$460,000 FOR ‘BERM JAYWALKER’
This was another extremely challenging case successfully concluded recently by the Petrillo and Goldberg personal injury litigation team.
Our client was leaving her doctor’s office. Instead of using the steps available to cross a grassy decline leading to her parked vehicle, our client tried to cut across and walk down the grassy berm. To make matters worse, the grass was wet. She fell, broke her leg and required numerous agonizing surgeries.
“I don’t think we could have done as well as we did despite the enormous liability difficulties encountered in the case but for the diligence, sweat and hard work that our
entire team put forward in this case.”
The case looked nearly impossible from a liability standpoint until our aggressive investigation revealed the presence of an old defunct sprinkler system pipe that was difficult to see just below the sidewalk at the top of the grassy decline. It turned out that the old defunct sprinkler pipe had apparently caused the plaintiff’s fall when she tried to take a shortcut to her vehicle parked nearby.
We hired an expert who testified that the old sprinkler pipe constituted a code violation and hazard. But the defense hired an expert who disputed that and argued that the “jaywalking” and not the pipe was the true cause of the plaintiff’s fall.
“The case was aggressively and extensively litigated before trial,” said certified civil trial attorney Scott Goldberg. “After numerous conferences, depositions and the use of a professional mediator, we were able to successfully settle the case without trial – which is what our client wanted.”
Everyone involved in the case, even the supervising trial judge, agreed that, had this case gone to trial, there was the significant possibility for a defense verdict on liability. The case settled to the plaintiff’s satisfaction without trial. Goldberg again praised the Petrillo and Goldberg “team approach” for a successful resolution of the case. “I think just about everyone in the entire office worked long and hard on this case,” said Goldberg. “We meant business, and it
showed at every turn. I don’t think we could have done as well as we did despite the enormous liability difficulties encountered in the case but for the diligence, sweat and hard work that our
entire team put forward in this case.”
We found the obscured pipe, aggressively asserted our theory of the case and the results proved favorable to all.