Category Archives: News

MKCI Attorneys George W. Collins, Jr. and Angela Ponto recently successfully obtained Summary Judgment for our client in the Supreme Court of New York, Erie County. The Plaintiff in this action brought suit for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident, alleging that it was caused by our client’s driving at an excessive speed and failing to take appropriate evasive action in a timely fashion, which was also the subject of a cross-claim by a co-defendant.

On June 27, 2023, in a highly anticipated ruling in the case of Mallory v. Norfolk S. Railway Co. (case number 21-1168), the United States Supreme Court upheld a unique Pennsylvania state registration law that obligates out-of-state companies to appear in Pennsylvania courts to answer any cause of action against them when the company registers to conduct business within the state.

On June 5, 2023, New Jersey’s Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Pantano v. New York Shipping Association, addressing the common law “borrowed-employee doctrine,” which arises in cases where a borrowed or loaned employee’s negligence is asserted to have caused harm to a third-party, and a plaintiff asserts vicarious liability against the borrowed employee’s original – or “general” employer.

According to New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department, the University of Rochester (“University”) would have a common law duty to take appropriate responsive action against “credible reports of ongoing and pervasive criminal conduct against students, perpetrated on campus by other students within the university’s control.” Rebekah Brown v. University of Rochester, et al. (N.Y. App. Div. 3d Dep’t, May 18, 2023).

Robert Connor and MKCI’s Syracuse Office recently obtained a dismissal of a case involving labor law claims in its entirety through summary judgment. Plaintiff brought this action against two defendants, a property owner and general contractor, under Labor Law §§ 200, 240(1), and 241(6), asserting damages resulting from an alleged fall from a ladder while performing sheet metal work on a roof during a renovation project. Plaintiff’s injuries included multiple fractures to the right leg and alleged ongoing leg, neck, and back pain as a result of the fall.

McGivney, Kluger, Clark & Intoccia, P.C. is proud to announce that we have achieved Mansfield Certification! Mansfield Certification, facilitated by Diversity Lab, is the culmination of efforts our firm has taken over an 18-month period to further diversify our firm’s leadership and ensure consideration of our broad pool of talent for internal leadership roles as well as client-facing business development and formal pitch opportunities. Our firm has also increased transparency internally, with written and accessible advancement processes and role descriptions.

On March 19, 2023 the New Jersey Appellate Division upheld the decision of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, wherein the trial court confirmed an arbitration award dismissing counter claims of breach of contract and negligence against MKCI’s client and granting counsel fees. MKCI’s client in this case was a roofing company in a commercial property, contract dispute.

MKCI partner Chris Hillsley recently obtained a defense non-suit on behalf of a commercial property owner and manager in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania in the Erica Finley v. AmeriHealth Northeast LLC, et al. matter (case # 191200047). The elevator maintenance company was the only other remaining defendant at trial. Plaintiff alleged significant injuries to her shoulder and arm from getting her hand caught in an elevator. The defense argued successfully that Plaintiff and her expert failed to prove notice of or any defects associated with the elevator in question at the time of the incident.

On March 15, 2023 MKCI Partner and trial counsel Steve Toner obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a transportation client in Kings County, New York in the Lanzarotta & Lasala v. Big Apple Livery Leasing LLC, et al. matter. This case involved a rear end automobile accident. The trial was for damages only, and the jury came back with a with a unanimous defense verdict finding that, despite the claim of bilateral knee surgery to the then 24-year year old plaintiff 4 months post-accident, he did not sustain a significant limitation, or a permanent consequential loss of use, to his knees and therefore did not meet the No-Fault Threshold of a “Serious Injury”.

In a precedential opinion, New Jersey’s Appellate Division held that an arbitration clause may be enforced, even where it lacks an acknowledgment of the parties’ explicit waiver of access to the courts, as required in Atalese v. U.S. Legal Services Group, L.P., 219 N.J. 430 (2014), where the contract is between sophisticated parties. In County of Passaic v. Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. d/b/a Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, A-0952-21, the Appellate Division was confronted with a dispute arising out of the parties’ contract, whereby the defendant Horizon had been retained, over the course of a seventeen-year relationship, to administer the County’s self-funded employee health benefit plan. After the contract ended, a lawsuit was filed in 2021 in which the County alleged that the defendant had breached the contract and had not implemented certain modified reimbursement rates.