when she was caused to fall in the bathroom of her…
Read More Complaints to Live-In Super Sufficient Evidence of Notice to Overcome Summary Judgment in Apartment Tile Injury CaseIn Saffaf v Lincoln Ctr. for the Performing Arts, 2016 NY Slip Op 30312(U) (Sup Ct NY Cty Feb. 23, 2016), plaintiff alleged that he was injured while inside the Metropolitan Opera House (leased from owner Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts) when he slipped and fell when descending stairs located on the orchestral level. Lincoln…
Read More Lease Not Dispositive in Lincoln Center Slip/Fall CaseIn Sangaray v West Riv. Assoc., LLC, 2016 NY Slip Op 01002 (N.Y. Ct. App. Feb. 11, 2016), New York’s highest court interpreted NYC Administrative Code 7-210, which (generally speaking) shifts liability from the city to the owners of abutting property. The court held that summary judgment should not have been granted in favor of defendant property…
Read More Location of Alleged Defect Alone Does Not Dictate Liability in Sidewalk Defect Trip/Fall Case, Court of Appeals Holds