Premises Liability Cases
The following cases represent a range of premises liability disputes which we have handled for our clients. Due to confidentiality agreements requested by the defendants and their insurers, and to protect the privacy concerns of our clients, the names of the parties and compensation amounts have been withheld.
Apartment Accident in Metro Atlanta.
Through mediation, compensation was obtained for a client who sustained second-degree burns to her thighs when an explosion occurred while lighting a gas grill at an apartment complex. Investigation was hampered by the fact the apartment complex disposed of the grill after the incident. However, based upon photographs and investigation conducted through the discovery process, we established that the maintenance of the grill was negligent and that the resulting gas accumulation due to leakage was foreseeable and had to have occurred at the time due to the injuries received by our client. Our presentation of facts concerning the properties of propane gas was essential to establishing how the incident occurred and what could have been done to avoid the incident.
Premises Negligence Case in Cobb County, Georgia.
A recovery was obtained for a movie theater patron who tripped and fell over a decorative rise in a pedestrian mall. At the time, the pedestrian mall was heavily crowded by other moviegoers and our client did not see the rise in the concrete that was placed at the location to separate the concrete mall from a flower bed. However, due to the lighting, time of day, and size of the crowd in the mall, the rise in the concrete was not seen. The Defendant argued that the rise in the concrete was open and obvious and should have been seen by our client. We conceded that the rise was indeed open and obvious on a sunny day and without any crowds. However, we prevailed in establishing that the circumstances at the time of this specific incident were quite different but foreseeable.
Premises Negligence Case in North Georgia.
We successfully handled another premises liability negligence action brought by carpet installer who sustained a badly injured knee when an escalator malfunctioned as he was moving a roll of carpet by escalator to a job site in a retail store. The trial of this lawsuit was complicated by finger-pointing among the corporate defendants and efforts to blame our client for his own injuries. A substantial verdict was nonetheless obtained.
Apartment Accident in Metro Atlanta.
We also successfully represented a tenant of an apartment complex who slipped and fell from the curb in the parking lot due to lack of lighting and broke her metatarsal bones in her left foot. It was alleged that the management company that operated the complex was aware of the lighting problem but failed to repair the lights in violation of the landlord's duty to keep its premises and approaches safe. We were able to resolve the case without filing a lawsuit after showing the insurance adjuster that Georgia case law supported our position on liability.