General Liability

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The General Liability Practice Group of Marshall Dennehey regularly defends insureds, insurance companies and self-insured entities.
 
The general liability practice area includes such diverse types of defense litigation as:

  • Owners and contractors protective liability
  • Owners, landlords and tenants coverage
  • Bailor/bailee
  • Premises liability
  • Assault and battery
  • Security
  • Commercial liability
  • Advertising injuries
  • Defamation
  • Privacy
  • Elevator incidents
  • False arrest
  • Malicious prosecution cases
  • First-party and third-party property damage cases
  • Fire legal liability litigation

 
We understand that every client is concerned with the extent of legal fees and costs incurred. Savings are achieved in a number of ways. With offices situated within a seven-state region, we are able to provide our clients with defense attorneys who are close to and very familiar with the litigation forum. Secondly, we are cognizant of the need to deliver legal services in a prompt and efficient manner, coupled with considerable emphasis on being results-oriented.
 
We would welcome the opportunity to work with you in handling your general liability litigation and we are available to give presentations or conduct training seminars on general liability topics. We are also on the cutting edge of alternative fee arrangements in order to provide our clients with the highest level of services in the most cost-efficient and predictable manner possible.

Howard 10_2022
Howard P. Dwoskin, Chair
Photo of Matthew Schorr
Matthew S. Schorr, Co-chair

New York Court Allows for Discovery of Litigation Funding Loan

New York
General Liability
Generally, litigation funding loans are not discoverable in personal injury actions. These are “loans” given to injured plaintiffs as an advance on any settlement or verdict they might obtain. These “loans” are not subject to usury rates. Case Law Alerts, 3rd Quarter, July 2024 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers.
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Defense Verdict Affirmed in Wrongful Death Case Involving COVID-19

General Liability

We successfully convinced the Pennsylvania Superior Court to affirm the trial court’s decision to sustain preliminary objections and dismiss a wrongful death case involving allegation of negligent transmission of COVID-19. The plaintiff alleged that his elderly parents contracted COVID-19 from employees of our client who were providing non-medical, in-home care services, and that his parents ultimately died from the disease.

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Emotional distress claims barred in case where dog was run over by delivery truck.

General Liability

The plaintiff pet owners brought claims of emotional/bystander distress and recklessness against the delivery service after personally witnessing the incident that tragically killed their family dog. We filed a Motion to Strike (equivalent of 12b(6) in State of Connecticut Superior Court, Judicial District of Fairfield at Bridgeport), citing appellate authority that, because dogs are personal property and bystander distress arises out of human-to-human relationships, plaintiffs were barred from alleging and recovering any kind of emotional distress damages.

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Appellate court pivots; motion to dismiss granted.

Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice
General Liability

We obtained a published decision in the New Jersey Appellate Division reversing the denial of a motion to dismiss because of a lack of duty. The plaintiff’s ex-husband drove through the gate at a large, high-rise apartment complex, waited for plaintiff to arrive, and then shot her in the face. Our client was the former management company which ceased its management obligations 17 days before the shooting, when a successor management company took over. The plaintiff argued that our client was negligent based on procedures for securing the lot it put in place when it managed the property.

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MD’s appellate attorneys convince PA Superior Court to unanimously reverse trial court ruling.

Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice
General Liability

We convinced the Superior Court of Pennsylvania to unanimously reverse a Philadelphia trial court’s refusal to compel arbitration of a claim against a nationally recognized online coupon marketing platform. The plaintiff claimed the company was responsible for an alleged sexual assault during a massage that the plaintiff’s son purchased on the coupon platform and gifted to the plaintiff. The Superior Court ruled that the plaintiff was a third-party beneficiary of the agreement between her son and the company and she was, therefore, bound by the arbitration clause in the agreement.

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Airport fall not fault of terminal’s cleaning service.

General Liability

We were successful in having a case dismissed on summary judgment in Brooklyn, New York. The plaintiff was a ticket agent for an international airline at LaGuardia airport. Our client was the cleaning service for the airport terminal. The plaintiff claimed she tripped and fell over a “worn/torn defective” floor mat behind the ticket counter. Depositions of the defendant indicated that they did not own, control, maintain or supervise the mats behind the airlines’ ticket counter. Summary judgment was filed in 2020.

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News

Marshall Dennehey’s Stuart H. Sostmann Elected President of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute

Stuart H. Sostmann, shareholder in Marshall Dennehey’s Pittsburgh office and co-chair of the firm’s Construction Injury Litigation Practice Group, was elected President of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute (PDI) at the organization’s recent annual conference. Comprised of lawyers, corporate representatives and insurance professionals from across the Commonwealth, PDI provides education and networking opportunities for those who defend civil damages suits and administer claims.

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