Sato, Franklin H.; Fox, Matthew S.

Motion for Summary Judgment

Senior Partner Franklin Sato, Esq., and Associate Matthew Fox, Esq., got a high-exposure case dismissed with prejudice due to a pending Motion for Summary Judgment on a slip and fall matter styled Plaintiff v. DEJ Hotels.  The matter arose when the Plaintiff stepped out of an elevator and slipped on a foreign substance. However, the CCTV footage showed only one possible source for the substance – a cooler placed on the floor by another hotel guest approximately 2 minutes prior to the fall. Although Plaintiff’s Counsel tried to make an issue of pool goers going to and from the elevators, the discovery and depositions quickly established that was not the case. The Plaintiff had one back surgery and one neck surgery and approximately $370,000.00 in medical bills. The Motion for Summary Judgment covered all the angles, including actual notice, constructive notice, and improper stacking of the inferences. Furthermore, the Defendant filed a nominal PFS early in the case. The Plaintiff reached out the night before the hearing and offered to dismiss the case with prejudice in exchange for the Defendant not proceeding with the Motion for Summary Judgment and not seeking fees and costs pursuant to the prior PFS.