I believe that it is unnecessary and unfair to defendants in such cases to allow a jury to infer negligence. Instead, I would require that the plaintiffs prove specific acts of negligence just like in any other tort case. Further, I believe the trial court was correct in granting summary judgment in favor of the City of Keyser. West Virginia cities and towns are spending millions for lawsuit-related costs. Some towns reported spending a sizeable portion of their budgets on litigation-related costs.
Small towns appear to be especially hard hit by lawsuit-related cost the survey shows.
Some towns are spending one-third or more of their budgets. The majority decision will further aggravate this problem. Accordingly, I dissent in part, and concur in part.