5/26/2009
Georgiou v. 32-42 Broadway LLC, et al.
In Georgiou v. 32-42 Broadway LLC, et al., Suzanne Lodge successfully argued that a lower court decision denying summary judgment to defendant, Liberty Café should be reversed. The plaintiff therein was injured when he slipped on water in the vestibule area of the Liberty Café. A scaffold had previously been erected in front of the Liberty Café at the request of a neighboring building. We argued that the store owner had no notice that the scaffold caused excessive rainwater to form in front of the café. Additionally, we argued that Liberty Café should not be liable for the incident as they did not contract with any party to erect the scaffold and thus did not create the condition. The trial court denied our motion.

The Appellate Division, First Department, agreed with our position that the Liberty Café did not cause the defective condition nor did it have notice of the condition. As such, it reversed the lower Court’s order denying the summary judgment motion of Liberty Café.