Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP

WCM's Long Island office had a recent summary judgment victory on the case Shelley Headley v. Alana Payne et al with a successful motion filed by counsel Patrick Argento with guidance of supervising partner Gina Arnedos. 

This case involved a Plaintiff with 50 years of horseback riding who fell off of a horse owned by our clients, owners of Payne Farm. Patrick successfully persuaded the judge that no triable or material issues of fact existed as under both the Plaintiff’s version and our clients’ version, Plaintiff clearly assumed the inherent risk of riding a horse. In both versions, Plaintiff ignored not one but two opportunities to wear a helmet, either her own which she could have brought or one of the many the farm had available to borrow. She also presented herself as an expert rider and openly acknowledged that getting knocked off a horse is an inherent risk of horseback riding and that even the most well-trained horse can buck for almost any reason. This position was only strengthened by our expert Greg Coulson. Coulson’s expert affidavit clearly laid out how Plaintiff assumed the inherent risk of horseback riding and our clients did not increase that risk in any way. Plaintiff, in their opposition, failed to raise a triable issue of fact of any kind as the judge noted all the arguments they raised were limited to speculation and conjecture. Patrick’s victory on this motion is a huge win as Plaintiff claimed several significant injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, which could have led to massive exposure to the clients. Patrick’s hard work on this motion and the guidance provided to him by Gina led to a big win for our clients.

For any questions about WCM's defense of equine claims, other sports-related accidents, contact Gina at garnedos@wcmlaw.com.