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Plaintiff, who was injured when a ceiling fan fell out of her ceiling onto her, sues the contractor who installed the fan. After a year of discovery, the Defendant contractor files a motion for summary judgment which includes an affidavit from a professional engineer that the fan was installed correctly, but that there was invisible wood rot that, through no fault of the contractor, caused the ceiling to fail. Plaintiff does not respond. The court should rule in favor of this party.
What is the defendant?
Explanation: The contractor is assuming a heavier burden than that required by the rules: It is attempting to disprove an element of plaintiff’s claim. While not required, this motion would certainly suffice to show that plaintiff cannot succeed. The affidavit testimony of the expert witness appears to cover the relevant issues and to be within the appropriate area of expertise. The plaintiff could have responded in a way to defeat summary judgment, as by questioning the factual basis of the expert’s opinion or by countering with an expert of their own, but given the plaintiff’s failure to respond, the court could properly grant summary judgment to the defendant.