CMM Partner Richard DeMaio, with assistance from Senior Partner Scott Middleton on the brief, successfully argued an appeal on behalf of the Town of Smithtown before the Supreme Court of the State of New York Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department.
CMM represented the defendants, the Town of Smithtown and the Smithtown Highway Department, in the underlying personal injury action. The case stemmed from a 2016 motor vehicle accident in which the plaintiff, a passenger in the vehicle, sustained severe injuries resulting in quadriplegia. The plaintiff sued both the uninsured driver and the Town, alleging the driver lost control after hitting sand on a town road. CMM successfully secured summary judgment dismissing the case against the Town in May 2021.
The plaintiff appealed the lower court’s decision. On appeal, CMM argued that the Town could not be held liable because the Town did not receive prior written notice of the alleged dangerous condition and that the alleged accident did not occur as a result of a condition created by the Town.
CMM provided an expert affidavit from a professional engineer confirming that the Town’s winter sanding practices were consistent with normal practices of highway maintenance. Additionally, the expert, through accident reconstruction, established that the accident was due to driver error because the driver lost control of the vehicle on the unsanded portion of the pavement, rather than as a result of contact with the sand.
The appellate court affirmed the lower court’s decision resulting in a total victory for the client, Town of Smithtown and its Highway Department.
