“AS IS” CLAUSE TRIPS PLAINTIFF IN JEWELRY STORE ALARM CASE

Touchstone partner, Wayne Gordon, and associates, Amie Fordan and Andrew Johnson, recently obtained a summary judgment on behalf of their client in a Travis County District Court.  The case involved a suit by a jewelry company against the installer of a security system for the store and the alarm monitoring company as a result of a multi-million dollar jewelry heist.  The installer filed a third-party action for contribution against the client, a previous owner of the store when the alarm system was installed, alleging that the previous owner was involved in decisions regarding the design and installation of the system which contributed to the loss.  The sale of the store to the plaintiff contained “as is” language in the sales contract.  The primary basis for the summary judgment was that because of the contract language, the previous owner owed no duty to the plaintiff and therefore cannot be liable on any contribution claim by the installer.  Andrew Johnson successfully argued the Motion before the Court.  Congratulations to all for a great result!