$310,000 Settlement for Premises Liability / Slip and Fall

Mr. Molinari represented a 46-year-old woman who fell down half a flight of stairs in a private residence after a night of drinking. John was able to prove that the homeowner removed the handrail on the steps several weeks earlier. Our client suffered head trauma, a T7 vertebral body (spine) compression fracture requiring immobilization and thoracolumbar support for 3 months, a cervical disc protrusion at spine levels C7-T1, and a lumbar spine disc herniation at L5-S1 requiring pain management, a discogram and a subsequent lumbar discectomy surgical procedure. The defendant contended that he had warned our client about the missing handrail, but that due to her level of intoxication, she fell down the steps anyway. Hospital records documented that the plaintiff was severely intoxicated at the time of her fall.