defended an appeal by Plaintiffs to the North Carolina Court of Appeals of the entry of Summary Judgment in favor of a municipality.

PAT FLANAGAN (Charlotte), RYAN BOLICK (Charlotte), and MELODY JOLLY (Wilmington) successfully defended an appeal by Plaintiffs to the North Carolina Court of Appeals of the entry of Summary Judgment in favor of a municipality.  Summary Judgment was granted in favor of the municipality in the Superior Court case in which two subcontractors died while working on a water line project owned by the municipality.  The estates of these subcontractors filed claims for wrongful death alleging that the municipality was negligent in failing to follow appropriate safety procedures and standards, and that the municipality was strictly liable under Chapter 143 of the North Carolina General Statutes due to its alleged failure to discover underground storage tanks near the site of the subcontractors’ deaths.  Plaintiffs’ counsel sought damages in this suit in excess of $10 million.  The Court of Appeals affirmed the Superior Court’s entry of Summary Judgment in favor of Defendant.