Christmas Defense Verdict
On December 24, 2024, Scott Macdonald and Jorge Lopez Herrera secured a defense verdict in Van Nuys, California. Plaintiff was a tenant of our client. She claimed that a shower door failed and came off of its tracks. The door hit plaintiff in the head and caused her head to be pushed back into a wall. She fell to the floor and lost consciousness. She was found by a family member that had been staying with her. Plaintiff claimed that the shower door was dangerous and that defendant had been put on notice that the door was “dangerous” roughly six months before the incident and did not properly repair the door. Defendant denied that he had ever been put on notice of anything being wrong with the door and disputed that it was dangerous. It was established that the plaintiff used the shower door for six months and between 150-180 times after the alleged notice of the door being dangerous. We argued that no one could say why the door came off the track, and that defendant could not have been put on notice of a dangerous condition because no one could identify what the dangerous condition was.
Plaintiff claimed a traumatic brain injury and sought between $5,000,000 to $7,000,000 from the jury. Defendant conceded a minor concussion by history and sought to establish that any healing occurred immediately or very shortly thereafter.
The Jury deliberated and issued a defense verdict on liability. Post-Trial motions at the trial Court level were denied.