The Healthcare Litigation Team Rounds out the year with Another SJ Win
In his 17-page opinion, Judge Robert Kalish granted our motion for summary judgment, written by Nicole Heckman of the Healthcare Litigation Team, on behalf of our client.
Plaintiff alleged that she fell on the entrance stairs to our client’s building due to various departures including the lack of a center handrail. We argued that the there was no requirement for a center handrail and in fact there were two existing handrails that plaintiff failed to use. Furthermore, we argued that the video evidence of the fall clearly showed the fall was caused by plaintiff's own misstep and not by any alleged departure.
Judge Kalish agreed and ruled that plaintiff's expert opinion was speculative and conclusory as to the cause of the fall and that plaintiff's argument that using the existing handrails “would have been futile” is contrary to the current state of law regarding handrails. In sum and substance, Judge Kalish ruled that there is no evidentiary route by which a reasonable jury could conclude that Plaintiff's accident was proximately caused by any alleged departures.