Kahana Feld Secures Dismissal of Trip-and-Fall Claims on Summary Judgment 

Kahana Feld partner Darnisha Lewis-Bonilla and attorney Vincent C. Gangemi, building on the substantial work of our late partner Robert Fishkin, recently secured a motion for summary judgment in an alleged trip-and-fall case. The plaintiff claimed she was injured after tripping and falling on the client’s property and alleged the client created or failed to fix a dangerous condition. However, during testimony, the plaintiff failed to identify a defect in the area before or after the incident. Although the plaintiff later submitted an affidavit claiming her foot became lodged, plaintiff failed to specifically identify the location of the purported hole. The court, based upon Kahana Feld’s moving papers, determined plaintiff’s inability to identify the condition that caused her alleged fall was fatal to her claim and that she failed to present rebuttal evidence challenging the prima facie showing. 

As such, the court granted summary judgment in favor of our client, dismissing the plaintiff’s complaint and all cross-claims with prejudice.