February 24

Kenneth Koerner v. 281 Broadway Holdings, LLC et al.

On August 7, 2011, plaintiff sustained catastrophic injuries as the result of falling from the 18th floor to a 15th floor setback of a construction site located at 57 Reade Street, New York, New York.  The building in question was owned by 281 Broadway Holding, LLC (281 Broadway). 281 Broadway hired Pavarini McGovern (“Pavarini”) to serve as…

August 20

Labor Law §240 – Narrowing of claims of appellate courts

Though originally intended as a “scaffolding” statute, over the years the New York courts expanded the types of actions that could be brought within Labor Law §240. It devolved to a point when almost any injury to an employee on a construction site was subject to “strict liability” under Labor Law §240. Most recently, however,…

August 20

Verbal Threshold Defense

This past Spring, Goetz Schenker Blee & Wiederhorn was anxiously awaiting the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decisions on the future use of the verbal threshold defense in New Jersey motor vehicle accident litigation. On June 14, 2005, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued two published opinions that definitively eliminated the need of an injured party…

August 20

Elevator Litigation – Need for an expert

It is well settled law in the State of New Jersey that it is recommended that plaintiffs obtain an expert in order to establish that a complex instrumentality was negligently maintained. See Jimenez v. GNOC Corp. 286 N.J. Super 533 (App. Div. 1996). The need for an expert in complex instrumentality cases stems from New Jersey…

August 20

Premise Liability – Exception to commercial landowner’s non-delegable duty to ensure its property is safe for invitees

A commercial landowner has a non-delegable duty to ensure that the property is safe for use by invitees of the landowner’s commercial tenant. However, the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, published two cases indicating that there is an exception to a commercial landowner’s non-delegable duty in this regard if the landowner provides exclusive control…