A
fire broke out at the Plaintiff’s restaurant, causing extensive structural
damage to the restaurant, including destruction of the roof. The Defendant’s
HVAC repair company was sued with the Plaintiff averring that it improperly
installed and/or failed to warn of a dangerous condition which caused the fire.
Specifically, the HVAC unit was installed without appropriate insulation and too
close to the wall of the restaurant. The defense successfully argued that the
Plaintiff had insufficient evidence to prove these allegations. Furthermore,
since this Defendant did not install this particular HVAC unit and did not
repair the unit at its junction with the restaurant wall, it could not legally
be held responsible for this accident. A Non-Suit was entered after three days
of trial.
Demand
$897,000
Offer
$50,000
Result
Non-Suit for Defendant
Venue
Allegheny County
Judge
Friedman
Attorneys
Paul J. Walsh III
and
Trisha A. Gill
Tried
November 2004
A
fire broke out at the Plaintiff’s restaurant, causing extensive structural
damage to the restaurant, including destruction of the roof. The Defendant’s
HVAC repair company was sued with the Plaintiff averring that it improperly
installed and/or failed to warn of a dangerous condition which caused the fire.
Specifically, the HVAC unit was installed without appropriate insulation and too
close to the wall of the restaurant. The defense successfully argued that the
Plaintiff had insufficient evidence to prove these allegations. Furthermore,
since this Defendant did not install this particular HVAC unit and did not
repair the unit at its junction with the restaurant wall, it could not legally
be held responsible for this accident. A Non-Suit was entered after three days
of trial.