One of the most serious types of car accidents is the so-called “pedestrian knockdown” case, in which a motor vehicle hits a pedestrian. Unsurprisingly and for obvious reasons, in the “car v. pedestrian” scenario, the pedestrian is at significantly greater risk. In Zhu v. Natale (App. Div. 2nd Dept. 8/19/15), plaintiff was walking in a crosswalk…
Read More Pedestrian Wins on Liability in Auto Accident Knockdown CaseIn Castiglione v. Kruse – a personal injury/car accident/pedestrian knockdown case – the Appellate Division, Second Department reversed the lower court and granted the injured pedestrian-plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of liability. The injured plaintiff was struck by defendants’ vehicle, which was making a left turn from Keith Lane to proceed eastbound on…
Read More Plaintiff Wins Summary Judgment in Pedestrian Knockdown CaseIn Levin v. Mercedes-Benz Manhattan, Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op 06025 (App. Div. 1 Dept. July 9, 2015), a personal injury case, the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed a summary judgment for plaintiff under the doctrine of “res ipsa loquitur“. Generally, res ipsa loquitur permits a factfinder to infer negligence based upon the sheer occurrence of…
Read More Res Ipsa Loquitur Applicable; Plaintiff Granted Summary Judgment in Garage Door Fall Personal Injury CaseIn Strojek v. 33 E. 70th St. Corp. (App. Div. 1st Dept. May 14, 2015), a personal injury / construction accident case, the Appellate Division, First Department unanimously affirmed partial summary judgment on the issue of liabilty for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) cause of action. The court held: Plaintiff established his entitlement to judgment as a matter of…
Read More Court Affirms Summary Judgment for Plaintiff, Who Fell From Baker’s Scaffold, on Labor Law § 240 ClaimIn Ward v. Urban Horizons II Hous. Dev. Fund Corp. (NY App. Div. 1st Dept. May 7, 2015), the Appellate Division, First Department affirmed summary judgment for plaintiff on his Labor Law § 240(1) claim. Here are the facts of this personal injury/construction accident case: Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit seeking to recover for personal injuries sustained on July…
Read More Coworker Was “Looking at Girls” Instead of Ladder-Fall Plaintiff; Summary Judgment for Plaintiff on Labor Law 240(1)/Ladder Fall Claim AffirmedGenerally, the purpose New York’s “scaffold law” (New York Labor Law § 240(1)) is to protect construction workers from the pronounced risks arising from construction work site elevation differentials. A recent First Department case, Jordan v. City of New York (decided March 26, 2015), illustrates that what might seem like relatively small elevation differentials can nevertheless implicate…
Read More Force, Not Height, Is Key In a Labor Law 240(1) Construction Accident CaseOne of the so-called “rules of the road”, New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) § 1142[a], provides: Vehicle entering stop or yield intersection (a) Except when directed to proceed by a police officer, every driver of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop as required by [VTL § 1172] and after having stopped shall yield the…
Read More Defendant’s Failure to Yield at Intersection Results in Summary Judgment for Plaintiff in Car Accident CaseIn Roman v. City of New York (App. Div. 2nd Dept. Feb. 25, 2015), the court affirmed summary judgment in plaintiff’s favor. In this personal injury case, plaintiff allegedly was injured while he was walking his dog on a sidewalk in Brooklyn. At his deposition, the plaintiff testified that, after stepping in a puddle, the dog suddenly…
Read More Con Ed’s Failure to Investigate Dangerous Electrical Condition Results in Summary Judgment for Injured PlaintiffCase law establishes that drivers have a duty “to see that which, through the proper use of senses, should have been seen”. In Sarac-Marshall v. Mikalopas (App. Div. 1st Dept. Feb. 26, 2015), a personal injury bicycle accident case, the court applied this principle and unanimously affirmed the plaintiff-bicyclist’s motion for summary judgment on the issue of…
Read More Bicyclist Hit By Car Entitled to Summary Judgment on LiabilityA recent First Department decision, Cruz v. Lise, held that the plaintiff – whose car was rear-ended by the defendant’s car – was entitled to summary judgment. In reversing the lower court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, the court held: In support of her motion, plaintiff submitted an affidavit averring that she had…
Read More But They Stopped Short! Too Bad, Says Court: Rear-Ended Plaintiff Gets Summary Judgment in Rear-End Car Accident Case