Plaintiff in this case was fifty-six years old at the time of the accident. She was running at night when she encountered a 3 inch differential between slabs of concrete on a side walk. Her foot hit the differential and stopped moving while her body flew forward. Plaintiff ended up dislocating and fracturing her hip requiring a nine hour operation. Winer, Burritt & Scott, LLP were retained and were able to obtain an opinion from the treating orthopedist that plaintiff would require two total knee replacements in the future. Further, the law firm retained and arborist who testified that a tree on the home owner’s property caused the differential between the slabs of concrete. The defense took the position that the accident was entirely plaintiffs fault because she should not have been running at night and should have been paying closer attention, further; the defense claimed that plaintiff would only require one total knee replacement in the future.
RESULT: Case settled in favor of plaintiff for $800,000.