The Missouri Court of Appeals-Eastern District has upheld a summary judgement obtained by Kathleen Hamilton and Bradley Zaffiri in a Circuit Court of St. Louis case (Zygler v Hawkins Construction, et al., Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District, ED108543).

Appellant brought three points on appeal: (1) that Respondents may not rely on the acceptance doctrine as an affirmation defense to his claim of general negligence; (2) that even if the acceptance doctrine applied, genuine issues of material fact existed about whether the general contractor accepted Respondents’ work at the time of Appellant’s injury; and (3) that Respondents owed him a heightened duty of care as a third-party beneficiary of the contracts between the general contractor and Respondents. The court found all three points were without merit because the general contractor had accepted the subcontractor’s work, relieving it from liability of any claims of negligence against third parties.

Both Hamilton (a partner) and Zaffiri (an associate attorney) work in the firm’s St. Louis office and focus their practices on complex tort litigation. Both attorneys have been named to the list of Rising Stars by Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers.