Jahn v. SH Entertainment, LLC is a slip-and-fall case decided by the First Department on May 8, 2014. The court affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff was injured when he slipped and fell on water. Generally, “[a] defendant who moves for summary judgment in a slip-and-fall case has the initial burden of…
Read More Slip/Fall Case Continues; Employees May Have Left Out Bags of IceIn Phillip v Young Men’s Christian Assn. of Greater N.Y. (a slip-and-fall case), the Appellate Division, First Department recently affirmed the lower court’s grant of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. “Defendant met its initial burden of demonstrating lack of notice of the wet condition of the locker room floor where plaintiff allegedly slipped by submitting evidence…
Read More General Awareness of Wet Condition Insufficient to Survive Summary Judgment in Slip/Fall CaseToday’s case summary comes out of the Second Department. In the illuminating decision of Conneally v. Diocese of Rockville Centre, decided April 23, 2014, the court affirmed the trial court’s denial of defendants’ motion for summary judgment. This case addresses a landowner’s duty to properly light their premises. “At about 9:00 p.m. on August 20, 2009,…
Read More Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment in Premises Liability Case Involving Alleged Inadequate LightingIn Atchison v. Metropolitan Enterprises, a recent trip-and-fall case, a Brooklyn trial court rejected defendants’ attempt to subject plaintiff to a second Independent Medical Examination (IME). They sought the second examination due to intervening events which, to put it mildly, raised questions as to the first doctor’s credibility. (Note: As a plaintiff’s lawyer, I – as…
Read More Perjury Allegation Against Medical Expert Does Not Justify Second Medical Examination of Plaintiff in Trip-and-Fall Personal Injury SuitIn Rosario v. City of New York, a trip-and-fall case, the Appellate Division, First Department reversed the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motions for a directed verdict and/or judgment notwithstanding the verdict. “To impose liability on defendant City for a defective condition of a tree well, plaintiff must show that the municipality either received prior written…
Read More Citing Lack of Prior Written Notice, Court Dismisses Tree Well Trip-and-Fall CaseIn Abott v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a directed verdict for the defendant City of New York. Plaintiff sued to recover for injuries sustained after stepping into a pothole. This scenario implicates New York City’s “Pothole Law”, codified as New York City Administrative Code § 7-201. Section 7-201(c)(2) of that statute…
Read More Repairs to Pothole Over One Year Before Accident Defeats Injury Claim Against City of New YorkIn Meyer v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s trip-and-fall personal injury suit against defendant real property owners. Defendants moved for summary judgment “on the ground that, under section 7-210 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York (hereinafter the Sidewalk Law), they were not…
Read More Court Affirms Dismissal of Sidewalk Trip-and-Fall Case Under NYC Sidewalk Law’s “Residential” ExemptionIn Arzeno v. City of New York, the Bronx Supreme Court discussed the application of the New York City Sidewalk Law – codified as New York City Administrative Code (NYCAC) § 7-210 – which generally shifts liability for sidewalk accidents from the City to abutting property owners. The court dismissed the action against the City, but…
Read More Sidewalk/Hydrant Trip-and-Fall Case Dismissed Against City, Remains Against Abutting Property OwnersIn DiLorenzo v S.I.J. Realty Co., LLC, the Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s slip-and-fall claim. There, plaintiff sued the owner of the property where she fell, as well as the company which contracted to provide cleaning services at the premises. Generally: A plaintiff’s inability to identify the cause of her fall is…
Read More Failure to Identify Cause of Fall Dooms Slip-and-Fall CaseA recent First Department decision, Abott v. City of New York, holds that the trial court properly dismissed plaintiff’s trip-and-fall complaint: The court properly directed a verdict for defendant City, as there was no rational process that would lead the trier of fact to find for plaintiff, who was injured after stepping into a pothole.…
Read More Pothole Injury Case Dismissed in Light of Prior Repairs