Kevin Smith Wins Appeal filed in the Connecticut Appellate Court in Fall Down Case

Attorney Kevin Smith was recently successful in an appeal filed in the Connecticut Appellate Court in the matter of Carrico v. Mill Rock Leasing, LLC, 199 Conn. App. 252, 235 A.3d 626 (2020). In that case, our client fell on ice in a commercial property in Old Saybrook and was seriously injured. The trial court granted the snow plow contractor's motion for summary judgment effectively dismissing the claim on the ground that the contractor did not possess or control the property where our client fell, and therefore, it owed no duty of care to our client.

On appeal, Smith argued that the alleged duty owed by the snow plow contractor arose from the snow services contract that it had with the owner of the commercial property. Thus, he argued that the cause of action alleged against the contractor was an ordinary negligence claim, not a premises liability action, and therefore, there was no requirement that the contractor possess and control the property.

The Appellate Court agreed and reversed the decision of the trial court.

The decision can be found here: https://www.jud.ct.gov//external/supapp/Cases/AROap/AP199/199AP318.pdf