Michele P. Frisbie

Practice Details

• Firm Information
  Position

  Shareholder

  Firm Name

  Marshall Dennehey
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Significant Representative Matters: Obtained a dismissal with prejudice in a Magisterial District Court matter involving breach of duty allegations against members of a homeowners' association board. The pro se plaintiff claimed the board officers violated the Pennsylvania Uniform Planned Community Act by failing to properly notice
  conduct meetings, perform annual audits,
  manage community funds. We successfully argued that the plaintiff's claims were derivative in nature
  therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Magisterial District Judge. 'The Judge took no testimony or evidence,'
  the matter was dismissed.
  Obtained a summary judgment in favor of a HOA, with the court holding that the HOA had no duty to protect the plaintiffs from the attacks of a neighbors' dangerous dog. On two occasions, the plaintiffs were attacked by their neighbors' dogs, causing serious injuries
  permanent scarring. The plaintiffs alleged that the HOA had a duty to protect them from the co-defendants' dogs. The court granted summary judgment for the HOA, holding that under McMahon v. Pleasant Valley West Association, 952 A.2d 731 (Pa. Commw. 2008), an HOA has a 'duty to the members of the common-interest community to use ordinary care
  prudence in managing the property of the community that is subject to its control.' However, that duty does not extend to removing an allegedly dangerous dog as the HOA has neither the obligation nor the ability to remove dogs from the community.
  Won an arbitration in a premises liability case where the plaintiff claimed she slipped
  fell on a container of clear h
  sanitizer spilled on the floor of the baking goods aisle of a grocery store. The plaintiff acknowledged she was not looking where she was going. There was no evidence of how the substance got on the floor, how long it had been there, or that the store was aware of it.
  Obtained a dismissal with prejudice of a products liability case filed against an alcohol beverage manufacturer. The Plaintiffs are individuals who were seriously injured or killed when the alleged minor drunk driver of the vehicle in which they were passengers was involved in a single car accident. The Plaintiffs claimed that the manufacturer was liable to them because the product had more alcohol than other alcohol beverages, was improperly marketed to minors, like their driver,
  did not warn of the dangers associated with the beverage. Our team argued several points including that Pennsylvania does not recognize such a products liability cause of action because the dangers of drinking alcohol
  driving are obvious,
  the manufacturer has no duty to warn potential users of such dangers. Additionally, alcohol is not an unreasonably dangerous product.
  Obtained a transfer
  dismissal with prejudice on a motion to dismiss in a legal malpractice action. We argued that the plaintiff's claim that the negligence of her daughter's court-appointed guardian ad litem led to the award of custody of the child to the father following a dependency hearing. The custody award, the plaintiff alleged, put her at a disadvantage in the divorce
  damaged her
  the child. First, Michele successfully argued for the transfer of the matter from the county of the mother's residence to the county of the dependency hearing. She then successfully argued that the plaintiff had no right to bring a cause of action for herself or the child.
  Defense verdict for a real estate seller's agent in a claim of misrepresentation of the condition of the property.
  Defense verdict in a coverage claim arising out of wind damage to a mobile home.
  Motion to dismiss granted in a case claiming appraisers conspired with the builder of a residential development to conceal the presence of a Superfund site adjacent to the development.
  Motion to dismiss granted in a case against attorneys who allegedly failed to timely file a legal malpractice cause of action arising from an underlying toxic tort claim.
  Secured the voluntary withdrawal of a case against a local sewer authority which allegedly improperly removed trees from the easement that ran over the plaintiff's property.
  Secured the dismissal of a claim that an insurance broker allegedly failed to secure a binder for a homeowners' policy which resulted in no coverage after a fire.
  Secured the dismissal of a mental health institution in a case where the plaintiff, a convicted murderer, claimed that if the institution had not negligently treated him for his drug
  alcohol addictions, he would not have committed the crime.
  Published Works: 'Video Training Offerings During
  After COVID-19 Leave Gym Operators
  Trainers Open to These Liability Issues,' Club Industry, June 14, 2020
  'Law Firms That Put Employees' Well-Being First Get A Lot More in Return,' The Legal Intelligencer, June 2, 2020
  'Please Release Me? Gym Releases
  Other Agreements with Exculpatory Clauses,' Defense Digest, September 2018, Vol. 24, No. 3
  'The 'Deciders' on Preemptive Strikes, ' Defense Digest, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2007
  'Pennsylvania Supreme Court Clearing Paths for Municipal Tort Plaintiffs, ' Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1999
• Pro Bono Services

  Board of Directors Central Bucks Family YMCA