Halbach v. Normandy Real Estate Partners

I agree with the majority that, under current case law, the defendants had no duty to repair the publicly-owned sidewalk abutting their property, or to warn people of the defects there. In fact, such a rule has long been established. See, e.g., Kirby v. Boylston Mkt. Assn., 14 Gray 249, 252 (1860). Whether to alter that rule is a question that properly falls to the Supreme Judicial Court. I write separately to note that the plaintiffs have a more forceful case for such a change in the law than the majority opinion suggests.

In declining to recognize that owners of property abutting a public…