Fonda v. 157 East 74th Co.

*298In this property damage action, which arises out of appellant’s excavation for the foundation of a new high-rise building, respondents claim that appellant’s improper underpinning of their townhouses, situated on either side of the excavation, caused them to sustain substantial and costly structural damage. During lengthy and protracted depositions, testimony was given alleging that appellant had deliberately and knowingly violated accepted industry practice by taking dangerous shortcuts in the underpinning process.

Upon completion of depositions on June 30, 1988, respondents drafted an…