Appellate Success in the Rain
After Oral Argument on February 12, 2026, Chief Appellate Counsel, Ashley Leasure obtained a victory in the Sixth District Court of Appeal, which affirmed the summary judgment obtained by Meredith Stephens and Hillary Hazeltine in favor of our client.
The plaintiff claimed she slipped on rainwater near the entrance of the store on September 10, 2017, the day Hurricane Irma made landfall. She filed suit alleging the store negligently failed to maintain safe floor conditions and warn of the hazard.
The trial court granted summary judgment in our client’s favor, finding that the Plaintiff failed to establish actual or constructive knowledge of the alleged dangerous condition under section 768.0755, Florida Statutes which governs transitory foreign substances. Critical to this finding was objective CCTV footage showing over 70 patrons traversed the area without incident in the minutes before the Plaintiff’s slip, and that a floor mat and caution cone were in place, contradicting Plaintiff’s testimony.
On appeal, Attorney Leasure successfully defended the ruling, demonstrating that the trial court properly applied Florida’s updated summary judgment standard, that the brief timeframe during which the water could have been present was legally insufficient to establish constructive notice, and that general awareness of rain causing wet floors does not establish a recurring condition.
Our Rissman Victories Series showcases some of the most relevant and timely examples of our expertise and highly practiced approach. We consider the interests of our clients as paramount, and take pride in delivering consistent and meaningful results time and again.
