Anthony Ienna, Thomas Jaffa, and Neil Mascolo Obtain Summary Judgment Win in New York County Supreme Court

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On May 10, 2019, Mr. Ienna, with assistance from Mr. Jaffa and Mr. Mascolo, secured summary judgment in favor of a third-party defendant commercial electrical company. The case involved a premises liability matter resulting from an accident that occurred within a 22-story office building in the Financial District of Downtown Manhattan. Plaintiff claimed that he tripped over an unidentified object adjacent to space undergoing work by multiple contractors. According to the plaintiff, the accident was caused by materials left behind by the electrical company. Mr. Ienna argued that the plaintiff failed to adequately identify the object which allegedly caused the accident and failed to offer any evidence beyond speculation that the third-party defendant was conducting work in the vicinity of the accident.

The Honorable Carol R. Edmead held that the third-party defendant established their entitlement to summary judgment by demonstrating through documentary evidence that the electrical company was not performing work in the office space in question and agreed that there was no reason beyond mere speculation for electrical work to be conducted in the situs of the accident. The court further found that plaintiff’s description of the object was impermissibly speculative and granted third-party defendants summary judgment motion in its entirety.  The court’s dismissal prevented our clients from engaging in further discovery exchanges and ended the suit before a lengthy trial began.

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