Practices
Related Practices
Horvitz & Levy LLP successfully defended the trial court’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Horvitz & Levy’s client, a security company. The appellate court affirmed the judgment in full, absolving our client of any liability.
Plaintiff Kali Hais went drinking with a friend at The Standard hotel in downtown Los Angeles and then volunteered to be an extra in a Christian Bale movie being filmed at the hotel’s pool. She then left the hotel and fell while walking down a driveway leading into a nearby parking lot. Plaintiff sued our client, the security company for the parking lot, claiming that she was drugged during the filming, causing her to lose any memory of the incident. She further argued that, because she was found with one sandal missing, she must have been chased by a security guard, causing her to fall. The trial court granted summary judgment on the ground that the plaintiff failed to create a triable issue of fact that the security company had caused her injury.
The plaintiff appealed and Horvitz & Levy was retained to defend the summary judgment ruling on appeal. The plaintiff argued for the first time on appeal that because she has amnesia from the accident, there should be a presumption that she acted with due care. The California Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Two) rejected this contention because it was based on case law interpreting a statute that was repealed in 1967. The Court of Appeal rejected the plaintiff’s other arguments and affirmed the judgment in its entirety.