Jason J. Lavery and William H. Gagas secure appellate victory from the Appellate Division, First Department

Jason J. Lavery and William H. Gagas secured a substantial appellate victory from the Appellate Division, First Department, affirming summary judgment for our clients and dismissing the entirety of plaintiffs’ $30+ million property damage claim.

Jason and William defended one of the City’s largest property owners in a lawsuit brought by a neighboring landowner to one of our client’s commercial properties.  Plaintiff was a substantial real estate developer, who alleged that one of his properties sustained over $30 million in damages due to water mitigation efforts at our client’s building.  Specifically, plaintiff alleged that the sump pump system at our client’s property was too powerful and caused fine soils and particulates to be removed from underneath plaintiff’s property, resulting in differential settlement and substantial physical damage to the building.  Plaintiffs also alleged that our client improperly underpinned their structure almost 100 years ago.

Over almost 9 years of contentious litigation against a respected Manhattan construction litigation firm and an AmLaw 200 law firm, our team developed an unassailable factual record demonstrating the alleged damage was caused by the plaintiffs’ own failure to maintain their building, and that our client was otherwise legally entitled to protect their own property from water intrusion. 

No stone was left unturned, as they pursued records and testimony from numerous non-party contractors and witnesses who performed work at plaintiffs’ building, which provided crucial evidence in establishing our defense.  They also obtained turn of the century records to establish our lack of liability for plaintiffs’ underpinning claims.