Jacqueline Kim Obtains Summary Judgment For Defendants In Premises Liability Case In Suffolk County

The plaintiff claimed that on May 17, 2022, he was injured when he attempted to hold up his Harley Davidson motorcycle as it began falling over after he parked it on the unpaved driveway of the subject premises that he and his wife were leasing from our landlord client. Plaintiff argued that our client failed to repair or replace the unpaved driveway which he claimed was dangerous, defective, broken, unsafe, rocky and hard to navigate, and that the existence of a large rock and the unpaved condition of the driveway caused his motorcycle to become stuck and fall over.  Our motion for summary judgment focused on the lack of any dangerous or defective conditions which proximately caused plaintiff’s accident, the lack of any notice to our client, and the absence of any prior reported accidents. In addition, we argued that plaintiff’s act of grabbing and attempting to hold the motorcycle up to stop it from falling over was the sole proximate cause of his injuries. In support, we presented to the Court testimony that neither plaintiff nor his wife made prior complaints about the driveway’s condition, and the specific rock claimed to have caused the accident, and that the alleged condition of the driveway was open and obvious and known to plaintiffs, who had resided at the premises for a year prior to the accident. In addition, we submitted affidavits from our clients attesting that while the driveway was not in aesthetically good condition, it was safe and functional and did not need to be replaced.

The Court agreed with our argument that the presence of rocks on the unpaved driveway, and the alleged tendency of the surface to become wet and “mushy” when it rained did not constitute unreasonably dangerous conditions, and was open and obvious  and not inherently dangerous, and dismissed the complaint. Additionally, the Court ruled that the evidence in the case failed to support plaintiffs’ allegations that the alleged negligent maintenance of the subject driveway caused the plaintiff’s injuries.

The complaint was dismissed in its entirety. A demand of $2.4 million dollars had been made prior to the service of the motion.