In a June 7, 2012 decision in Arsenault v. New York State, the Appellate Division, Third Department dismissed plaintiffs’ claims (and reversed an earlier decision, which I wrote about here) arising from plaintiff’s decedent being struck and killed by falling rocks while hiking in a state park. The Court of Claims had denied summary judgment…
Read More State Not Liable for Hiker DeathIn D’Agostino v. YRC Inc. et al, 565-2011, 2012 WL 11980337 (NY Sup Ct Orange Cty May 17, 2012) – another decision in this rapidly-evolving area of the law – an Orange County trial court ordered the production of a personal injury plaintiff’s Facebook postings pertaining to her pre-incident condition. There, the court granted defendants’ request…
Read More Court Orders Production of Facebook PostsIn an idiotic article entitled “Justice for Justin” (May 31, 2012), Bill O’Reilly claims that “[w]e absolutely need tort reform in this country”. The focus of his anti-lawsuit tirade is the possibility of a lawsuit by a photographer who claims he was assaulted by Justin Bieber. O’Reilly writes: [T]he odds are that this is yet another…
Read More Celebrities and Tort LawAs summer approaches, one’s thoughts naturally turn to summer-y things, like picnics, pools, barbecues, and, maybe, fireworks. But, as we all know, fireworks (and similar devices) can be dangerous, and their use may result in serious injuries. Worse, anyone suffering such injuries may be deprived of a legal remedy under a rule recently applied by…
Read More Decision to “Light Up Some Boom Booms” Precludes Recovery in NegligenceBelow is the complaint filed by Evelyn Paswall on March 20th against Apple Inc. According to the suit, Ms. Paswall “walked directly into the clear glass doors at [the store] and fractured her nose.” The allegations pertaining to Apple’s alleged negligence are largely set forth in paragraphs 18 and 19. [scribd id=86658094 key=key-f4pibatfj6025bu0d57 mode=list]
Read More 83-Year Old Woman Sues Apple After Walking Into Store’s Glass FacadeIn a decision issued on March 15, 2012 in Ginsburg v. Cornell University et. al., 11-cv-01374, the court denied defendants’ motion for a judgment on the pleadings, permitting the lawsuit – brought by the father of a Cornell student who killed himself by jumping off the Thurston Avenue Bridge (pictured) near the Cornell campus –…
Read More Cornell Bridge Suicide Lawsuit ContinuesBelow is a copy of the complaint filed last week by the husband and child of Marion Hedges, who was injured on October 30, 2011 when struck by a shopping cart dropped from an elevated walkway of a Harlem shopping center (news regarding the recent sentencing of one of the teens involved in the incident here).…
Read More Shopping Cart Drop LawsuitIn Sacco v. City of New York (App. Div. 1 Dept. Feb. 16, 2012), an Appellate Division, First Department panel held that the trial court erred in determining, as a matter of law, that the City was not provided with sufficient notice, per NYC Administrative Code § 7-201(c)(2), of the defective condition upon which plaintiff…
Read More Inspection Report Satisfied NYC’s “Pothole Law” Notice RequirementA state appellate court recently held that the New York statute that requires certain health clubs in the State of New York to provide an automated external defibrillator (AED) device, as well as a person trained in its use, also imposes an affirmative duty of care upon said clubs so as to give rise to…
Read More “Death by Gym” Less Likely Now – Court Imposes Affirmative Duty to Use DefibrillatorThe SDNY recently held, in In re September 11 Litigation, 04-cv-7272 (Sept. 23, 2011), that the absence of duty doomed Con Edison’s negligence suit against various defendants arising from the destruction of its power station following the collapse of 7 World Trade Center on September 11, 2011. Specifically, Con Edison sued the builder and developer…
Read More SDNY Applies Palsgraf to Deny Recovery to Con Edison in 9/11-Related Litigation