Personal Injury

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth… more. A recent decision, Franco v. Palmer (Supreme Court, Queens County, decided December 1, 2014), illustrates the significant benefits of video evidence in a car accident case. The court granted summary judgment to the plaintiff, finding that a surveillance video of an…

Read More Video Surveillance Tape Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident Case
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In Powers v. 31 E 31 LLC, 2014 NY Slip Op 07084, 24 NY3d 84 (Ct. App. Oct. 21, 2014), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint. I had previously written about the Court of Appeals’ October 21, 2014 decision in plaintiff’s favor on various…

Read More Case Arising From Plaintiff’s Fall Down Air Shaft Continues
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According to recent reports, motorcyclist Miguel Mercado was killed after being thrown from his motorcycle and struck by an oncoming vehicle on the Henry Hudson Parkway. One source, citing police reports, reported: Miguel Mercado, 44, of The Bronx, was traveling southbound in the left-hand lane about 9 p.m. Saturday when he hit the highway’s center…

Read More Fatal Motorcycle Accident on Henry Hudson Parkway
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A recent First Department decision, Kim v. Harry Hanson, Inc., illustrates the effectiveness – or, in this case, the lack thereof – of a release in a personal injury case that purports to limit an alleged tortfeasor’s liability. In Kim, Plaintiff sustained injuries while engaged in a personal training program, under a trainer’s supervision and instruction,…

Read More Release Does Not Bar Personal Injury Case Against Gym
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Here is the lawsuit, recently filed by Georgina Spence, against Insomnia Cookies and its deliveryman Keith Moody. The suit alleges, inter alia: That on November 3, 2014 plaintiff Georgina Spence was violently contacted by defendant’s employee Keith Moody without cause, provocation or justification while in the course of his employment as an employee of defendant Insomnia…

Read More $10M Lawsuit Against Insomnia Cookies for Alleged Attack by Deliveryman
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In a “typical” car accident case – i.e., one involving a collision of two cars driven by private operators – the issue is whether one of the drivers (the defendant) was “negligent”. However, as illustrated by the Court of Appeals case of Frezzell v. City of New York (decided 11/20/14) in a case where the defendant…

Read More Court of Appeals Explains the “Privilege” Enjoyed by Emergency Vehicle Drivers in Personal Injury Cases
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In James v. Terrace Tavern, LLC, an upstate trial court dismissed plaintiff’s Dram Shop Act and negligence claims against defendant bar. In November 2011, Defendant Robert McKenzie shot plaintiff Donovan James. Prior to the shooting, McKenzie was sitting in defendant’s bar. Plaintiff sued under, inter alia, the Dram Shop Act, codified at General Obligations Law §…

Read More Court Dismisses Dram Shop Act and Negligence Claims in “Bar Shooting” Personal Injury Case
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