White and Williams Get Results

DISCLAIMER: Please note that every case is different and these verdicts and settlements, while accurate, do not represent what we may obtain for you in your case.

Man fell down steps at apartment

Our client lived in a garden apartment complex owned and managed by the defendant. He was walking down a set of stairs in a common area of his apartment building, when a couple of the stairs pulled away from the wall. He fell forward and hit his head. He developed post-concussive headache syndrome and cognitive deficits. At the time of the accident, he was employed as a drywall finisher. He returned to work for several months after the accident, then went out of work due to his recurring headaches and trouble organizing his work responsibilities.

The defendant in this case claimed that it had no way of knowing that the stairs were weak or likely to collapse, since the structural problem was underneath the stairway and not visible. We were able to demonstrate that evidence of water infiltration into the area where the stairwell was located should have alerted the defendants of the potential for structural weakening of the stairs.

The defendant also claimed that our client had no head injury whatsoever. The emergency room records in this case did not mention any head injury and it said that there was no loss of consciousness. The medical expert hired by the defendant claimed that our client was literally fabricating his injuries.  We were able to demonstrate that our client did in fact report hitting his head immediately after the accident and that his injuries were completely legitimate and truthful, despite the fact that they were not mentioned in the emergency room record.

We obtained a verdict of $685,000 for our client.

Awarded: $685,000 verdict