Caran Notches Two Summary Judgments Wins In New York
Clausen Miller Partner Djordje Caran won summary judgment for our client on a general liability matter involving refurbishment of the office of Nixon Peabody; even though our client was on site supervising every day. The court held that our client had no duty to the plaintiff nor did any of the Espinal exceptions to creation of a duty to third-parties not in contractual privity apply. The case was pending in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County.
Djordje also prevailed on re-argument of a summary judgment motion on behalf of our landlord client for indemnity from a tenant for injury to a third-party. The Supreme Cour of New York, Bronx County, had already awarded summary judgment to our client on the issue of indemnity and failure to procure insurance for the landlord, but the tenant took the position that the landlord’s defense costs were not subject to indemnification, only the cost to the landlord for its own insurance which provided our client its defense against the third-party claims. The court issued a further order clarifying that the award of summary judgment was on both the indemnity and breach of contract for failure to procure insurance claims; that the failure to procure insurance might only result in recovery of the premiums paid by our client for its own insurance, but the indemnity provisions of the lease clearly encompassed defense costs.
Djordje (George) Caran