From the Case Files: A Cracked Driveway & Fractured Ankle
From time to time here at Tort Talk, we discuss specific cases to highlight some of the important issues yours truly handles as a Los Angeles personal injury attorney.
In this segment, I’ll talk about a recent Los Angeles trip and fall case my office handled. It was a summer evening, and my client was leaving a local movie theater. She was walking to her car, which was parked across the street. The street was very poorly lit, as are many Los Angeles streets. The client approached the area where her car was parked and used an adjacent driveway approach to get to her car. The driveway approach is the portion of the driveway that leads from the street onto the homeowner’s property. As she began walking down the driveway approach, she violently twisted her ankle and fell to the ground. The injury was so bad that she could not stand up or put weight on her injured ankle. The driveway approach is pictured here.
The client’s acquaintance who was with her when she fell drove the client to the hospital. The client spent the entire night in the ER. She was diagnosed with a fractured left ankle. The break was so bad that she would need surgery. The problem was, her injuries were so severe and swollen. The surgery would need to wait until the swelling was reduced. In this case, that took a full week. The client had screws implanted in her left lower leg to hold the bone in place. This is known as “open reduction internal fixation.”
The client had a rough recovery. She was in bed for 6 weeks, unable to really put weight on her injured leg. She missed almost two full months of work. She has scarring on her lower left leg from the incision. She still feels pain in her ankle on days when she stands on her feet for long periods of time.
When this client approached me, I immediately set out to investigate the location where she tripped. I was appalled at what I saw. The driveway approach was in a terrible state of disrepair. Going back on Google images, I saw that this driveway was in this condition for at least the last 15 years. I walked this street at night and saw first-hand how the poor lighting completely concealed the dangerous driveway approach.
My office began prosecuting the case. We put together a persuasive case to the homeowner’s insurance company. We hired an engineering expert to show that this driveway did not comply with applicable municipal codes. The insurance company could not dispute that this homeowner allowed a dangerous condition on their premises to go unrepaired. The insurance company accepted 100% of the liability, something that is very rare in premises liability trip and fall cases. None of the blame for the incident was attributed to my client.
The homeowner’s insurance settled this case for a substantial and confidential amount. Suffice to say, the client was extremely satisfied! After the case concluded, I noticed that the homeowner had laid down new concrete on their driveway. Part of my job as an attorney is to help prevent future injuries that are foreseeable. After our case against this particular homeowner, I’m happy to say that there is one less dangerous premises in Los Angeles as a result of our efforts in this case.
As you can tell, Los Angeles trip and fall cases can be devastating, whether they occur on the sidewalk or private driveway. If you or someone you know were injured in a Los Angeles trip and fall, my office is happy and ready to assist, 24/6.
