Looking back and understanding the success and failures of past cases is necessary for an attorney to learn from his craft and better prepare for his next feat in the court room. This post will be the first of a Case Study series where I will seek to highlight some of the most important cases I’ve fought for to reflect on the priceless insights I have learned from these cases.
My hope is that by reflecting on these essential cases from my legal portfolio will allow readers to gain insights into best practices they can use if they ever find themselves in a similar situation to my clients.
Overview:
Slip and falls are one of the most common forms of personal injury. These cases, like any other, demand an attentive and determined legal counsel to get the best reward for their client. My client Shawn’s story demonstrates how the extra mile is always needed from legal counsel, as well as, some important insights into how someone could better help their legal team prepare for a personal injury defense.
Facts of the Case:
Shawn had been shopping in a supermarket with his baby in a stroller when a slip and fall changed his life. While going down the produce aisle, he slipped and fell on a piece of lettuce that had been left on the floor. This slip and fall left Shawn with injuries to his shoulder, neck, and back that required surgery and pain medication.
Shawn was smart and reported his fall immediately after it happened to the store. This report proved pivotal to our defense and eventual success with the case.
During the proceedings, the supermarket tried its best to avoid accepting responsibility for the fall, however, Shawn’s reporting of the fall preserved much of the essential evidence needed to secure our victory.
Shawn’s report allowed me to motion to obtain video evidence which showed negligence on the part of the store and ultimately lead to the court’s decision.
Lessons from the Law:
The key take-away from this case is to always report an incident when injured at a business. By reporting his injury, the evidence from Shawn’s fall was cataloged which allowed our defense to succeed. As in this case, internal reports and video evidence prevent companies from changing their story later. I was able to use that evidence to show store employees were at-fault and changed their story in their depositions.
Fighting hard to get evidence was just one element to this premises liability case’s victory. A dedicated client, like Shaun, as well as great mediators from the United States Arbitration and Mediation team helped achieve an excellent result for Shawn and give some remedy to the struggles he faced from his slip and fall.