Personal Injury

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In Hermitage Ins. Co. v. Beer-Bros, Inc. of NYC (a personal injury/premises liability case), the Supreme Court, NY County (in an opinion by Judge Braun) held in a decision dated May 12, 2015 that a bar/restaurant’s insurer was not obligated to defend or indemnify the bar under the “assault and battery” exclusion in the applicable insurance policy.…

Read More “Assault and Battery” Insurance Policy Exclusion Applies Where Bystander Was Injured by Bar’s Bouncer
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In Strojek v. 33 E. 70th St. Corp. (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 14, 2015), a personal injury / construction accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed partial summary judgment on the issue of liabilty for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action. The court held: Plaintiff established his entitlement to judgment as a matter of…

Read More Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Plaintiff, Who Fell From Baker’s Scaffold, on Labor Law § 240 Claim
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A recent case, Gonzalez v. City of New York (decided by the Supreme Court, Queens County on May 4, 2015) represents yet another example of why parties to litigation – or persons who contemplate being a party to litigation – should refrain from posting on social media anything whatsoever concerning their claims. In this personal injury case,…

Read More Court Orders In Camera Inspection of Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Social Media Postings
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In Ward v. Urban Horizons II Hous. Dev. Fund Corp. (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. May 7, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed summary judgment for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim. Here are the facts of this personal injury/construction accident case: Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit seeking to recover for personal injuries sustained on July…

Read More Coworker Was “Looking at Girls” Instead of Ladder-Fall Plaintiff; Summary Judgment for Plaintiff on Labor Law 240(1)/Ladder Fall Claim Affirmed
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Under New York’s “No Fault” automobile insurance system, first-party no-fault insurance benefits are not available to “occupants” of a motorcycle. But what exactly does it mean to be a motorcycle “occupant”? Consider, for example, the following accident scenario: a motorcycle passenger is ejected from her motorcycle, the motorcycle becomes airborne, and then lands on the…

Read More Ejected Motorcycle Passenger Was “Occupying” the Bike and Hence Not Entitled to First-Party Benefits Under New York’s No-Fault System
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In her personal injury lawsuit captioned Brouillette v. Lisa Kistermann et al. and filed in New York Supreme Court on May 4, 2015, plaintiff Robin Brouillette alleges that on March 25, 2015, defendants Lisa Kistermann and Jessica Kistermann caused her “to be precipitated down a set of stairs” and suffer injuries.

Read More Injury Lawsuit by Robin Brouillette Against Lisa and Jessica Kistermann
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In Palladino v. City of New York (App. Div. 2nd Dept. April 1, 2015), the court affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s trip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that she was injured when she “tripped on a depression in the asphalt surface abutting a metal plate which covered a valve box that served a nearby fire hydrant.” The…

Read More Trip/Fall Case Dismissed; Half-Inch Deep Depression Was “Trivial” as a Matter of Law
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In Moriarty v. Lenox Terrace Development Associates (NY Sup. Ct. 3/24/15), the plaintiff sought to recover for injuries she sustained after tripping and falling upon exiting a misleveled elevator in her building. She relied, in part, on the theory of “res ipsa loquitur”. The court explained that, in order to invoke that doctrine, a plaintiff…

Read More Elevator Misleveling Trip-and-Fall Case Proceeds to Trial on Res Ipsa Loquitur Theory
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In Connolly v. 129 East 69th St. Corp., a personal injury trip-and-fall case, one defendant moved for summary judgment to dismiss plaintiff’s case. The Supreme Court granted the motion. The Appellate Division, however, reversed that decision, finding that the defendant filed its motion one day after the motion filing deadline: Supreme Court’s individual part rules…

Read More Summary Judgment Motion Filed One Day Late Deemed Untimely in Personal Injury Case
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