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DSB is proud to announce that Anne Leahey has been named contract partner of the firm. Ms. Leahey will continue to work out of the Smithtown, New York office on Municipal, Corporate and Commercial Litigation matters, including complex motions and appeals.

The firm obtained a defendant’s verdict on behalf of a Long Island school district in a premises liability case. Plaintiff alleged on the date of the incident, he was bringing his grandson to a school event and slipped and fell on ice on a walkway resulting in a significant knee injury. Plaintiff alleged that there was ice present on the walkway causing him to fall. Two first responders both testified that they observed ice on the walkway and slipped themselves as they approached the plaintiff. Plaintiff produced a meteorologist who testified that the ice had formed earlier in the morning and per climatological data he opined that the school failed to apply salt or sand throughout the day which resulted in the ice being present at the time of the incident. Our attorney crossed examined the expert calling into doubt his opinions and brought out that there was a late day ice/storm event which undercut the plaintiff’s theory. The custodian at the school stated that there was no ice on the walkway. After a four day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the school district finding no negligence on the part of the school district.

The firm successfully defeated a challenge to the Village of Southampton’s Code which permitted 4×4’s and SUV vehicles to park on a 2,000 foot stretch of beach, known as the “Picnic Area” in the Village. The challenge brought by one of the nine homeowners along this stretch of beach alleged that the Code provision constituted an impermissible taking of their property under the 5th Amendment, violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and constituted a public nuisance.

The firm moved for immediate dismissal of plaintiff’s Constitutional claims. In a significant decision impacting the public’s right to beach access, Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Santorelli granted the Village’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiff’s Constitutional claims.

The law firm is proud to announce that Ashley A. Hughes has joined the firm as an Associate working in Insurance Defense litigation.

In a Queens County action by a tenant for money damages and specific performance, DSB successfully argued that Plaintiff breached the terms of a prior settlement agreement with Defendant by failing to provide Defendant access to Plaintiff’s property for repair of alleged property damage, and that this refusal to provide access nullified Defendant’s obligation to make any such repairs under the prior settlement agreement. The Court found judgment in favor of Defendant and dismissed the case.

DSB won a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a school district on Long Island in an action commenced by a student who fell down stairs in a school and suffered a concussion and brain bleed requiring surgery. The Court determined that the student’s injuries were not caused by a lack of supervision. The Court further ruled that plaintiffs’ other claims could not be interposed to avoid summary judgment inasmuch as they were not included in the Notice of Claim served on the School District.

Partner Nick Brino and his wife Janine proudly announce the birth of their twin baby boys, Austin Drew and Cole Ryan. The boys join their brother, Logan, to make up the future starting line-up for the Knicks.

DSB is proud to announce that Jesse Rutter has been named Contract Partner of the firm. Jesse will continue to handle special school district and municipal defense matters in state and federal court as well as general liability defense matters for the firm.

 

The law firm is further proud to announce that John Sommers will be joining the firm as an Associate working in Insurance Defense Litigation. John comes to the firm with more than 25 years of experience in personal injury and property damage litigation.

DSB successfully argued the applicability of the “continuing storm” defense in proceedings involving a slip and fall incident in Richmond County. It was plaintiff’s position that she fell due to an accumulation of snow and/or ice within a parking lot servicing a large, well-known office supply company. The office supplier had contracted with a snow removal agent for plow services within the lot. The Court found, however, that defendant established its entitlement to judgment as a matter of law through conclusive proof, including weather records and the expert opinion of a forensic meteorologist, that there was an ongoing storm at the time of plaintiff’s fall. The Court further found that there were no issues of fact as to whether the snow removal agent created and/or exacerbated the condition during its removal activities, or whether the condition pre-dated the storm.

The firm successfully defended an age discrimination suit brought by a teacher in a small school district on eastern Long Island who had been excessed in 2016. The plaintiff alleged that the decision to excess her was the result of animus toward her age. The district argued that the plaintiff was excessed due to budgetary constraints and if she was not excessed, the district faced the very real possibility of shuttering the door of its single building “school house” district for good. On February 14, 2018, United States District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein granted the firm’s summary judgment motion and dismissed plaintiff’s Complaint in its entirety. The Judge found that the plaintiff had not established that age was the “but for” reason of the district’s decision to excess her and instead held that the district had a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for excessing her position. The decision was significant in that it greatly increased the likelihood that the small school district can continue to provide a unique educational experience to the students within its small community.