Another lawsuit where good vetting of the client and factual circumstances did not occur:
After being stuck in an elevator, an inebriated passenger decided to take matters into his own hands, pried the doors open and tried to jump or climb out. The elevator was well lit and other passengers had told him help was on the way.
Remarkably, this poor factual circumstance was his second version of events. The first had claimed that the elevator’s fifth floor door opened but the elevator was not present, causing him to fall down the elevator shaft. The problem was that this was negated by plaintiff’s own expert neurologist, who averred that plaintiff’s recollection of the events “may not be reliable” and that plaintiff admitted that he cannot recall the circumstances of his fall.
What seemed to be lacking here was a basic investigation of the facts before putting this loser into suit. Case dismissed by the Appellate Division, Department in Jennings v 1704 Realty, L.L.C..