Sidewalk accident lawsuits in New York can be won even before the defendants enter a courtroom. It involves providing unquestionable proof that the defendant was liable for the injury and winning what’s called “summary judgment.”
Leav & Steinberg LLP recently won a motion for summary judgment in a lawsuit involving a man injured after tripping on a poorly maintained sidewalk in Manhattan.
Property owners in New York City have a non-delegable duty by law to maintain the sidewalk adjacent to their property. If you get injured on a sidewalk and can prove that the property owner or city failed to maintain it, it’s possible to win your case before it goes to trial.
Our attorneys at Leav & Steinberg LLP have been practicing premises liability cases like sidewalk accidents for over 20 years. See how we helped our client recover from a complex slip-and-fall case.
What Happened to Our Client?
Our client, a man in his sixties, was walking down a sidewalk on the left side of 9th Avenue near New York City’s Garment District when he slipped and fell to the ground.
It was around 9:45 pm when our client was walking in the middle of the sidewalk and tripped after his foot collided with an improper “step.” He looked back and saw a step that was part of the entrance to the adjacent building’s basement. It was two or three inches high and clearly a hazard to pedestrians.
This man, who worked as a server in Long Island, suffered serious injuries to his shoulder and had to stop working as a result.
How Did Leav & Steinberg LLP Prove Liability in This Case?
The sidewalk defect that caused this accident has been known to the building owner responsible for maintaining the sidewalk for several years prior to the accident. Photographs, Google Maps, expert reviews, and the defendant’s testimony all prove that the defect predated the accident by at least seven years. The building owners in this case clearly had more than enough time to make the area reasonably safe, and evidence shows several botched attempts by the building owner to do so.
After all that time, the defendant still neglected its duty to maintain the sidewalk and, in doing so, caused our client to sustain serious injury to his shoulder.
Leav & Steinberg’s sidewalk accident lawyers won summary judgment for liability in this case and proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the building owners responsible for maintaining this sidewalk were also responsible for our client’s injuries.
How Does Liability Work in Sidewalk Injury Cases?
Section 7-210 of the New York City Administrative Code imposes a duty on the owner of any property abutting any sidewalk, including, but not limited to, the intersection quadrant for corner property, to maintain such sidewalk in reasonable, safe condition.
Under this law, property owners become liable for all injuries that result on the sidewalks adjacent to their property if the injury resulted from a defect. Usually, the property owners will defend themselves by claiming the defect was small, or that they didn’t have enough time to repair it.
Since we could prove that the property owner had years to repair the defect in this case, we got the courts to agree that they were fully liable for our client’s injuries.
Consult Our Sidewalk Accident Lawyers in New York
Defective maintenance of sidewalks and roadways in New York is complex and can involve a variety of complex injuries and damages.
If you’ve been injured on a dangerous New York City sidewalk, first ensure you get any injuries treated by a medical professional. If you can, take a picture of the scene and the defect that caused the accident.
The sidewalk accident lawyers at Leav & Steinberg LLP combine decades of experience on sidewalk cases involving injury due to slip and fall, trip, or hazardous conditions on NYC sidewalks.
Contact our law firm today and request a free consultation by calling 347-919-1361 or by completing our online form.
RESOURCES:
