Plaintiff, a passenger on our clients’ bus, alleged multiple injuries as a result of a low-speed motor vehicle collision with a third-party vehicle operated by a co-defendant. Video evidence of the incident showed our clients’ bus was moving straight forward within its lane of traffic when co-defendant attempted to switch lanes and collided with the bus. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of our clients, which plaintiff appealed. LCBF was retained to handle the appeal and successfully represented the client in Order to Show Cause hearing and oral argument before the New York Second Department Appellate Division.
The Appellate Division first ruled in LCBF’s favor denying plaintiff’s Order to Show Cause to stay the trial court action during the pendency of plaintiff and co-defendant’s appeal. Appellate counsel for the plaintiff argued for the first time that the bus was attempting to enter the co-defendant’s lane of traffic at the time of the accident. LCBF’s appellate team responded that these arguments could not be raised and considered for the first time on appeal and that the video evidence unmistakably showed otherwise. The Appellate Division ultimately affirmed summary judgment in favor of our clients and agreed with our position that the video evidence demonstrated the bus was not at fault for the accident. The LCBF team was headed by Alex Marcus and Anthony Francioso.