McCollum Crowley Attorneys Dan Singel and Cheryl Hood Langel Secure Summary Judgment Dismissing Retailer After Trial Commences

After taking over the defense of a case just months before trial, McCollum Crowley lawyers Dan Singel and Cheryl Hood Langel won a motion to amend the retailer’s Answer to assert a statute of limitations defense at trial. Dan Singel began the jury trial and expected to bring a motion for directed verdict on the statute of limitations. But things didn’t go as planned…

On the third day of trial, the firm’s retail client realized that one of the jurors had lied during voir dire by hiding the fact she had been a prior claimant of the retailer—represented by none other than the plaintiff’s counsel handling the trial! The Court granted a new trial based on the juror misconduct.

Based on a confidential agreement reached between the law firms, McCollum Crowley filed a motion for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations and supported the motion with the plaintiff’s trial cross-examination testimony. The Court determined that the plaintiff failed to present prima facie evidence showing the retailer had negligently maintained its property. The Court reversed its earlier denial of summary judgment, side-stepped the law-of-the-case doctrine, and granted the retailer summary judgment, holding that the two-year statute of limitations barred the plaintiff’s claim.

For more information and questions please contact:

DANIEL J. SINGEL
Shareholder
McCollum Crowley Moschet Miller & Laak, Ltd.
7900 Xerxes Avenue South, Suite 700
Minneapolis, MN 55431-1127
djs@mccollumlaw.com

Phone:

720-410-7003

Fax:

303-785-8340