Attorney John Dealy successfully obtained a defense verdict in a two-day jury trial in Lowell District Court. He represented the agent who facilitated the rental of the beach property to the plaintiff’s family. The plaintiff filed a negligence suit against the agent as well as the owner of the property.
The case arose from an incident where a minor plaintiff, a guest at a beach rental property, jumped from a deck onto the sand while on vacation with his parents. He sliced his foot open on a piece of metal alleged to have been part of sand fencing, which was buried in the sand adjacent to the deck. He sustained a large laceration to his right foot requiring over 30 sutures.
As a result of his injuries, the minor plaintiff claimed his activities were significantly limited over the course of the summer. Further, the minor plaintiff had a keloid scar and complained of ongoing, intermittent pain as a direct result of the subject incident. Prior to trial, the plaintiff’s settlement demand was $275,000.
During the trial, Attorney Dealy maintained that the defendant rental agent had neither control over the property nor responsibility for maintenance or repair of the home or the surrounding property, such that his client did not owe any duty of care to the minor plaintiff. Further, Attorney Dealy argued that the alleged defect was hidden, and the defendant agent was not aware of it and had no opportunity to remedy or repair it. Finally, as to damages, Attorney Dealy argued that while the minor plaintiff’s injury was unfortunate, he was able to attend a day camp toward the end of the summer after being medically cleared and even played tackle football in the fall.
After a two-day trial, the jury returned with a defense verdict in favor of Attorney Dealy’s client, and despite finding that the co-defendant property owner acted negligently, the jury found that his negligence was not a legal cause of the minor plaintiff’s injuries.
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