It is a rare, challenging, feat to obtain summary judgment in a defendant’s favor in a negligence action involving a slip and fall. However, this is exactly what Rosenthal Law Group did when the Honorable Rodolfo Ruiz of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit entered a sixteen-page Final Judgment granting Rosenthal Law Group’s Motion for Summary Judgment filed in favor of the defendant/landowner.
Prior to the hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff filed an affidavit of her mother in an attempt to create a genuine issue of material fact in order to prevent the entry of summary judgment. Relying upon the arguments made by Rosenthal Law Group, the Court ultimately ruled that the affidavit was insufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact, and the entry of summary judgment was warranted.
Rosenthal Law Group argued that the plaintiff’s mother’s affidavit contradicted the plaintiff’s previous deposition testimony wherein the plaintiff testified that her mother had no personal knowledge of the conditions of the room where the plaintiff slipped and fell and, further, the affiant provided no credible explanation for the discrepancy in the affidavit. Based upon such, the Court found that plaintiff was precluded from relying upon her mother’s affidavit in opposition to the motion for summary judgment. Moreover, Rosenthal Law Group argued, and the Court agreed, that the affidavit was also nevertheless insufficient because if the Court were to rely upon it, the Court would be required to engage in an impermissible stacking of inferences in order to create a factual issue. The judgment was appealed by the plaintiff to the Third District Court of Appeal, but no decisions have been made on appeal.
