Food, Beverage & Hospitality

Food and beverage producers, hotels, restaurants and grocers are among Weber Gallagher’s clients in this industry. We appear before state and federal courts and in administrative proceedings on their behalf. They engage us for workers’ compensation and employment matters, including Medicare set-asides and discrimination claims. Our attorneys also represent them in dram shop actions and other general liability matters, including bodily injury and property damage. Other areas in which we provide counsel include:

Licensing
Business/Organization creation
Commercial transactions
Environmental issues and toxic torts
Product liability
Food poisoning matters
Risk management

Experience

Won summary judgment on behalf of a multinational chain of convenience stores dismissing a high exposure premises liability case in Kings County, NY, by establishing that the alleged defect, a decommissioned fuel cap, was de minimus, trivial and therefore, not actionable.
Obtained a verdict where plaintiff was involved in an altercation inside a hotel and sustained significant injuries including 3 separate leg and ankle fractures which required surgical intervention in the form of an ORIF of his leg and ankle. Following the surgery, plaintiff developed a hole in his leg due to his underlying diabetes. The last demand made before starting opening statements was $1.2 million. The case was tried to verdict and the jury found in favor of the plaintiff. However, our client, the hotel, was only found liable for 35% of the damage. The total verdict and our clients liability was more than $1 million less than the initial demand.
Defended a premises liability case after a five-day jury trial where the plaintiff alleged that she slipped and fell in unidentified liquid on a tile floor. The cause of the fall was initially identified as the plaintiff tripping on the carpeted area for an unknown reason as there were no defects in the area. The plaintiff sustained a closed head injury and a displaced, comminuted distal humerus fracture for which she underwent open reduction with internal fixation. The medical records confirmed that the plaintiff reported tripping on the carpet. Despite the witness accounts that the plaintiff tripped over her own feet, she continued to prosecute the case claiming she fell on liquid. After the trial, where the defense focused on the inconsistent stories of what caused the plaintiff to fall, the jury found that there was no water on the floor where the plaintiff alleged she fell, and that the client was not negligent in causing the plaintiff’s fall (6-0). The plaintiff’s initial settlement demand was $500,000.

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