Case: Summary Judgment Won for Commercial Landowner
Counsel: Robert A. Von Hagen
Result: Complaint dismissed against Commercial Landowner
MSD recently won summary judgment on behalf of a commercial landowner in Brooklyn. Plaintiff claimed that a heavy vent dropped on her while working for the landowner’s tenant. We successfully argued that the landowner had leased the entire premises and delegated its maintenance responsibilities in the lease. We proved that our client otherwise had no notice of any violation or structural problem. Plaintiff attempted to argue that the offices where the incident occurred were a ‘place of public assembly’ that would make our duties as landowner non-delegable, but the Court agreed with us that the offices were not accessible to the public. Rather, the building functioned as a restricted access homeless shelter. All of plaintiff’s claims and all crossclaims were dismissed.