The Town of Smithtown, a longtime CMM client, has saved significant time and money thanks to CMM’s successful effort to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the Town.
CMM was retained to represent the Town in a lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who claimed personal injuries stemming from a fall on an uneven sidewalk in Hauppauge. Thanks to our team’s work conducting depositions and hearings, it became clear that the Town had never received written notice of the alleged sidewalk defect, as required by the Town Code. CMM’s Municipal Liability team, under the leadership of Senior Partner Scott Middleton, moved for summary judgment dismissing the case (essentially, a request that the Court dismiss the case because there are no facts at issue). As part of the motion, Richard DeMaio submitted evidence – including deposition testimony and an affidavit from the Smithtown Town Clerk – supporting the Town’s position that it had never received prior written notice of the problem.
The Court agreed, citing well settled law that when a municipal defendant has enacted a prior written notice statute, the municipality may not be subjected to liability for injuries allegedly caused by a dangerous or defective condition without having received prior written notice of the problem. The Court found that the evidence CMM submitted on behalf of the Town established that there had been no prior written notice in this case, and dismissed the lawsuit.
Visit our Municipal Liability page to learn more about our success representing municipal clients.