Summary Dismissal In Tragic Child Injury Case

April 25, 2018

Patton & Ryan Partner, Stephen R. Niemeyer and Associate, Ryan H. Voss, recently obtained summary dismissal in a tragic case wherein a ten-year-old child’s leg was amputated after he was struck by a commuter train while running across a grade-level railroad crossing. The child and his mother brought suit against the commuter rail company, his school district, and the school bus contractor (who was represented by P&R), alleging that the district and the school bus contractor had negligently designated the child’s bus stop in close proximity to the grade crossing.

P&R, being fully aware of the tragic and sympathetic nature of this case, knew that a delicate motion strategy needed to be employed to achieve summary dismissal and avoid a hazardous trial. Therefore, P&R employed a “rope-a-dope” strategy, taking a facially passive position at the initiation of the suit by answering the complaint instead of filing a motion to dismiss. When the co-defendant school district aggressively filed their own motion to dismiss, the Plaintiffs’ attorneys focused heavily on establishing liability against the district. In the process, the Plaintiffs argued that it was the school district, and the school district alone, that designated bus stops.

Just as P&R planned, in fighting the school district’s motion, the Plaintiffs had inadvertently proved they had no case against the school bus company. We filed a motion citing Plaintiffs’ own arguments which was granted in an expedited manner. As a result, P&R’s client was extricated from this case with a minimal amount of discovery and expense to the client. Moreover, the extremely sympathetic nature of the case would have made for a verdict potential in the high seven figures. Thus, the “rope-a-dope” strategy led to an optimal result for P&R’s client.