Court: NY App. Div. Dept. 1

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In Swift v. New York Transit Authority, the Appellate Division, First Department modified the trial court’s order to deny defendant’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss plaintiff’s claims of “permanent consequential and significant limitations in use of the knees and a 90/180-day injury.” In order to proceed in court, plaintiff was required to present evidence…

Read More Plaintiff Raises Triable Issue of Fact that Knee Injury Was a “Serious Injury” Under Insurance Law 5102(d)
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In Johnson v. KS Transportation, a car accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department modified a summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that plaintiff did not suffer a “serious injury” within the meaning of Insurance Law § 5102(d). Section 5104(a) of New York’s No-Fault Law provides, in pertinent part, that “in any action by or…

Read More Fact Issue as to Whether Knee Injury Meets “Serious Injury” Threshold Precludes Summary Judgment for Defendant in Car Accident Case
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A 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
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Recently an appellate court affirmed a trial court’s denial of a defendant’s motion for spoliation sanctions in a bicycle-related personal injury action. Here are the facts in Carlos v. Castillo, decided February 27, 2014: On January 26, 2009, plaintiff commenced this action seeking damages for injuries sustained on September 5, 2008, when, while riding a…

Read More Disposal of Bicycle Involved in Accident Did Not Give Rise to Spoliation Sanctions
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In Cocco v. City of New York, the Appellate Division, First Department yesterday affirmed the dismissal of a personal injury lawsuit arising from an errant baseball striking the plaintiff. “[P]laintiff alleges that she was walking on the sidewalk, heading south on Lexington Avenue between 96th and 95th Streets, when a baseball coming from a schoolyard, owned…

Read More Baseball to Face But Sadly No Case
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I’ve spent many Saturdays wandering around Barnes & Noble bookstores. Years ago I would frequent the Astor Place store; after it closed my go-to location became the Union Square store. That was my awkward segue into today’s post, about a slip-and-fall case against the behemoth bookseller. The accident in this case, Seleman v. Barnes & Noble, occurred…

Read More Escalator Slip/Fall Case Against Barnes & Noble Continues
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Imagine your car is stolen. Then imagine getting sued after the thief strikes someone with your stolen car. While this sounds made up – a subplot of a bad comedy, perhaps – it happened to Christopher Bivens. Fortunately for him, the allegations against him were (eventually) dismissed. The case is Alvarez v. Bivens, decided today by the…

Read More Court Affirms Dismissal of Claims Against Owner of Stolen Truck Used in Accident
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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 Inconsistent
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In Quinones v. Cornell Univ, 2014 NY Slip Op 00882 [114 AD3d 472] (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 11, 2014), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a decision by New York Supreme Court Judge Shlomo Hagler to disallow an untimely motion for summary judgment by defendant. Plaintiff sued Cornell alleging employment discrimination based upon national origin and…

Read More Employment Discrimination Defendant Denied Opportunity to File Untimely Summary Judgment Motion
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In 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))
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