Snowy entrance to 8th Street subway station
In Mable v. 384 East Associates, LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 06442, 2019 WL 4146514 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 3, 2019) – an elevator accident case – the court reversed a grant of summary judgment for defendant. In this case, plaintiff asserts that he was injured when an elevator door closed on his right…
Read More Elevator Personal Injury Case Survives Summary Judgment
Pospis Law, PLLC logo and address
In Cruz v. Perspolis Realty LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 01531 (App. Div. 1st Dept. March 5, 2019) – a slip-and-fall case – the court reversed the lower court’s order granting summary judgment to defendants. The court explained: Triable issues of fact exist in this action where plaintiff was injured when, while descending the interior…
Read More Ice Cream Slip/Fall Case Survives Summary Judgment
Starbucks cup beside clear tip box
In Hobbs v. New York City Hous. Auth., 2019 NY Slip Op 00686 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Jan. 31, 2019) – a personal injury slip-and-fall case – the court unanimously affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. In this case, plaintiff alleges that they slipped on urine in an elevator in one of…
Read More Elevator Urine Slip/Fall Case Overcomes Summary Judgment
Person in navy suit and red bow tie
In Sager v. Waldo Gardens, Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 07359 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Nov. 1, 2018) – a personal injury slip-and-fall case – the court affirmed the lower court’s denial of summary judgment to the defendant. The outcome, like so many cases of this type, turned on the often difficult-to-prove issue of constructive notice. From…
Read More Slip/Fall Case Survives Summary Judgment; Court Cites Porter’s Failure to Mop the Area Despite Noticing it Was Wet
Manhattan skyline at sunrise
In Correa v. Matsias, 2017 WL 4159254 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. Sept. 20, 2017), a ceiling-collapse personal injury case, the court held that plaintiff could not employ the doctrine of “res ipsa loquitur” at trial. That doctrine, explained the court, is a rule of evidence that permits an inference of negligence to be drawn solely from…
Read More “Res Ipsa Loquitur” Doctrine Held Inapplicable in Ceiling-Collapse Personal Injury Case, But Complaints to Superintendent Demonstrated Notice Sufficient to Overcome Summary Judgment
Man signing document surrounded by observers
One frequently-occurring personal injury case is the so-called “slip-and-fall” case, which in turn is a species of “premises liability” claims. One court[1]Decker v. Middletown Walmart Supercenter Store, No. 15 CIV. 2886 (JCM), 2017 WL 568761 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 10, 2017) recently summarized the law as follows: In New York, [t]o establish a prima facie case of…
Read More Surviving Summary Judgment in a Slip-and-Fall Premises Liability Case
Person in suit with rainbow bow tie
In Chojnacki v. Old Westbury Gardens, Inc., 2017 NY Slip Op 05706, 2017 WL 3045841 (App. Div. 2d Dept. July 19, 2017), the court reversed a lower court’s finding that the alleged defect that caused plaintiff to fall – a raised brick – was “trivial” as a matter of law. From the decision:: The Supreme Court…
Read More Trip/Fall Case Survives Summary Judgment; Raised Brick Was Not a “Trivial Defect” as a Matter of Law
Green stylized overlapping P and L logo
In Lebron v. 142 S 9, LLC, 151 A.D.3d 835, 54 N.Y.S.3d 679, 680 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. June 14, 2017), the Second Department affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s personal injury slip-and-fall case. Here, plaintiff alleged that she was injured when she slipped and fell on…
Read More Slip/Fall Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment; Defendants Did Not Submit Evidence Regarding Specific Cleaning
Pospis Law PLLC logo with phone number
In Andersen v. El Triunfo Laundromat Corp., 54 N.Y.S.3d 166, 167–68 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. 2017), the court affirmed the denial of summary judgment to defendant in plaintiff’s slip-and-fall case. Plaintiff alleged that they slipped and fell due to the presence of a foreign substance on the floor of defendant’s premises. Summarizing the (familiar, now…
Read More Slip/Fall Plaintiff Survives Summary Judgment in Light of Fact Issue as to Constructive Notice
Two superheroes fighting above city skyline
In Jeremias v. Lake Forest Estates, No. 2015-08003, 2017 WL 424673 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dept. Feb. 1, 2017), a personal injury slip/trip-and-fall case, the court affirmed the lower court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment. The law, as summarized by the court: A defendant moving for summary judgment in a slip-and-fall case has the…
Read More Testimony About General Cleaning Practices Insufficient to Establish Summary Judgment for Defendant in Slip/Fall Personal Injury Case