Case: Madry v. Heritage Holding Corp.
Court: Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York
Date: 6/27/12
From: New York attorney Gary E. Rosenberg (personal injury and accident attorney and lawyer; serving Brooklyn and Queens; Queens injury lawyer)
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Facts: This trip-and-fall accident happened in a florist shop. Tricky in premises liability cases is when an accident victim tries to sue an "out-of-possession" landlord. Basically, why should a landlord be held liable if it's not there or not running the shop? Specific rules apply for an out-of-possession landlord to be held in this case.
Here, this out-of-possession landlord asks the court for summary judgment dismissing the case against it.
This accident occurred when plaintiff supposedly fell down steps at a florist. Even though plaintiff couldn't say exactly why she fell, her expert identified a defect and raised issues of fact as to whether the steps violated the N.Y.C. Building Code.
Held: Defense summary judgment motion denied. Also, the accident victim's cross-motion for summary judgment is denied. This case goes to trial.