Courtroom Success 2014-15: Boston Partners John Graceffa and Joe Caffrey

Boston Partners John Graceffa and Joe Caffrey secured dismissal of a wrongful death claim that was filed against our clients within 30 days of their appearance on the file. Our clients were the owners and landlords of a commercial building and warehouse that was used by their tenant to operate an appliance store. The subject lawsuit that was filed against our clients and the overhead door vendors alleged that a 28 year old employee of the appliance store was killed as the result of a defective overhead garage door at the leased premises. The complaint was met with a 12(b)(6) dismissal motion on the grounds that the overhead garage door was under the exclusive control of the tenant and that our clients did not pull the building permits for improvements to the property as alleged in the complaint. Counsel for the estate of the deceased agreed with our analysis as to controlling law for the claim and signed a stipulation of dismissal as to our clients only for the claim in lieu of filing an opposition to our motion to dismiss. All co-defendants also agreed to sign on to the stipulation of dismissal.