In the world of personal injury litigation, summary judgment motions for dismissal averring that a slip or fall on the ground or a step was caused by a “trivial defect” often result in a favorable decision for the defendant, as a matter of law, regardless of the severity of the alleged injury.
In Loughran v. City of New York1 the Court of Appeals held that legal liability does not turn on whether a hole or depression that causes a pedestrian to fall is based on the number of inches of its depth or causes a trap. Reviewing each case on its merits, the question of a municipality’s liability is dependent on whether it ‘neglected and failed to keep its public thoroughfares … in a condition reasonably safe for pedestrians.”
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