Patrick Lawless (Partner-New York) represented a city housing authority in a case involving serious internal injuries to a seven-year-old who fell off a playground ladder that was slippery allegedly due to its placement near a sprinkler set up for children to play. At the close of discovery, the agency moved for summary judgment on the ground that it did not create or have notice of the alleged hazardous condition, and the infant-plaintiff had testified he knew the ladder was slippery from the wet children who climbed on it ahead of him. Nevertheless, the New York Supreme Court denied the agency’s motion. In an order dated August 5, 2020, the Second Department reversed the Supreme Court’s order, rejecting the affidavit of the infant-plaintiff that alleged the ladder was wet before the wet children climbed on it on the ground that the affidavit "presented what appears to be a feigned issue of fact, designed to avoid the consequences of [his] earlier deposition testimony." The court also held that the agency demonstrated that it did not have actual or constructive notice of the alleged hazardous condition, and that in opposition to this prima facie showing, the plaintiff again failed to raise an issue of fact. The court noted that since there is “no non-speculative basis to find that the accident was caused by water from the sprinkler, the evidence that the agency had actual knowledge of such a recurring dangerous condition was insufficient to raise an issue of fact.”