$280k Verdict Against A Landlord in A Slip And Fall Case (Alameda County)

We are happy to report that on Friday, July 22, 2016, an Alameda jury returned a $280k verdict to our client in a challenging slip and fall case against against the landlord / owner of the apartment building. In that case, a plaintiff was visiting his cousin, who lived on the second floor of the defendants' 36-unit building in East Oakland. As plaintiff was leaving, he slipped and fell on the water that was apparently coming from the adjacent laundry room. Plaintiff fell down the flight of stairs, suffering an ankle fracture. He was taking by ambulance to the Highland Hospital emergency room and later had a surgery. Plaintiff's post-surgery treatment was quite conservative and it was limited to 1.5 months of physical therapy. 

The Defendants argued the main reason or the only reason that Plaintiff fell was the fact that he was intoxicated, due to admittedly drinking between six to eight beers while hanging out with his cousin. They further argued that no water could have possibly come out from the laundry room in question, because it was not operational. Finally, through their expert - biomechanical engineer - the defendants claimed that the fall couldn't have happened the way that plaintiff described it. 

The trial lasted for five days. The juror's total deliberation time was about 6 hours. The jurors mentioned after trial that the most important evidence in the case from their perspective was the fact that the landlord had no documentation whatsoever of any cleaning or maintenance of the premises during the 9 years of owning the property. They also appreciated the fact that the plaintiff was somewhat stoic on the stand and also upfront and honest about drinking and about smoking marijuana illegally.   

I believe this case is a lesson to both plaintiffs and landlords / owners of premises about how important the documentation regarding maintenance  of the property, and especially sweeping logs, is in slip-and-fall and trip-and-fall cases. Here is a copy of this verdict for your reference.