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Colleen M. Murphy Wins Appellate Reversal in Construction Accident Case

Case Study

Colleen M. Murphy Wins Appellate Reversal in Construction Accident Case

February 10, 2012
Colleen M. Murphy

Goldberg Segalla partner Colleen M. Murphy successfully briefed and argued an appeal to the New York State Appellate Division, Fourth Department, following the trial court’s denial of summary judgment in a Labor Law Section 240 common-law indemnification and contribution claim brought by the owner of a mobile home park against Goldberg Segalla’s client, which provided the financing for the mobile home.  

The case was a somewhat novel one. On appeal, Colleen argued that, pursuant to a recent Court of Appeals decision (McCarthy v. Turner Constr., Inc., 17 N.Y.3d 369, 377-378), no common-law claim for indemnification or contribution could lie because our client did not actually supervise or control the injured plaintiff’s work, which consisted of siding a mobile home, nor did it supply the ladder from which he fell.

The Fourth Department agreed with Colleen, and on February 10, 2012, the Fourth Department issued a reversal and dismissed the case against our client. This victory sets an important precedent for future cases involving defendants in similar circumstances.