New York Attorneys Prevail in Building Renovation Case
New York City Attorneys Courtney A. Chadwell and Christopher L. Grayson recently obtained dismissal in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, on behalf of our third-party defendant architect group following renovation work performed during a commercial building conversion to a residential luxury condominium building in New York City.
The Plaintiff’s building was originally built and operated as a commercial building, and was later converted to luxury residential condominium units. Several years after the conversion, the Condominium Board of Managers discovered a multitude of leaks throughout the building, as well as numerous defective and unsafe conditions, and multiple building code violations related to the construction performed during the conversion to a residential condominium. The Condominium Board of Managers filed action against the Condominium Sponsors and related entities for, among other counts, misrepresentation of the extent and the quality of the renovation. Subsequently, Defendants filed a third-party action against numerous entities, including our client’s architectural professional service firm, alleging four causes of action, comprising: common law indemnification; common law contribution; contractual indemnification; and, breach of contract for failure to procure insurance.
Our client’s attorney, Courtney Chadwell, drafted our Motion to Dismiss Third-Party Defendants’ four causes of action in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and Litchfield Cavo co-counsel Chris Grayson prepared and filed a Reply Memorandum to Third-Party Plaintiff’s opposition in New York County. Courtney Chadwell, argued that the claims asserted against our client must be dismissed due to Third-Party Plaintiffs’ own negligence. She also argued that that there was no privity regarding the contractual causes of action because the proposal from our client was addressed to and accepted by a non-party entity, and there was no language in the proposal that suggested an intent to treat Third-Party Plaintiffs as beneficiaries. Additionally, the only written agreement involving our client was a non-binding proposal that did not contain any contractual obligation regarding insurance or indemnification.
Our attorneys’ Motion was subsequently granted in December 2024, and the Court dismissed our client from the case that remains ongoing against the other parties.
Courtney’s extensive litigation experience includes defending clients in general litigation matters, and defending general contractors, owners, and subcontractors in personal injury matters brought by construction site employees.
Chris concentrates his practice in the areas of professional liability, premises liability, New York Labor Law, insurance coverage defense and products liability. He has represented insureds, private clients and municipalities in property damage, wrongful death and personal injury cases.