Falls

Construction Site Fall – $2,000,000 Settlement
Our construction litigation team obtained a cash and annuity settlement with a value in excess of $2,000,000 on behalf of the survivors of a sheet metal worker who fell four stories to his death through a defective scaffold railing at a construction site near San Francisco.  The decedent was working as an independent contractor on a re-roofing project at a large private residence.  Our attorneys demonstrated that the building, which had been entirely scaffolded by a subcontractor, was in an unsafe condition.  Using experts in construction site management, scaffold erection, and forensic economics, our wrongful death attorneys proved that the scaffold and its cross-arms has not been properly secured and that it was this error which resulted in the decedent’s death.  The recovery included economic damages exceeding $1,000,000, representing the loss of future salary, benefits and household services of the decedent. 

Slip & Fall – $500,000 Settlement
Our premises team successfully concluded an action against Mervyn’s Department Stores on behalf of a 47-year-old woman who slipped and fell at a Mervyn’s Store on a piece of discarded cardboard.  The packaging, which had been negligently left on the floor in violation of store rules and guidelines, was the same color as the carpeting, and could not been seen by patrons shopping at the facility.  Our premises liability team demonstrated that Mervyn’s personnel, responsible for supervising the area, had violated store policy by not making routine and periodic inspections of the sales floor.  The settlement, in the amount of $500,000, compensated our client for a herniated lumbar disc, and her resulting inability to continue in her occupation.