In Watson v. Jade Luxury Transp. Corp., the court affirmed the trial court’s decision to set aside the jury’s verdict of no liability and to direct a new trial on the issue of liability. This car accident case illustrates the relationship of the distinct elements of “negligence” and “proximate cause” in a personal injury lawsuit. The…
Read More Jury Verdict in Car Accident Case Properly Set Aside As InconsistentIn Garrido v. Puente, the Appellate Division, Second Department held that a pedestrian was not entitled to summary judgment on liability. In this case, “[t]he plaintiff, a pedestrian crossing Bronx River Road at its intersection with Yonkers Avenue, was struck by an automobile operated and owned by the defendant, who was making a left turn…
Read More Pedestrian Not Entitled to Summary Judgment on LiabilityIn Garcia v Neighborhood Partnership Hous. Dev. Fund Co., Inc., the Appellate Division, First Department modified a lower court’s decision and held that plaintiffs were entitled to summary judgment on liability under Labor Law § 240(1), the so-called “Scaffold Law” (but not with respect to the remaining claims). The court explained the law under Labor Law §…
Read More Foreseeable Building Collapse Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiffs Under “Scaffold Law” (Labor Law § 240(1))If you see a banana peel on the stairs, don’t intentionally step on it. That’s the lesson from Betances v. 470 Audobon Ave. Corp., a recent New York Supreme Court decision. There, the plaintiff slipped on a banana peel and fell down the stairs. He sued, alleging that defendant was negligent in maintaining the staircase, and permitting…
Read More Step Away From the Banana Peel!“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” These words, attributed to Stephen Hawking, find application in various fields. They are particularly applicable to a recent New York Post article entitled “NY’s worst law helps lawyers, kills construction”. Written by Rev. Jacques DeGraff, the article attacks NY’s “Scaffold Law” – New York…
Read More The Post’s Misguided Attack on the Scaffold LawIn Auz v. Century Carpet, the Southern District of New York recently denied summary judgment to plaintiff on the issue of liability in a car accident case occurring at or near the intersection of Second Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan. “In order to establish a prima facie case of negligence under New York law,…
Read More Issues of Fact Preclude Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident CaseIn honor of Super Bowl Sunday, here’s a case involving a football-related injury. In Bocelli v. County of Nassau, plaintiff sued after he sustained injuries while playing flag football in Stillwell Woods Park. He claimed that “as he was running, he slipped and fell upon an exposed sprinkler head and sustained injuries to his left knee and…
Read More Court Permits Football-Related Injury Claims to ContinueIn Perez v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s car accident case on the ground of laches. Black’s Law Dictionary defines “laches” as the “unreasonable delay pursuing a right or claim…in a way that prejudices the [opposing] party”. The court, in a very short opinion,…
Read More Laches Results in Dismissal of 28-Year Old Car Accident CaseIn Gomez v J.C. Penny Corp., Inc., the Appellate Division, First Department reversed a denial of summary judgment for defendant J.C. Penny, and directed a judgment in defendant’s favor dismissing the complaint. In this negligence case, Plaintiff alleges that she slipped and fell on water near the bottom of an escalator going from the third to…
Read More Evidence of Inspection and No Complaints Result in Dismissal of Slip/Fall Suit Against J.C. PennyIn Humphrey v. Park View Fifth Ave. Assoc. LLC, the court modified a lower court’s order to grant plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on liability on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim, and affirmed the denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s common-law negligence and Labor Law § 200 claims. Plaintiff claimed that he…
Read More Court Holds in Favor of Injured Construction Worker on Labor Law 200 and 240(1) Claims