Firm News

Court Grants Defendants Summary Judgment Dismissing All Claims As a Matter of Law

In a decision dated November 25, 2015, Justice Larry D. Martin granted the summary motion of our clients, Hill International, Inc., Lemley International Inc., Liro Engineers, Inc. and Daniel Frankfurt Engineers & Architects/HDR Inc., A Joint Venture dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety.  The plaintiff sought damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained while working on a project involving the extension of the #7 New York City subway train tunnel. The plaintiff alleged that he fell from a stack of blasting masts while he was in the process of descending same. In dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint, the Court found that the defendants’ evidence that they were not agents of the MTA and neither instructed nor supervised plaintiff’s work was sufficient to make a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, dismissing plaintiff’s causes of action for common law negligence and violation of Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1) and 241(6).

Lamar v. Hill, Int’l, Inc. et al., Index No. 19723/2011 (Kings Co. Sup. Ct., Nov. 25, 2015)

Court Grants Contractor Defendants Summary Judgment Dismissing Plaintiff’s Complaint In Its Entirety

In a decision dated October 21, 2015, Justice Valerie Brathwaite Nelson granted the summary motion of our clients, ECCO Enterprises LLC and ECCO III, LLC, dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety.   The plaintiff sought damages for personal injuries allegedly arising out of a defective roadway while he was a passenger in a motor vehicle traveling on the Van Wyck Expressway.  In dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint, the Court found that the defendants’ evidence that they did not exist as entities at the time of the accident was sufficient to make a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

Lubin v. ECCO Enterprises, LLC, et. al., Index No. 7469/2014 (Queens Co. Sup. Ct., Oct. 21, 2015)

Court Grants Contractor Defendants Summary Judgment Dismissing Plaintiff’s Complaint In Its Entirety

In a decision dated October 21, 2015, Justice Valerie Brathwaite Nelson granted the summary motion of our clients, ECCO Enterprises LLC and ECCO III, LLC, dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety. The plaintiff sought damages for personal injuries allegedly arising out of a defective roadway while he was a passenger in a motor vehicle traveling on the Van Wyck Expressway. In dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint, the Court found that the defendants’ evidence that they did not exist as entities at the time of the accident was sufficient to make a prima facie showing of their entitlement to judgment as a matter of law.

Lubin v. ECCO Enterprises, LLC, et. al., Index No. 7469/2014 (Queens Co. Sup. Ct., Oct. 21, 2015)

Stephen M. Cohen and Michael P. Tobin lectured at a seminar for Brookfield Properties entitled “Best Practices for Accident Investigations,” in New York, New York.

Thomas J. Hall and Marc M. Mahoney lectured at a seminar for J. T. Magen & Company Inc. on the topics of “Accident Investigation Reporting” and “Understanding Contractual Risk Transfer,” in New York, New York.

Court Grants Plaintiff Insurance Companies Summary Judgment On Issue of Liability and Sets Matter Down for Trial on Damages

On August 5, 2015, the Hon. Anil C. Singh, J.S.C. of the New York County Commercial Division issued a decision granting the motion filed on behalf of our clients, New Hampshire Insurance Company, American Home Assurance Company, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania and National Union Fire Insurance Company for summary judgment on the issue of liability and setting the matter down for a trial on damages. Our clients sought to recover in excess of $3.5 million dollars in premiums earned under insurance policies issued to Fresh Direct Holdings, Inc. Fresh Direct refused to pay the premiums, arguing that the endorsements reflecting the audit premiums were not issued in a timely fashion. Judge Singh held that Fresh Direct was timely notified of the change in premium in accordance with the terms of the policies. Judge Singh determined that our clients established their entitlement to payment by submitting copies of the policies, audit worksheets and the resulting invoices for the policies in question but set the matter down for a trial because minor inconsistencies in the billing records prevented him from ascertaining the amount due as a matter of law. Judge Singh also dismissed all but one of Fresh Direct’s counterclaims accusing AIG of fraud, misrepresentation and breach of contract. He found a question of fact as to the merits of Fresh Direct’s counterclaim seeking a $16,000 refund on one of the policies.

New Hampshire Insurance Co. v. Fresh Direct Holdings, Inc., Index No. 651320/10 (N.Y. Co. Sup. Ct., August 5, 2015)

We are pleased to welcome our newest valued client, The Related Companies, which is the largest owner of luxury residential rental properties in New York.

Stephen M. Cohen and Thomas J. Hall lectured at a seminar for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance entitled “New York Labor Law §§200, 240(1) and 241(6),” in New York, New York.

Court Grants Contractor Summary Judgment Dismissing Third-Party Complaint In Its Entirety

In a decision dated February 4, 2015, Justice Carmen Velasquez granted the summary judgment motion of our client, Sordoni Skanska, dismissing RCN Telecom Service’s Inc.’s third-party complaint in its entirety. The underlying plaintiff sought damages for personal injuries sustained when she fell in the crosswalk of Roosevelt Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Queens, New York. She sued RCN, which in turn, impleaded Sordoni. The plaintiff did not have any claims against Sordoni. In dismissing the third-party complaint against Sordoni, the Court found that Sordoni did not have notice of the alleged defective condition nor did it retain control over the roadway or have a contractual duty to maintain and repair it. Thus, Sordoni could not be found liable.

Chow v. RCN, et al., Index No. 8839/2009 (Queens Co. Sup. Ct., Feb. 4, 2015)

Court Grants Abutting Sidewalk Owner Summary Judgment Dismissing Plaintiff’s Complaint In Its Entirety

In an appellate decision dated May 19, 2015, the First Department unanimously overturned a Supreme Court, Bronx County order that denied our client’s summary judgment motion and dismissed plaintiff’s complaint in its entirety. Plaintiff allegedly fell in a sinkhole surrounding a fire hydrant in front of our client’s apartment building. The City was in the process of repairing the hydrant and the surrounding sidewalk and left a temporary blacktop in place of the concrete that had surrounded the hydrant. In reversing and dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint, the Appellate Division found that because the City was performing work on the fire hydrant, which work entailed placing blacktop on the surrounding sidewalk, it exercised control over that area during the pendency of its work, to the exclusion of the owners. Thus, the Administrative Code requirement that our client maintain the sidewalk did not serve as a predicate for liability under the circumstances of this case.

Arzeno v. City of New York, Anvernic LLC, et al., 128 A.D.3d 527, 10 N.Y.S.3d 198 (1st Dep’t 2015)