Kinast v. Target – On behalf of his client, Target Corporation, Partner Jeff Collins, prevailed by summary judgment in a premises liability negligence matter in US District Court for the District of Arizona. Plaintiff claimed that Target had constructive notice of the alleged condition on the floor that caused her to slip and, in the alternative, that the “mode of operation” rule relieved her of her burden of proving notice. Target presented evidence that 212 other store guests walked through the same aisle without incident within an hour of Plaintiff’s fall, and 14 within two minutes of the fall. Judge Rayes granted summary judgment regarding notice because Plaintiff could not present any evidence of how long the condition was on the floor, and regarding “mode of operation” as there was no evidence that similar conditions arose on a regular basis and created unreasonably dangerous conditions.
Jefferson Collins has been with Jones, Skelton & Hochuli since 1995, and a Partner since 2002. His practice consists primarily of representing insurance carriers regarding insurance coverage related issues. This includes policy interpretation in the first and third-party contexts as well as litigation. This includes many lines of insurance including commercial, professional and personal. Further, Mr. Collins has represented insurance carriers in litigation involving insurance-related disputes including actions for declaratory judgment, breach of contract and insurance bad faith.