$500,000
My client was walking from her apartment to her vehicle parked in the carport when she slipped and fell on ice as she was stepping from the sidewalk into the carport suffering a traumatic brain injury. The Apartment Complex had hired an outside snow removal business to apply salt to the parking lot surface and the Apartment Complex retained responsibility for keeping the sidewalk clear of ice. The problems caused by the traumatic brain injury were subtle and further complicated by the fact that client suffered from hydrocephalus, which is a congenital condition which is a fluid build up deep within the ventricles of the brain. We contended that the Apartment Complex failed to exercise reasonable care to keep the sidewalks free from ice for its tenants and also named the snow removal company as a Defendant. The Apartment Complex contended that the client slipped on ice located on the carport parking lot surface and that the snow removal business was responsible. The snow removal business contended that the client slipped on ice located on the sidewalk and the Apartment Complex was responsible. We contended that the Apartment Complex was ultimately responsible for exercising reasonable care to see that the sidewalks and carport parking lot surface was free from ice so it didn’t matter where client slipped. We were able to show that the client suffered an impairment of new memory and learning through neuropsychological testing which impairment was made worse because of her pre-existing hydrocephalus condition.