HON. PETER B. SKELOS (Ret.) CO-AUTHORS CHAPTER FOR THE NYSBA PUBLICATION, “CONSTRUCTION SITE PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION”
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The Scaffold Law, at its core, imposes two duties on owners, contractors and their statutory agents, subject to certain exceptions not relevant to this discussion. First, there is the duty to “furnish or erect, or cause to be furnished or erected” certain enumerated and other safety devices to be utilized in specified construction projects. Second, the statute requires that the safety devices “be so constructed, placed and operated as to give proper protection to the person so employed.” These statutory obligations have been universally described by the Court of Appeals as “non-delegable” duties.
– NYSBA, Construction Site Personal Injury Litigation, Third Edition, Chapter 7 “Evolution of the Labor Law: A View From the Bench“
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New York, NY (April 5, 2021) – NAM (National Arbitration and Mediation), one of the nation's leading providers of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services, is pleased to announce that Hon. Peter B. Skelos (Ret.), has contributed to the New York State Bar Association's (NYSBA) publication, Construction Site Personal Injury Litigation, Third Edition. Judge Skelos co-authored Chapter 7, Evolution of the Labor Law: A View From the Bench, with Derek Zisser, Esq. of Goldberg Segalla.
The update to Chapter 7 examines the historical evolution of the “Scaffold Law” from the common law to the current iteration of New York Labor Law Sec. 240(1) and the development of the body of law interpreting same. The 3rd edition provides the practitioner with insight into the development of the sole proximate cause and recalcitrant worker defenses, the overlap of those defenses and their application in recent years in the Appellate Division in the context of whether the conduct of a worker may abrogate the Scaffold Law in any way.
About Hon. Peter B. Skelos
Judge Skelos' career includes 11 years spent as an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, Second Judicial Department where he served until his retirement in 2015. Throughout his many years on the bench, he was known for having a keen legal intellect with compassion for those who appeared before him and is rated “Highly Qualified” by the New York State Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission. Judge Skelos' experience both on the bench and in private practice, gives him a broad range of knowledge in numerous areas of the law including construction litigation, professional liability and insurance coverage disputes. In 2020, for the fifth year in a row, Judge Skelos was voted a Top Ten Neutral in the New York Law Journal Best Of Survey and in 2018, for the second straight year, he was named a National Law Journal Alternative Dispute Resolution Champion, as part of a select group of only 46 nationwide. Judge Skelos is also Of Counsel to Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP.
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