Christopher A. Kanjo Obtains Full Defense Victory in Professional Liability Case

Congratulations to Christopher A. Kanjo for obtaining a full defense victory for the firm's client, a certified water remediation specialist, in a twenty four day trial spread over the course of two months.

The plaintiff suffered water damage to her property, twice, in November and December of 2011.

The firm's client was called in by the plaintiff, post-incident, to examine blackwater damage. After examination, he determined that the damaged area contained asbestos tiles, which would need to be removed by another contractor. When asked by the plaintiff to give a referral for asbestos removal, he did so as a courtesy to the plaintiff.

The plaintiff had the tiles removed, and shortly later filed suit against the contractor as well as the firm's client, claiming she did not want the tiles removed in the first place and had been tricked into it by our client, that the abatement was performed improperly, and that both defendants had committed unfair business practices and fraud. She also claimed that there was a bad smell left from the tile removal, and that the house was now uninhabitable.

After digging deeply, including hiring a private investigator, it turned out that the plaintiff's claims about living in the home, her marriage, her roommates, and even how the loss occurred were largely untrue. An impeachment witness directly contradicted her testimony about not wanting the tiles removed, and testified that she had forged additional language on his estimate to support her claim. Although the contractor was found to have made mistakes in the abatement, all twelve jurors sided with the firm's client and gave the company a complete defense verdict on all seven causes of action.