LCBF obtained a significant victory for its client, an Orange County commercial property owner, when a New York Supreme Court denied a third-party snow removal contractor’s motion for summary judgment in a premises liability case. The case stems from a slip-and-fall on an icy sidewalk outside a medical office owned by LCBF’s client. The contractor had performed snow removal services three days before the accident. The court rejected the contractor’s argument that it bore no responsibility simply because no new snowfall had occurred in the intervening days, instead finding that evidence presented and developed by LCBF — including photographs and deposition testimony — raised compelling questions about whether the contractor’s snow piling practices created foreseeable melt-and-refreeze hazards on the sloped walkways surrounding the building. The court also credited LCBF’s broader reading of the Snow Removal Agreement, which required the contractor to keep all paved areas and sidewalks free of snow and ice from edge to edge and to prevent hazardous conditions. Critically, the Court preserved the property owner’s contractual indemnification claim. By successfully opposing the motion, LCBF ensured that both the negligence and indemnification questions will be resolved at trial, securing its client’s right to seek full reimbursement of any damages and legal costs from the contractor responsible for snow removal at the property. The motion was successfully defeated by Tina S. Bhatt and Jake Stamoulis.
LCBF Defeats Summary Judgment Motion on its Indemnification and Contribution Claims against Third-Party Snow Removal Contractor
