Two Summary Judgments in One Day: Lee County, Florida (Premises Liability)
Congratulations to Naples partner, Drew Vogt, who recently argued Motions for Summary Judgment in two separate matters on the same day in Lee County, Florida, and won them both.
In the first case, a slip and fall case on behalf of Publix Supermarkets, evidence showed that Plaintiff walked over the incident area three times in a matter of moments before slipping and falling on his fourth pass. We argued that Plaintiff was unable to meet his burden of proof in establishing actual or constructive notice of a potentially dangerous condition. The Court agreed, and summary judgment was granted.
In the second case, on behalf of a small locally owned grocery carry-out, Plaintiff alleged that we were negligent in failing to warn of a potential hazard and failing to maintain the premises after he successfully ascended a handicapped curb ramp, but fell off the top of the sidewalk when he went to reach for a shopping cart that was allegedly heading his direction. We argued that there was no duty to warn of the curb ramp or sidewalk, as they were open and obvious conditions, and further argued that there was no evidence the curb ramp or sidewalk were in disrepair or in violation of any applicable code provisions that would enable the Plaintiff to establish our client was negligent in failing to maintain the premises. The Court agreed, and summary judgment was granted.
Drew’s co-counsel in the first case was Of Counsel Jamie Ringhofer, and in the second case his co-counsel was Associate Matthew Lynch. Congrats to all on a job well done.