Andrew J. Heck (Partner-Madison, NJ), assisted by Mellis Bakir (Associate-Madison, NJ), obtained summary judgment in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Cape May County, for Wilson Elser's client, a manufacturer and developer of durable tools and accessories. The plaintiff suffered water damage to his property when water condensate pumps manufactured by the client allegedly leaked. The co-defendant/third-party plaintiff that installed the allegedly defective pumps filed a Third-Party Complaint against the client, raising allegations of design and manufacturing failures. After engaging in preliminary discovery, it became evident that the third-party plaintiff had “lost” possession of the pumps, after it had conducted an inspection of same, despite the pumps being labeled “not trash.” Andrew and Mellis argued that the third-party plaintiff could not prove a case against the client without the at-issue pumps. Essentially, due to this spoliation, the client no longer had a chance to inspect the pumps and get their own experts to opine as to their condition. They further argued that no photographs or exemplars would suffice to remedy the prejudice, and even if they moved to bar the third-party plaintiff’s experts from testifying at trial based on their inspection of the alleged pumps, it would necessarily lead to the same result that they were now seeking, which was dismissal of the claims against the client. As a result, the court granted Wilson Elser's motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims against the client with prejudice.