GMR Partner Eamon Merrigan and Associate Attorney Jillian Seay successfully obtained summary judgment, dismissing their clients as defendants in a premises liability case in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In this case, a college student fell from the roof of a building after climbing over a guardrail from the neighboring property. The Plaintiff argued the building was dangerous for the lack of a guardrail around its rooftop, even though the roof was inaccessible from any means other than inside the building.
GMR argued that Plaintiff failed to state which roof she fell from affirmatively. If Plaintiff did fall from the roof of the clients’ building, then Plaintiff was classified as a trespasser because she climbed onto the building and was not invited. They argued the only legal duty owed to a trespasser is to refrain from intentionally injuring them, which did not occur in this case, as the Plaintiff merely lost her balance and fell.
The Court granted GMR’s motion for summary judgment, agreeing with Eamon and Jillian’s argument that their clients were not negligent in failing to have a safety railing where the roof was inaccessible.
