- Adoption
- Wrongful DeathThe decision which began the trend imposing a general duty of care upon landlords was Sargent v. Ross, 113 N.H. 388, 308 A.2d 528 (N.H. 1973). Sargent involved the death of a tenant’s four-year-old daughter in a fall from an outdoor stairway attached to an apartment house. The tenant brought a wrongful-death action against the landlord, alleging negligence in the construction and maintenance of the stairway. Evidence indicated that the stairs were dangerously steep and the railing was insufficient to prevent the child from falling over the side. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff. Id. 308 A.2d at 529-30.
- Premises LiabilityRhode Island and Massachusetts Premises Liability articles by Rhode Island and Massachusetts slip and fall and Premises Liability attorney, David Slepkow 401-437-1100
- Landlord-Tenant Disputes“We also reject Sykes’ argument that because she resided in a dormitory on the Busch campus, Rutgers had a legal responsibility to her as a municipal landlord like that imposed on the housing authority in Bligen. Classifying Rutgers as a “landlord” in order to come within the Bligen rationale ignores its role as a State University which primarily uses its campuses for scholastic activities and not housing. The Busch campus consists of over 1500 acres containing classrooms, administration buildings, athletic areas, and an ecological preserve, all of which is intersected by 139 acres of hardscape surface consisting of parking lots, roads and sidewalks. This is quite distinct from the situation in Bligen and apart from her reliance on Bligen, Sykes alludes to no authority establishing the creation of such a relationship in these circumstances. In the absence of a clearly established landlord-tenant relationship, our courts have previously rejected attempts by slip and fall plaintiffs to classify a particular public entity as akin to a commercial landlord in order to squeeze within the Bligen rationale. See e.g., Rossi v. Borough of Haddonfield, 297 N.J.Super. 494, 688 A.2d 643 (App.Div.), aff’d 152 N.J. 43, 702 A.2d 1285 (1997).”
- Personal Injury“As a general rule, “evidence of prior or subsequent accidents is admissible in personal injury actions to demonstrate that a defective or dangerous condition existed, so long as the incident took place under substantially similar circumstances.”[6] The first accident Mueller wanted to reference involved J.K., a pregnant woman who allegedly fell on a walkway in front of Buscemi’s building approximately two weeks before Mueller fell. J.K. was not listed on Mueller’s trial witness list, she was not available to testify, she had not been deposed, and the court had almost no information about the circumstances or conditions of her fall. In fact, Mueller was unsure whether J.K. was still living at the time of trial. It is not clear how Mueller intended to introduce evidence of J.K.’s accident; we presume for purposes of this appeal that Mueller had a witness who had personal knowledge of it. The second accident was to be described by Ulrike Ward, an employee of a business in Buscemi’s building. Mueller claimed that Ward would testify that on the same day Mueller fell, an unidentified woman entered the business where Ward worked and complained that she had slipped and fallen on her way into the building. According to Mueller, Ward did not see the woman fall but believed she fell in front of the building, not in the back parking lot where Mueller fell. Finally, Mueller sought to introduce evidence that Tom Drake fell and hurt his knee in front of the building on the same day Mueller fell. Mueller did not request permission to call Drake as a witness and did not include him on her trial witness list.
- Auto Accidents
- Slip and Fall InjuryThe elderly and children are particularly vulnerable to slip and fall injuries, which can range from a simple fracture to death. Approximately 1,800 nursing home residents die from slips and falls each year. An estimated 8,000 children are treated daily for fall-related injuries.
- Trusts
- Tax LawThomas was born to John W. and Gertrude M. Thomas in Superior, a small town in Sweetwater County in southwestern Wyoming, and reared in Lingle in Goshen County in southeastern Wyoming. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Wyoming at Laramie. He procured a Master of Laws at New York University, with emphasis in tax law. On July 31, 1956, he was admitted to the Wyoming bar. For three years, he was Judge Advocate General at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.[1]