Kirsten Orr and James Ricciardi Win Summary Judgment

Associate Kirsten Orr and Partner James Ricciardi won summary judgment dismissing claims seeking recovery for personal injuries by a plaintiff who allegedly fell on a puddle of water leaking from a beverage cooler in a pizzeria restaurant. Fleischner Potash LLP argued that its clients, who owned the property and leased it to the pizzeria operators, were not liable. The court agreed that because the tenants were in exclusive possession of the property, they were responsible to remediate any transient conditions. The court also agreed with Fleischner Potash’s arguments that the defendant, an out of possession landlord, had no notice of the alleged dangerous condition and, therefore, plaintiff could not sustain a claim of negligence. For these reasons, the court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment.