John Vicente v. Pinto's Auto & Truck Repair, LLC d/b/a Pinto's Truck Repair

Syllabus

he plaintiff, John Vicente, appealed from a Superior Court judgment in favor of the defendant, Pinto's Auto & Truck Repair, LLC. Vicente alleged that Pinto's did not repair his 2004 Freightliner Columbia properly and filed suit alleging negligence, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. Vicente filed an expert disclosure naming an individual who had not agreed to serve as the plaintiff's expert, nor was he qualified to serve as an expert. The defendant moved to strike the expert disclosure and for summary judgment, alleging that, without an expert, the plaintiff could not establish the standard of care and breach thereof. The hearing justice found that an expert was required and gave the plaintiff an additional thirty days to file affidavits or deposition transcripts from a new expert to show that there was a genuine issue of material fact. After plaintiff failed to file the same, the hearing justice granted summary judgment in the defendant's favor. The Supreme Court held that the hearing justice properly granted summary judgment because the plaintiff did not bring forth any admissible evidence to show a dispute of material fact. Therefore, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.