Hulslander and DeBernardis Win Dismissal of Difficult Security Case

Kevin Hulslander and Tom DeBernardis won summary judgment in an Onondaga County case in which plaintiff was seriously stabbed over most of his body and nearly died after he was knifed in the throat at a local pizza parlor.  The plaintiff blamed poor security at the restaurant for his stabbing, claiming it should have had a security guard on duty late at night to protect patrons especially since there had been stabbings and violence and crime on or near the premises for many years previously.  Hulslander and DeBernardis relied on surveillance footage of the brawl that led to the stabbing to prove the plaintiff voluntarily participated in the fight despite an opportunity to leave the scene, thus precluding him from recovery against the restaurant under New York law.  They also successfully argued the brawl was not foreseeable, and that the pizza parlor was not the insurer of plaintiff’s safety and did not have a duty to provide additional security measures under the circumstances presented.