Partner Patrick O’Haire Whitford Obtains Directed Verdict On Trial In Queens Civil Court.

Partner Patrick Whitford obtained a directed verdict in a property damage action in Queens. The plaintiff sought damages when she claimed that work by our client disconnected her from a sewer line connection. Our client was servicing the wastewater pipe of an adjoining property owner. Although she was warned to bring an attorney and witnesses to support her allegations, she appeared pro se and without any supporting proof.    

Patrick was able to object to each allegation that the plaintiff made during her opening and the presentation of direct evidence, successfully obtaining rulings excluding her testimony as either hearsay or lack of foundation.  At the close of the plaintiff’s case, Patrick’s motion for a directed verdict was granted and the plaintiff’s case was dismissed in its entirety.  Had it not been dismissed, three witnesses were prepared to testify that all of the plaintiff’s allegations were without foundation and contradicted by the documentary evidence in the possession of the NYC DEP and the consulting Arborist.