Interoffice memorandum

On May 3 2018 Sal Govenale and Benjy Bronk were playing catch with a football at the Vesuvio Playground located on the corner of Prince and Thompson Street in Manhattan. Benjy shouted to Sal “Go out for the long one. If you catch it the beers and dumplings are on me.” With all of his strength Benjy threw back his arm and wailed the pigskin far into the area toward the furthest end of the playground. Sal dashed in the direction of the pass and carefully followed the ball as it sailed through the air. Just as he was about to reach up to snatch the ball Sal’s foot hit a raised uneven cracked edge of the sidewalk adjacent to the paved playground. In an instant Sal’s body slammed to the pavement. Sal felt a sharp burning pain in this left knee. Unable to move Sal was taken via ambulance to the emergency room at Bellevue Hospital. At the hospital doctors informed Sal that as a result of his fall his medial collateral ligament (“MCL”) the ligament that runs along the inside of the knee was torn and severely damaged. In addition Sal’s lateral collateral ligament (“LCL”) the ligament that is on the outside of the knee was partially torn. Both injuries required immediate surgery and several months of post-operative rehabilitation. Sal retained a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the City of New York for negligence in New York County Supreme Court. Sal claimed that the City’s failure to maintain and correct sidewalk defects including the one-inch gap between the sidewalk slabs where he fell and was injured constituted negligence on the part of the City. During his deposition Sal testified that he had played catch in Vesuvio Park at least 20 times before the day he was injured and was aware that the playground and the sidewalk surrounding the playground were in poor condition. The City filed a Motion for Summary Judgment seeking dismissal of Sal’s case on the grounds that an individual engaging in a sporting event assumes the risk of injury and as a result the City of New York should not be held responsible for Sal’s injury. The New York Supreme Court denied the City’s Summary Judgment Motion. The City of New York is deciding whether to file an appeal of the New York County Supreme Court’s decision. You work as a paralegal for the New York City Law Department (the attorneys for the City of New York). The supervising attorney in your division has requested that you prepare a 3-5 page (12 point/Times New Roman font) Inter Office Memorandum outlining the factual and legal issues presented by Mr. Governale’s case. Your Interoffice Memorandum should follow the sample found on Pages 732-735 of the course eText. A template of the Interoffice Memorandum is posted under Week 14’s Required Resources’ module. In preparation of your Interoffice Memorandum you may use any source you want to perform your research (e.g. Lexis Westlaw internet etc.).