Gunshot Victim

In Kelly v. Norgate Business Associates, a case that originated in the Bronx Supreme Court and went up on appeal, a gunshot victim was able to proceed to a jury trial in his action to recover damages against the building owner and its security company after he was shot in an apartment building lobby. The victim was visiting a friend in the building. When he entered he found the locks broken and the security guard never asked him to sign in. There was a group of 10 to 12 men in the lobby near the guard. When the victim left the the building, a fight broke out and the victim was shot, while the guard did nothing but call police only after shots were fired. The Appellate Division ruled that the victim may recover as a third-party intended beneficiary of the security contract between the building owner and the security company where there was evidence that security officers were to safeguard lives and not just property. It also noted the building owner may also be found liable as a jury may find the assailant was an intruder who entered and exited the building through the broken doors. www.foleygriffin.com

Family Gets $29M for Fatal Crash Caused by Overloaded Truck

In Estate of Malkin v. Transport Expressway Inc., an Orange County New York jury awarded over $29 million to a family that was involved in a fatal motor-vehicle accident on the New York State Thruway on January 25, 2002. The plaintiff driver was driving on the northbound side of the New York State Thruway, near an underpass that crossed beneath Pleasant Hill Road, in Mountainville, New York. The plaintiff driver's husband was a front-seat passenger and the couple's 15 year old daughter was a rear-seat passenger. At the time of the accident, a trucker in front of the family attempted to travel beneath the overpass, but the truck's payload struck the underside of the overpass causing a freight container to fall off the truck and shatter on the highway. As the plaintiff driver tried to avoid the container, the family's vehicle was hit by a second truck causing it to go off the highway, killing the husband injuring his wife and daughter. The jury found that the accident was caused by negligent overloading of a tractor-trailer. www.foleygriffin.com

Punitive Damages as Punishment

State Court Upholds Punitive Damages Against Automaker
The family of an 8-month-old boy killed in a 2001 auto accident will receive $13 million in punitive damages from DaimlerChrysler following a Tennessee Supreme Court decision. According to the wrongful-death lawsuit, the defective seat construction in the Dodge Caravan was to blame for the boy’s death.